Detroit’s $1.4B Tower That Broke the RenCen

Detroit erased a retail giant in just 12 seconds when the 2.2-million-square-foot Hudson’s department store came down—then left the block as “Hudson’s hole” for nearly two decades. Now, that same footprint is being rebuilt into Hudson’s Detroit: a 45-story tower and a 13-story podium designed to bring a hotel, condos, offices, retail, and public space back to Woodward Avenue. The project has become a lightning rod because it leans on layered public financing—state brownfield tools that capture future tax revenue, plus a controversial local tax abatement approved by a tight City Council vote. The debate is simple: is this the kind of incentive-heavy bet Detroit needs to compete, or a deal the public won’t recoup? Then GM raises the stakes, committing to move its headquarters from the Renaissance Center to Hudson’s—forcing Detroit to rethink the RenCen’s future at the same time.

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