America’s Great Comeback City has a whole new look
Everybody loves a comeback, and right now Detroit is successfully proving that age- old adage. Within the last few years, major expansions, renovations, and city programs have slowly but surely changed not only the experience of Detroit, but its image as well. Companies have moved downtown in record numbers, and employees, residents, and visitors are following. And downtown’s lively riverfront and variety of cultural attrac- tions and championship sports — from the Detroit Tigers to The Henry Ford museum complex — ensure that the city’s hotels, many of which are new or newly renovated, are packed and buzzing. At the centerpiece of this destination-wide
Total transformation Throughout its $300-million, multiyear expansion and renovation, Cobo Center has been and will remain open for business through the project’s completion in late 2014. Host to major events like the North American International Auto Show, Cobo Center offers one of the largest exhibit floors in North America.
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transformation is Cobo Center, which is cur- rently completing a $300-million renovation and expansion. The SMG-managed facility will debut a total of 2.4 million square feet of completely revamped, state-of-the-art space by the end of 2014. Among those spaces is an exhibit hall with 625,000 square feet of contiguous space, 100,000 square feet of additional exhibit space on the river level, and 195,000 square feet of meeting-room space. Banquet rooms and ballrooms spread throughout the facility — a 27,000-square- foot ballroom on the concourse level, a ban- quet room of the same size on the second level, and a 40,000-square-foot ballroom overlooking the riverfront — mean multiple events can take place simultaneously. With customer input and extensive industry research kept in mind during the planning process, Cobo Center now offers an excep- tional meeting experience that meets the needs of both planners and attendees. Downtown Detroit is experiencing a
rebirth as well. Some of the destination’s largest companies are moving downtown,