Detroit's Cass Corridor makes way for new era

[marmar]

(Detroit News) Detroit — The last of what's still called Cass Corridor is now being marketed as "Woodward Square" and "Cass Park Village," signaling the final overhaul of the seedy and wildly creative neighborhood.

Renderings of the future Woodward Square show a massive arena with a glowing fire-engine red roof — the $450 million new home of the Detroit Red Wings. Tree-lined streets are packed with cafes and there's an outdoor stage.

Presently, Woodward Square is four blocks of mainly barren land between Woodward and Cass. Many of the buildings, like the former Temple Hotel that offered rooms for $375 a month, already have been demolished.

Cass Park Village, in its present incarnation, is the square park near the front entrance of the Masonic Temple, where hundreds of street people line up daily for free meals from a soup kitchen.

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Much of what used to be called Cass Corridor was rebranded as Midtown in 2000 and it has boomed — even as the city slipped into bankruptcy. Plenty of foundation funding, along with state, city and federal dollars aimed at boosting inner-city development, helped nurture Midtown's growth. ...............(more)

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/2015/04/21/detroits-cass-corridor-makes-way-new-era/26156687/