A quarter century after moving its corporate hub from the suburbs to the Fox Theatre building in downtown Detroit, the Ilitch family is unveiling plans Wednesday for a new eight-story office tower next door, more than doubling the size of the Little Caesars pizza headquarters campus. Company executives, including founders Mike and Marian Ilitch, are sharing the news with employees in a theatrical presentation Wednesday in the Fox Theatre and lobby.
Along with a new arena for the Ilitch-owned Detroit Red Wings hockey team, the new 205,000-square-foot Little Caesars structure will be one of 14 new buildings in the Ilitches’ expansive $650 million arena district development, which aims to transform dozens of underutilized blocks between downtown and Midtown into a world-class sports and entertainment district. The Ilitch projects stand as a core pillar of downtown’s continued revitalization.
“We’re very hopeful that this new investment is a catalyst for others to look at Detroit. It’s our home, but it’s also a great place for us to do business,” Chis Ilitch, CEO of Ilitch Holdings said in an exclusive interview Tuesday with the Free Press. “This is exactly what Mike and Marian Ilitch have envisioned for a very long time.”
The new Little Caesars tower on Woodward Avenue and across from Comerica Park will be Detroit’s first new corporate headquarters building in more than a decade: The Compuware building was finished in 2003 and the American Axle and Manufacturing headquarters at I-75 and Holbrook Avenue was erected in 2004.