I think Woodward could absolutely become a version of Chicago's state Street. More mid-range type of stores. DSW, Nordstrom Rack, Target, mega-Walgreens, Marshalls, etc. The city is ready for this type of development. No they can't support large department stores, but discount department stores would thrive well.
As for "shell of retail space." Hardly. The store was originally 9 floors of shopping. Today it's 9 floors of shopping. The basement was expanded and the 9th floor was reduced. 10-14 were storage, office, manufacturing, and staging. They still have all that. To me those were the coolest floors to see on a recent tour.
Detroit needs to build a decent downtown shopping area, continue to attract companies and large number of workers, and then have rail in service so that intensified residential and commercial development up Woodward to New Center makes reasonable sense.
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