The Palace of Auburn Hills will soon face the wrecking ball

Since the Detroit Pistons ceased playing games at The Palace of Auburn Hills in 2017, little has taken place at the arena. That’s why, to the surprise of few, it’s going to face the wrecking ball.

In a joint partnership with Michigan-based Schostak Brothers & Company, The Palace will be demolished in the fall and the site used for a future mixed-use development. The Palace sits on 110 acres with potential for 1 million square feet of space.

Little is known about the development or the details of the sale, but Gores did speak with Crain’s Detroit Business:

“The plan is a mixed-use office, R&D, flex, tech park with some retail amenities, and maybe some entertainment retail … The advantage is its size and location, right off I-75 with 80 acres of buildable land. The size will attract large users, and we’ll see who shows up first.”

Detroit Pistons employees currently working at The Palace will be moved to the team’s new training facility in New Center.

The 22,076-seat arena opened in 1988 and was one of the first generation of modern sports arenas, boasting 180 luxury box seats. Unlike Little Caesars Arena, it was completely privately financed for around $90 million.

When former Pistons owner Bill Davidson died in 2009, the franchise and arena was purchased by Gores for $325 million. For the 2018 season, he moved the team downtown to play at Little Caesars Arena. The last concert hosted at The Palace was also in 2017.