Detroit — Colorful smoke bombs and roars from passionate fans could be in Corktown's future, as Detroit City Football Club is moving ahead with plans to build a new stadium on the site of the abandoned Southwest Detroit Hospital.
The move from Hamtramck Keyworth Stadium, expected in time for the 2027 season, would be a triumphant return to the city proper for the fan-owned team and was announced amid DCFC upsetting the defending-champion Houston Dynamo, of Major League Soccer, in the U.S. Open Cup this month.
It's also likely to accelerate the redevelopment of Detroit's oldest neighborhood, experts and local business owners say. DCFC's stadium shot comes as the nearby iconic Michigan Central Station is preparing to reopen next month, following a $940 million investment by Ford Motor Co. to repurpose the station's early 20th-century grandeur for a 21st-century mobility campus.
The new stadium, at the corner of Michigan Avenue and 20th Street, would serve as a permanent home for soccer in Detroit, said Sean Mann, CEO of DCFC, in a team statement: “This is a huge step for our organization to build a modern venue to serve our club and community.
"As longtime residents of the city, with a few of us even living within walking distance of the site, the leaders and founders of the Club view this project not only as an opportunity to grow our organization and sport, but as a civic endeavor to give back to the city we love."
More details on the stadium plan are expected on Monday. But civic leaders, development officials and fans of the charming 12-year-old team say it's a full-circle moment for a franchise they believe hasn't reached the peak of success.
“Just the energy and what they do for the community is really exciting,” said Blake Almstead, president of the Corktown Historical Society. “And to be part of that and to see that in Corktown, I think makes a lot of sense for what Corktown does and everything that we can look forward to. I think this is an exciting opportunity to see Corktown grow in a direction that's not going downtown or to the river.”
Eric Larson, CEO of the Downtown Detroit Partnership, saidthe move brings closer the long-sought goal by many to bring a professional soccer team to the state's largest city. If anyone knows the power of sports and development it’s Larson.
The veteran Detroit area developer and now head of the Downtown Detroit Partnership, Larson has played major roles in redeveloping the former Tiger Stadium in Corktown and more recently helping shepherd the highly successful NFL Draft.
“It's an incredibly exciting move. Not only is it building off of the success that the Detroit Football Club has had and their march to not only continue to be successful as a semi-pro team, but also gets us a step closer to really considering a pro team here in the city,” Larson said.
What's known about new stadium
The club, nicknamed “Le Rouge” for its red uniforms and for the Rouge River, purchased the former Southwest Detroit Hospital site at 2401 20th St. in Detroit, for an undisclosed amount. Leaders of the club declined to comment on how big the stadium would be, how much it would cost to develop, or if they're seeking tax breaks on it.
The massive former hospital grounds located directly off the Interstate 96 and 75 interchange in the city's southwest area were last purchased for $6.5 million on March 15 by a limited liability company linked to Edward and Emily Siegel, public records show. The site was sold by an entity linked to controversial landowner Dennis Kefallinos. Records show that the Kefallinos-linked entity bought the property for $7,779 in 2016.
The hospital opened in 1973 as the first Detroit hospital to hire and accredit African American doctors and nurses, which was uncommon in the United States at the time.In 1991, the hospital closed after declaring bankruptcy. The hospital reopened as United Community Hospital in 1997 but closed in 2006. The building has been abandoned for 18 years.
Almstead remembers what the abandoned hospital looked like when he first moved into Corktown in 2011.
“The curtains were blowing out of it. It gave the sense of kind of hopelessness. We saw a sign go up a couple of years ago: ‘Condos coming soon,’ and everyone laughed because no one takes those signs seriously anymore.
"But the fact that something like this is happening is almost an excitement that I think I can express that it's not just a very cookie-cutter apartment building, but it's a very unique location being right on a highway, where seeing more residential is great, but seeing more amenities that are going to be bringing people in.”
He continued: “So, this is a site where people were just looking at depression. Because on (Interstate 75) or on Michigan Avenue, you'd see this abandoned hospital and very clearly abandoned to seeing something that's going to have so much energy and life is such a contrast that I think we're very excited for.”
The Club said it would reveal more details about the vision and programming for the stadium after further consultation with city officials, local residents and longtime fans. A public engagement process is anticipated to kick off later this year.
Leaders say the project will likely trigger the Community Benefits Ordinance, which requires developers to meet with the community impacted by the project to identify benefits and address potential negative effects in return for receiving tax incentives. The CBO process applies when a development is $75 million or more in value, receives $1 million or more in property tax abatements or receives $1 million or more in city land sale or transfer.
If so, the new stadium would be the 15th project to undergo a CBO process. The largest CBO is the $3 billion Henry Ford Health expansion that completed its negotiations with residents last year; Little Caesars Arena underwent the same process during its $860 million development.
Property records do not indicate how much the team paid for the seven-acre site. The property may have three separate buildings that were part of the former hospital, according to Regrid, a database that tracks property records.
"We look forward to starting a process to connect with our supporters, city residents and community leaders, among others, to craft a community-focused, grassroots professional soccer stadium that serves the City of Detroit," Mann said in the team statement.
Councilwoman Gabriela Santiago-Romero, who represents District 6, said she's excited about the process and what likely comes with building the stadium, in terms of community engagement: "One of the first things we said in our office is that parking situation is going to continue to be top of mind for us and our residents, but that's a good problem, I guess?
"Probably not for my residents in Corktown who are already trying to navigate parking and the new development in such a small part of town," said Santiago-Romero, who was elected in 2021. "It's exciting, and I look forward to figuring that out because we have to because this will definitely benefit the city."
A homecoming 'seemed inevitable'
Detroit City FC is a professional soccer club that plays in the United Soccer League Championship. Since joining the “fourth-tier league” of the American soccer pyramid in 2012, DCFC has become one of the most talked-about teams in the league, not to mention the state.
DCFC now fields a men’s first team that participates in the USL Championship — the second-highest level in the U.S. men’s game reaching a population of 84 million; a women’s team that plays in the amateur USL W League; a growing youth academy; a growing statewide affiliation of youth clubs numbering more than 3,000 players, as well as a successful indoor soccer facility in downtown Detroit. The team also has a Le Rouge fan storefront in downtown Detroit.
The team was founded by a group of young Detroiters and played at Cass Technical High School but has developed into a minor-league soccer success story, with consistently sold-out games and unmatched supporters. Currently, DCFC matches are played at Hamtramck's Keyworth Stadium, which was built in 2016 with $750,000 raised by its fans.
“A DCFC home match is a can’t-miss stop for any true sports fan in the U.S., but our players, staff, and supporters deserve a stadium with modern amenities that retains the best elements of Keyworth while also putting the club on firmer financial footing,” said Alex Wright, co-owner and Chief Creative Officer of Detroit City FC.
DCFC wasn't the only effort to launch a professional soccer team in the city. In 2017, a bid to secure a Major League Soccer team for Detroit led by Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert and Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores was considered a frontrunner when an initial proposal included a new stadium to be built on the failed Wayne County jail site on Gratiot Avenue.
A year later, the group resubmitted a proposal that included playing at Ford Field, offering potentially to install a retractable roof at the indoor stadium. That plan months later was scrapped over feasibility issues.
A passionate fanbase
DCFC is best known not for its players, but for its boisterous contingent of diehard supporters repping rouge and gold. They're called the Northern Guard, and it's their excitement of chants, singing, drums, cowbells and dozens of colorful smoke bombs that make the experience. Leaders of the Northern Guard call themselves supporters — not fans — because if the team is losing, they only get rowdier to boost encouragement.
"The club is entirely supporter-built. Our front office is supporter-built and all of this is because of fans' support. It's literally a team effort," said Nick Finn, a leader of the Northern Guard. "It's been a crazy journey to see how we've grown from 1,000 supporters at Cass Tech to selling out Cass Tech to making the move to Keyworth and doing the whole campaign to get it back going — and now to this, it's crazy.
"With beating MLS teams and everything we've built over the last 12 years has really just, it has seemed inevitable," said Finn, 29. "It's even more exciting with Ford moving into the train station and what it will do for the area."
Finn's favorite memory was watching the Columbus Crew play at the Keyworth stadium to play at the U.S. Open Cup two years ago, he said: "It was amazing that we beat them, but I truly didn't think that any MLS team, especially one from Ohio, was going to come play Detroit, and we walked out of there with the win. That was a roll-credits moment for me."
As for what would top it: "Winning a championship or U.S. Open Cup would be incredible. It's going to be a bright future."
Finn's advice for those who have never been to a match: "Expect to chant, to sing, to jump around, expect lots of smoke bombs ... for it to be wild, exciting and nothing like you've ever seen in American sports."
Future in Corktown
DDP's Larson said the move “starts to bring a proper venue for not only a team but a sport that is gaining tremendous momentum within the city and the region. And all that is critically important as a community asset and as an economic driver.”
The new location is “not only strategic with everything else that is taking place, but also really sort of very smartly located both in terms of fan base as well as well as access to the broader region.”
As for Hamtramck, it’s a tough blow but also a needed step for the Detroit FC to grow, Larson continued. “The reality is if the football club was going to be successful, they were going to have to do something with their venue. Obviously, it'll have some pain,” for Hamtramck. “We'll have to refocus on Hamtramck and think about other uses.”
Jeff Horner, an associate professor for Wayne State University’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning, said the site is a premium location for redevelopment in southwest Detroit.
“That’s the next neighborhood out from Corktown and it's a logical step,” he said. “Ford, as you well know, the grand opening of their building is there. Corktown is popping.”
Horner said the move would be a big loss for Hamtramck, but the city will survive: “That’s its own fabulous community, and it's so heavily populated there and dense. So, as a net for (Detroit), I think that would be a benefit. I would just hope that something goes in Keyworth Stadium going forward.”
Horner said the soccer team needed a bigger stadium. “They're packed and the fans are drooling and rabid. And it brings some excitement. That excitement can come down to Southwest.”
Rick Mithofer, a sous chef at Cork & Gabel on Michigan Avenue, expects the stadium to bring in customers: “It will be great for business here before soccer games, after soccer games,” he said. “Just more traffic seems like an upcoming thing. It’ll be good when it gets here.”
Mithofer, who has been with Cork & Gabel since it opened in 2018, said there were areas in the neighborhood in rough shape with overgrown grass.
“It was just a very undesirable area, in general,” he said. “And now the park is beautiful. Ford did a good job with the train station. And we’re just going to keep moving down the road. It was not that nice down here when I first got here. It seems like everybody takes a lot better care of things over here. Crime is way down. It’s nice. I think everything's moving in a really positive direction.”
Jennyfer Crawford, owner of All Things Marketplace, said she was “super excited” to hear that Detroit City FC has plans to build a stadium down the street. Her shop on Michigan Avenue carries official DCFC merchandise.
“I'm excited that that will bring more people to the area in Corktown because the business is definitely needed,” she said. “And just even having the partnership with carrying their merchandise, that's definitely a plus for me.”
Crawford said she’s hopeful that the stadium will help to further make Corktown a destination for visitors.
“I'm glad that we're able to be here in the beginning of it and kind of see all the things through,” she said. “Just bring more traffic to Corktown, please. Retail businesses and restaurants and things like what we're really noticing is that we need that foot traffic. We really do. I hope that this will add to it.”
srahal@detroitnews.com
cwilliams@detroitnews.com
Staff Writers Breana Noble and Jania Clowers contributed.
