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Campus Martius to rev up downtown Detroit

By Kathy Dube

Detroit's central business district will get a total makeover with an ambitious multiphase mixed-use development project that has already snared a major high-tech company from the suburbs.

Campus Martius, which takes its name from one of ancient Rome's central park areas, is expected to revitalize a five-block, 9.2-acre section closely connected to the city's retail and office history. The 2.5 million-square-foot project, expected to cost from $500 million to $1 billion when completed midway through the next decade, is a key component of economic development plans for downtown Detroit.

"Our goal is to create Detroit's version of a unique centrum and grand area that will bring together residents, office users and tourists in a vibrant, uplifting setting. This could be Detroit's version of a contemporary Rockefeller Center. We are at the center of the wheels of Detroit," said Robert I. Schostak, co-president of Schostak Bros. & Co., which will manage the property at Campus Martius.

Schostak is a third generation of Schostak Bros., one of the leading partners of locally based Kern Woodward Associates, chosen to develop Campus Martius.

The project got a jump start in April when Compuware Corp., a software developer, announced plans to move its world headquarters from Farmington Hills, Mich., to Campus Martius, bringing with it 6,500 highly skilled and paid jobs. To Gloria Robinson, group executive for economic development with the administration of Mayor Dennis Archer, Compuware's decision to relocate to central Detroit "speaks to the confidence the private sector has in these plans. This is a 21st century company relocating to the heart of Detroit."

The idea for Campus Martius originated three years ago, when the nonprofit Greater Downtown Partnership was formed by Mayor Archer to accelerate economic development and create investment strategies for city-owned property in the central business district.

"The city had lost 1 million in population over the last 35 years. We were formed to organize the city and keep its population here," said Larry Marantette, president of the Greater Downtown Partnership.

The Partnership's board of directors, which has representation from the major automotive companies, financial institutions, foundations, labor, utilities, the city's planning and financial offices, minority businesses and labor, already has raised $1.5 million for investment strategies. The nonprofit group issued a request for proposals for a developer to create a master plan of development for the five-block project destined to be Campus Martius, selecting Kern Woodward Associates in May 1998.

In addition to Schostak Bros., Kern Woodward also includes the Sterling Group, a Detroit-based real estate company specializing in the restoration and preservation of historic buildings, and Melvin "Butch" Hallowell, a partner in one of Detroit's oldest law firms and a key participant in Sterling Group projects. Hamilton Anderson Associates of Detroit and Urban Design Group of Chicago will share architectural and design responsibilities for Campus Martius.

Schostak Bros. operates more than 40 different properties in the Great Lakes states. Its portfolio includes five Detroit-area shopping malls, namely Laurel Park Place in Livonia, just west of Detroit. The region's largest mixed-use development, Laurel Park Place will serve as the architectural base and development model for Campus Martius.

According to Schostak, the Greater Downtown Partnership reviewed city files and targeted the central Detroit Campus Martius district, which over the years had become blighted, as a key target for redevelopment.

"We began marketing our plans for an office, retail, restaurant, hotel, entertainment and parking development to general users. Simultaneously, the city expanded its business relationships and convinced Compuware to relocate there. It was a coup for the city and a huge step forward for Campus Martius. It gave us immediate credibility. We hope it will be the catalyst to attract additional office tenants, retail, hotels, etc.," he said.

The five components of Campus Martius, in all encompassing 2.5 million square feet, are identified by the names of historic one-time tenants, including the former Kern's, Crowley's and Hudson's department stores. The five sections, which will surround the two-acre Campus Martius Park, include:

* Kern Block, to be occupied almost entirely by Compuware, at 1.2 million square feet, plus some complementary retail.

* Crowley Block, primarily a parking structure for Compuware along with some complementary retail.

* Kennedy Block, to house a 15-story signature office building with a retail mix.

* Hudson Block, featuring a world class hotel, four-star restaurant and smaller retailers.

* Monroe Building, with a mix of street-level retail and dining as well as a department store.

The development partnership is marketing the complex to a number of key parties, according to Cindy L. Ciura, SCMD, vice president of corporate marketing for Southfield, Mich.-based Schostak Bros. The implosion of the former Hudson department store last October signaled the start of construction, according to Ciura, who adds that work has already begun on underground parking structures. Schostak said he expects some buildings to be completed and ready for occupancy in the Kern, Crowley and Kennedy Blocks by 2002, at which time Compuware is expected to move in. The Hudson and Monroe Blocks will follow, not necessarily in that order.

Among those touting the chances for success of Campus Martius is Patrick O'Keefe, a real estate consultant with Conway MacKenzie & Dunleavy, Birmingham, Mich.-based financial advisers that specialize in profit enhancement solutions for underperforming companies. He said Campus Martius has major significance for Detroit: "It was to be the town square in original city plans dating back to the 1830s. Now, 170 years later, it's a highly visible development in the central business district."

O'Keefe said the Compuware Corp. move is important because, "It's a large suburban employer moving back to the city and it's a nonautomotive company. Viewed from a national perspective, Detroit has tried to diversify for the last 20 years but never very successfully."

The Renaissance Center, constructed on the riverfront in the mid-1970s with a cluster of office towers, was supposed to be the catalyst for economic development in Detroit, according to O'Keefe, but retail plans for the center never materialized, "because people didn't shop in Detroit on weekends." Three years ago, General Motors acquired the Renaissance Center and is expected to relocate its world headquarters there.

He said the retail components of Campus Martius will attract people on weekends because of its proximity to entertainment venues such as the planned side-by-side Detroit Lions and Detroit Tigers stadiums and three planned new casinos -- the MGM Grand, Circus Circus and Greektown. Other attractions are two new music/entertainment theaters -- Orchestra Place and Detroit Opera House -- plus 10,000 new housing units; the expanded Cobo convention center; Joe Louis Arena, home to the Detroit Red Wings; and the well-known food and festival area of Greektown.