Little Caesars 8-Story Tower a 'Catalyst' for Detroit Revitalization

The Ilitch family moved the Little Caesars corporate headquarters from the suburbs to the historic Fox Theatre building a quarter of a century ago. (Photo via Wikimedia Creative Commons)

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The Ilitch family, who own the Little Caesars pizza franchise, extended their commitment to downtown Detroit with an announcement they plan to build an eight-story office tower next door to the company’s corporate headquarters in the iconic Fox Theatre building.

Officials with Little Caesars, founded by Mike and Marian Ilitch, said the 205,000-square-foot building will double the size of the corporate headquarters, the Detroit Free Press reports.

The Little Caesars tower will be one of 14 new buildings in the area where the Ilitches previously announced plans to build a new arena for their Detroit Red Wings National Hockey League team.

Expected to be completed in 2016, the tower will be built on Woodward Avenue, across from Comercia Park, where the Illitch-owned Detroit Tigers play. It will be the first corporate headquarters built in downtown Detroit in more than a decade.

With the arena district development, the Ilitches say their $650 million investment aims to transform dozens of underutilized blocks between downtown and Midtown into a world-class sports and entertainment district.

“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 building will accommodate about 600 more high-skill employees over the next decade, Dave Scrivano, Little Caesars president, said. Many of them will also live in the area.

Besides Little Caesars, the Red Wings and Tigers, the Ilitches also own MotorCity Casino and other retail and entertainment venues, employing about 7,300 people. Little Caesar’s is the largest of the companies, and is estimated by food industry analysts to be the third-largest pizza chain in America, behind Pizza Hut and Domino’s.

Little Caesars operates in all 50 states, 17 foreign markets and has opened more than 100 stores annually in recent years.

» Read the full Detroit Free Press story.