I know downtown Seattle is vastly different than downtown Detroit, but the article below notes that the J.C. Penny's move back to downtown Seattle is driven by population more than traffic flow. Interesting concept.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...upenney30.html


The S. H. Kress [[at one time a major 5 and dime chain) building is a 3 story, 65,000 sq. ft. retail building with at least 1 exsisting tenant that Penny's will work around. In comparison, the average Penny's mall store runs about 120,000 sq. ft.

I realise that in downtown Detroit, there has to be major evidence that there is a retail trade to be serviced, but with stores like Target, Penny's and Wal-Mart looking at smaller urban stores as a way to fuel growth, this is a positive sign for retail in an urban area.