Wayne County jail site proposals in; Now we wait

Hopefully by the end of July, we should know the fate of the fail jail site. Walsh Construction submitted their revised proposal for the Wayne County jail site this week. Dan Gilbert’s Rock Ventures also submitted a revised proposal to their major deal—the new site where they would build would be located just north of their previously proposed site east of I-75.

This has been a long back-and-forth saga. Many were excited when Dan Gilbert offered his proposal in February, but Wayne County seems pretty committed to the current jail site.

According to the Free Press, in the Rock Ventures proposal, the county would give them the jail site to build a soccer stadium. In return, Rock Ventures would build, “ an all-new $520 million jail and criminal justice complex on a 13-acre property further north, east of I-75 and across from Midtown. This land is currently owned by the city of Detroit, and has on it a Detroit Department of Transportation maintenance facility and offices.”

Wayne County would take on $380 million of the cost of the new jail. Rock Ventures would be responsible for the rest, including anything that goes over. Rock Ventures would also gain revenue from a large parking lot, which could raise millions over the years.

The Walsh Construction proposal would finish what was started at the current Gratiot location, and include, “finishing the jail with 1,608 beds for $269 million, or making it 2,200 beds for $317.6 million.”

Earlier this year, we asked what readers would like at the fail jail site. 75% said that they want a new stadium and the county should accept Dan Gilbert’s proposal.