Ilitch Blocker Redux

If you recall, this past spring I speculated that demolition and reconstruction of the CC Bar was an effort by the owners to inflate the value of the property in order to extort more money from Olympia Development. Olympia has been buying more land behind the Fox Theater causing widespread speculation that this is to be the location of a new arena for the Red Wings.

I stopped by today to see if any progress had been made on the bar as work papered to have stalled over the summer. Far from there being any progress, the bar seems to be in a state of deconstruction once again.

While a new expiration date for the Red Wings lease at Joe Louis Arena has been determined, I am left once again to speculate. Have the owners finally sold out to Ilitch, or did the building inspectors determine some flaw in the construction that is forcing the builders to start from scratch?

CC Bar Pre- Demolition

Reconstruction May 2007

Demolished once again August 2007

May 2007

August 2007

Ilitch Blocker

The owner of the CC Bar appears to be ready to cash in on the speculation related to the rumors that a new Red Wings arena will be built behind the Fox Theater. Mike Ilitch owns the majority of the vacant land West of Park Avenue with a few exceptions. With the demolition of the Hotel Vermont and Olympia Developments' involvement in other land acquisition in the area it appears that something is in the works.

The CC Bar was completely demolished except for two exterior walls prior to the new construction seen below.

So question is why rebuild almost completely from the ground up on a site that is almost certainly within the footprint of a new arena? Is the intention to rake in the cash from the foot traffic created by a new arena, or is the idea to put up some cheap construction in order to raise the property value in advance of an impending land grab? Either way it appears that the owners are trying to stick it to Mr. Mike.