Detroit is seriously weighing a plan for a second convention center-style hotel attached to Huntington Place, a move that could redraw the west side of the convention campus and take out a nearby office tower in the process. The proposal would add thousands of connected rooms within walking distance of the convention floor and could reshape which national shows decide Detroit is big enough for their business.
According to Crain's Detroit Business, the concept puts the new hotel directly on the footprint of Fort Washington Plaza, with the 20-story building at 333 W. Fort St. expected to be razed to clear the site. The hotel would plug straight into Huntington Place and be marketed as a second, convention-focused partner for the venue.
What’s Being Proposed
The plan mirrors Sterling Group’s "Hotel at Water Square" concept: roughly a 25-story tower with about 600 rooms, two restaurants and around 50,000 square feet of meeting and ballroom space, plus a skybridge or covered connection into the convention center. Those dimensions and renderings were shown in a developer presentation and the city’s Community Benefits packet, and WXYZ has highlighted the program details and images.
Why the City Wants a Connected Hotel
Visit Detroit and convention organizers told planners that Huntington Place, currently ranked among the country’s larger convention centers, has lost business because it does not have enough physically connected rooms. They argue that a directly attached hotel could unlock more citywide conventions and roughly $100 million a year in additional visitor spending. That appetite for connected rooms helped drive the riverfront JW Marriott project and is central to this second attached-hotel pitch. FOX 2 Detroit reported on the Visit Detroit presentation and the convention bureau’s projections.
Zoning and Next Steps
The Detroit Regional Convention Facility Authority has requested a zoning amendment and a modest addition on the back of Huntington Place to make room for a three-level connection and a small public plaza. Any demolition and new construction would still need City Council approval. Expansion materials from Huntington Place spell out the proposed addition and a tentative construction schedule tied to the convention campus, and Huntington Place provides publicly available project documents.
Local Impact
Fort Washington Plaza is a 20-story office tower built in 1971 with roughly 268,000 square feet of space, and commercial listings show it currently holds office and retail tenants who would have to relocate if demolition moves forward. Losing that building would significantly change the western edge of the Huntington Place campus and alter traffic and loading patterns around the center. The commercial listing on LoopNet details the building’s address and size.
If approved, the new hotel would sit alongside the JW Marriott at Water Square, the riverfront 600-room property already under construction, creating two large convention-style hotels within steps of Huntington Place and concentrating much of Detroit’s hospitality inventory along the riverfront. Earlier this year, Hoodline reported that the $400 million JW Marriott is still rising and already booked into 2029, underscoring how much demand planners expect for convention-adjacent rooms.
Next steps include a formal filing from the developer, a Community Benefits Ordinance process and a City Council vote. If the project advances, residents can expect neighborhood advisory meetings and detailed mitigation plans for displaced tenants. The city’s Community Benefits page and project packet will be the main places to track official filings and meeting notices, and Crain's Detroit Business first reported on the proposal. Detroit's project page provides background on the CBO process and past Water Square meetings.
