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Obviously, skillful public relations can make a difference, but the Ilitchs have dug themselves into a pretty deep hole with respect to public perception at this point. It would help if they'd stop doing things people think are bad and making up transparent excuses for why they are doing them.
They don't need a PR firm. The only thing that they need to do is to get some shovels in the ground and get some of these buildings done that they've promised. The public perception problem will go away.
A blessing from Jesus Christ himself wouldn't help the illitch's public perception
What are they doing that people think are bad?Quote:
Originally Posted by mwilbert
What they are doing - or not doing - is flat out bad.
I've always been amazed by billionaires and what they take advantage of. The Illitches could and should spend 10% of their wealth on District Detroit which they said was their thing and it would be what $350 million? This district they fabricated and lied about for tax breaks I would argue would immediately make the entire region better...and for their benefit everything they intended to build there would immediately be worth more. It's disgusting.
The rest of us spend about 30=40% of our income a year on things that we own. Add 20+ percent for taxes. Could you imagine if billionaires did that? Without tax breaks?
Detroiters are mad at Dan Gilbert for purchasing many of the empty storefronts downtown. Unlike the Illitches Gilbert had renovated and and occupied these buildings and storefronts with offices, some that are not affiliated with Quicken loans or Bedrock, and retail while the Illitches sat on the UA building for years before even given the appearance of renovating the building while using corporate welfare money allegedly to build the stadium. Vote the members of council out and research to see who are contributing to the campaigns if those who will be running in 2021
Curbed has a pretty good summary of what is or isn't happening in the so-called District:
https://detroit.curbed.com/maps/aren...ilitch-olympia
Illitch and Co are just going to keep trying to kick this can down the road apparently. Nothing is ever going to get built on that Woodward/I-75 site.
Well, maybe a parking lot.
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/ne...na/2794387001/
Nope , they've had more than enough time to do something ,times up . do something with the land or sell it to someone. Gilbert, who will do something with it !
The fact they want more time is utterly insane.
They don't need it nor do they deserve it. Sell it or develop it now.
Remember when the Ilitches wanted to widen the Woodward overpass over the Fisher Fwy. to add additional small shops onto the overpass. Haven't heard any more about that... nor about the highrise to replace the Hockeytown Cafe, and the 2 parking lots across from the Fox that were going to be midrise residential.
Of course everyone here except for Emu_Steve already knew that. Wonder whatever happened to him...
There’s a green construction fence around the site where the Ilitches proposed adding a large addition to the MotorCity Casino garage. Looks like the many parking options in the District Detroit are about to expand.
I heard he works for that new PR firm they hired.:oQuote:
Originally Posted by Gistok
Do they still show off that fancy model with all the proposed buildings around LCA and Comerica?
It's pretty funny they are donating 2 small lots to be used as parks - in other words, this makes sure the city loses out by not selling the land for a profit, not gaining a taxable use and having to maintain the land as a park. All so Ilitch gains their postponement and doesn't have competitors on those lots. By the way, wasn't Ilitch supposed to maintain Cass Park as part of District Detroit? Any upgrades taken place?
We all need to come to the realization, or those who have not yet, that Illitch and co will develop little to none of the ancillary development they showed. Lets forget about the LCA, School of Business, and Pizza Pizza HQ they love to show off as "additional investment." All of those fancy models and renderings of the remaining development they showed, we might get 20% of it. And I'd bet that they literally only develop their current holdings already build yet unoccupied [[Detroit Life Building, UA Building, Eddystone, Women's Club). And don't get me wrong, I will be overjoyed if those 4 buildings come back online and are bustling with workers/people living in them. The problem is that what was shown/promised and public subsides were provided for, those 4 buildings are 20% of what was promised.
New neighborhoods? New towers overlooking Comerica Park? A high rise at the HockeyTown Cafe? A new 5 star hotel off Woodward? Developed parking lots into apartments and offices? All of those items that were promised in exchange for those tax dollars? We will never see it. Hopefully we have learned our lesson [[hello city council and DDA) and we will no longer be giving a billionaire millions of our tax dollars to over promise and not deliver jack shit to us.
In fairness, they wanted MDOT to build and pay for the bridge widening and associated structures. Olympia was just going to manage the profits of whatever businesses occupied the new MDOT financed structures.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gistok
MDOT basically admitted that they dont have enough money to maintain the roads they have, let alone fund this expensive Illitch bridge widening project. And once the Illitches realized MDOT couldnt pay for it [[while they of course reaped the rewards), the project was dropped.
Felt like this quote from the latest Daily Detroit podcast summed this whole ordeal up nicely:
“If you open up a building next to a Dan Gilbert development that’s a good thing. There’s more people on the sidewalk, more crowd, more buzz, more Instagram pictures — If you open up a development next to an Ilitch development, that’s considered a bad thing because you’re leaking customers away from the concessions, from the theater, from the stadium, etc. That’s a model that’s more difficult to defend in the long term.”
Full podcast - http://www.dailydetroit.com/2020/01/...onrad-kickert/
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/ne...am/4546418002/
"The Ilitch organization has hired about 40 people to figure out whether the family's decades-long goal of reviving dozens of blocks of Detroit property can become reality."
SO you're saying that when you proposed the District Detroit and took all those taxpayer subsides, you hadn't yet figured out if reviving/delivering on your promise was even feasible at that point???
What a quality organization Olympia is....
When you look at how stagnant population growth is in metro Detroit you can see how it will be difficult to fill the existing buildings owned but not yet renovated by Ilitch, never mind developing new ones. The Hudson's Site, Free Press Building and Book are yet to take in any tenants. Ilitch is now very late to the party and will be competing with Gilbert for both companies and people to move from the burbs.
Does anyone really believe Ilitch / Olympia ever had plans to build what they promised? Of course not! Those were just lies to maximize the financial benefits they could gain. And excuses for those complicit to try to justify why they went along with them.
More evidence of a slowdown:
https://www.freep.com/story/news/loc...se/4623169002/
I went driving to check in on developments around Detroit last weekend. While driving near LCA I noticed it appeared that they were putting a new roof on the house on Cass [[the one listed for upwards of $4M).
Is the Eddystone still on track to be completed by 2055? :rolleyes:
It will help sell the place🙄Quote:
Originally Posted by buckster1986
BREAKING NEWS ALERT
https://www.freep.com/story/money/bu...nt/6394025002/
HUGE, MASSIVE, INCREDIBLY TANTALIZING DEVELOPMENT COMING FROM OLYMPIA NEAR THE LCA!!!! REJOICE!!!!!!