Bedrock will begin demolition of Wayne County Jail facilities once the new complex opens

Detroit-based developer Bedrock plans to begin demolition and clearing at least some of the properties in the greater Greektown area that Wayne County will leave behind when it moves into its new judicial complex in early September, according to Bedrock's CEO.

All that remains of Wayne County are two prisons, a juvenile detention center and the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice courthouse.

“We expect to begin demolition and clearance work later this year,” Bedrock CEO Kofi Bonner said in an email to The News late Wednesday. He did not provide any further details about which properties he was referring to.

Bedrock owns the four buildings under a 2018 agreement between Rock Ventures LLC, which owns Bedrock, and Wayne County. Bedrock agreed to provide the county with a new correctional complex about two miles north of the Greektown facilities.

In return, Bedrock acquired ownership of the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice and the Juvenile Detention Center, both on St. Antoine Street, as well as the two buildings, Jail 1 and Jail 2, on Clinton Street.

The district is close to vacating the buildings in the Greektown area and building its new Criminal Justice Center at 5310 Russell Street, near the intersection of I-75 and E. Warren Avenue. The district expects to be vacating the buildings in the Greektown area after Labor Day.

The properties give Bedrock about five blocks of land to develop, which includes adjacent properties the company already owns. One of those properties is the former Detroit Police Department headquarters at 1300 Beaubien Street. The historic vacant building was designed by famed architect Albert Kahn.

Bedrock also owns the empty 14-acre site where Wayne first tried to build a prison at Gratiot Avenue, I-375 Service Drive, Clinton Street and St. Antoine Street. Cost overruns and other delays caused the project to fail.

“The Gratiot site provides an opportunity to further expand and enhance downtown Detroit,” Bonner said in the email. “We are currently working on business development efforts to develop and revitalize an area that will provide greater opportunities to strengthen the local economy and attract talent through innovative partnerships and targeted investments.”

Rock Ventures originally planned to build a $1 billion mixed-use development on the unfinished prison site, with a Major League Soccer stadium and high-rise buildings as its centerpiece. That plan was later dropped in favor of a joint venture to build a $300 million “innovation center,” a technology-focused campus, involving the University of Michigan and development firm Related Cos.

Development has shifted to another location in Detroit, and the first phase of the University of Michigan Center for Innovation in District Detroit is currently under construction.

[email protected]