Saturday, May 07, 2005

City's Sale of Marine Terminal Creates Opportunity on Riverfront

Plans are under way to transform 35 acres of riverfront property into a commercial shipping hub within the city of Detroit.

Yesterday, City Council approved the sale of the vacant and deteriorating Detroit Marine Terminal. It will be transferred to city ownership and then placed under the control of Nicholson Terminal & Dock and Ambassador Port, a joint public-private relationship between the two companies.

The land, which is located between Clark Street and Historic Fort Wayne in southwest Detroit, will be designed to accelerate both exporting and importing from the city, including steel and petroleum. The Port Authority hopes the new shipping center will later handle agricultural products, as well as automotive parts.

This Free Press story states that the development team will be ready to hire employees in about 30 days and that 200 new jobs will likely result from the project.