5 Things That Could Replace Infamous Blighted House Next To Little Caesars Arena In Detroit

The dilapidated house located on the north side of Little Caesars Arena in downtown Detroit, renown for being the last holdout against the Ilitchs and Olympia Development, is no more.

The home, which sat on a small parcel of land in the 2700 block of Cass Avenue, burned to the ground on Monday. No one was injured. Authorities did not immediately know the cause of the blaze.

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The owners of the house have long resisted the Ilitchs' attempts to purchase the home, which is the last holdout property adjacent to Little Caesars Arena. The property owners had set their asking price as high as $5 million at one point. It was still for sale at the time of the fire, with a listed price of $2.5 million.

The value of the property probably won't change as it's the physical area, not the house, that makes it desirable to developers, like Olympia, which has many other properties in the vicinity.

The area falls within the footprint of The District Detroit, a 50-block, 686-unit apartment community the Ilitchs promised as part of their Little Caesars Arena project. Olympia's plan for the neighborhood included multiple shops, restaurants, and bars, as well.

The state of Michigan awarded Olympia about $400 million in taxpayer funds to defray the cost of the development, in part to support The District Detroit. Previously, the Ilitchs had said virtually all of the construction of the development's various buildings would have begun by the end of 2018. As of 2022, practically no progress had been made.

Chris Ilitch, president and CEO of Olympia Development's parent company, Ilitch Holdings, hasn't offered any specific details in terms of The District Detroit's status.

With The District Detroit looking less and less like a reality and more and more like a broken promise, we've come up with some ideas for what could occupy the property that used to be home to the Little Caesars Arena holdout house.