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If you’ve walked through downtown Detroit near Campus Martius in recent years, chances are you’ve probably seen the empty stretch of land where the Monroe Blocks were supposed to rise.
It always felt like one of those “Detroit someday” stories that never quite materialized.
That is until the moment comes when the plan gets real.
Starting in 2025, the Cadillac Square Development project has been off and running – and it looks like it might very soon entirely change how people experience downtown.
What’s Coming
Cadillac Square’s big headliner is an immersive entertainment venue called “Cosm.”
For those who haven’t heard of it: think giant wraparound screens, mind-bending visuals, and tech so real you feel like you’re in on the show.
Cosm will be one-part planetarium, one-part concert hall, and one-part futuristic arcade, a one-of-a-kind setting for live events, sports, or experimental art unlike anything residents have ever seen before.
There will also be market/retail spaces, restaurants, and other cool hangouts, although it’s marketed as more than a development – it’s being pitched as a destination – the kind of place where locals bring out-of-towners to show off what Detroit is all about.
Why It Matters
The downtown Detroit area has always been built for crowds.
It’s the kind of place where you’ll find everything from food trucks to sand volleyball to ice skating and concerts, all of which make Campus Martius and Cadillac Square come alive every summer.
The Cadillac Square development will simply shift a major missing piece into place, bringing a permanent, year-round venue that will draw people downtown even on a Tuesday night in the dead of winter.
The Long Road Here
Years ago, the city of Detroit was busy planning the Monroe Blocks – big towers, offices, housing – but like many Detroit mega-projects, it stalled.
Since then, the developer, Bedrock, has revived the project, but instead of dumping out more corporate towers they have shifted focus to what people truly want: entertainment, food, experiences.
While the Cadillac Square development is set to be done by late 2025, Cosm itself will open in 2026, one of the most anticipated attractions of Detroit’s new age.
With that said, with such projects the question is always: who is this really being built for – locals, or tourists?
After alI – Detroit city officials have long been criticized for placing too much stock in the interests of out-of-towners and suburban commuters and not enough in long-time Detroit residents.
With that in mind, if the Cadillac Square Development is just another expensive playground, it’ll likely flatline before it ever truly finds its footing.
However, if the market spaces themselves feel accessible – local vendors, local Detroit chefs, cheap places to eat – then it might just be able to strike that perfect balance between a flashy attraction and a beloved community hub.
Only time will tell.
The Bigger Picture
Along with the Cadillac Square Development, Hudson’s Detroit is also set to open in 2025, as well as other highly anticipated projects like the University of Michigan Innovation Center and the Music Hall expansion, all of which are bringing more buzz to downtown Detroit than it’s experienced in decades.
Cadillac Square’s Cosm fits right into that momentum, because it’s one of the most entertainment-heavy projects on the horizon.
It’s not just a shiny tower.
It’ll be a place you can go, grab food, watch something epic on a screen the size of a building, and then enjoy a drink – a place where memories will be formed, not just another point on a map.
Once completed, it will turn a part of downtown Detroit that has long been a dead zone into one of its busiest corners.
Stay tuned – big things are coming.