On Tuesday, September 19 the Downtown Detroit Partnership hosted its 2023 Fall Forum: A Real Estate Update, formerly known as the Fall Stakeholder Meeting, at the Gem Theater. The event provided a snapshot of Downtown Detroit’s real estate development and a program full of current data metrics and trends, investments, and development projects Downtown.
In front of a sold-out crowd, DDP CEO Eric Larson shared an exciting update on current development projects and trends impacting city, regional, and statewide stakeholders.
This year’s event featured a thought-provoking keynote presentation on adaptive reuse by John Waller, principal and managing director of leading architecture firm, Gensler Detroit. Waller shared Gensler’s innovative research study about adaptive reuse, a timely topic as Downtown real estate continues to face growing vacancies in office space.
Following the presentation, Waller joined a panel discussion and audience Q&A with Kevin Johnson, president and CEO of the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation as well as DDP CEO Eric Larson.
The program provided a positive outlook on Detroit’s development progress. DDP’s data found that downtown visitors continue to climb to pre-pandemic rates with August seeing a daily average of 93,00 visitors. Downtown residents also continue to increase, with 25% more residents living downtown compared to 2010.
Key findings from DDP’s 2023 Downtown Detroit Community and Development Update highlighted 47 projects completed or under construction downtown – 10 complete, 12 under construction, and 24 in the pipeline – more than $2.8 billion in new construction investments downtown including retail, residential, hospitality, and office space.
Following the program, attendees enjoyed a cocktail reception featuring a Developer Exhibit, providing attendees one-on-one time to speak with developers face-to-face about upcoming projects and investments.
Thank you to all who attended and a special thank you to our registration sponsor, KPMG and silver sponsor, JPMorgan Chase, for making this event possible.
