The city's vision for the Jefferson Avenue location is a mix of new residential and retail development. With 2,000 feet of Detroit River frontage and views of Downtown Detroit and Windsor, Ontario across the river, the Uniroyal site is considered one of the biggest undeveloped parcels on a major urban waterway.
The property was used for industrial production beginning in the late 1800s and was in use until closed by Uniroyal in 1982.
There are also some restrictions on the land: a railroad and a sewer right-of-way run through it and the river banks must be reserved as public access greenspace. The tire plant is in the area that is part of a major effort to improve the river's banks by the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy Project.
"This is by no stretch just a greenfield piece of property," says George Jackson, president of the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. "We need somebody who's really heavy-duty into this kind of stuff."
The DECG says proposals are due for the project by April 15, and the group hopes to decide on a winning proposal by mid-summer.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
