Detroit City Council approves financing plan for new Red Wings arena, entertainment complex

12/20/2013
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Championship banners and retired numbers of the Detroit Red Wings hockey team hang from the rafters above the ice at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
Championship banners and retired numbers of the Detroit Red Wings hockey team hang from the rafters above the ice at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

DETROIT — The Detroit City Council has approved a financing plan for a new Detroit Red Wings hockey arena and entertainment complex just outside downtown.

The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press report that the council also on Friday extended the boundaries of a Downtown Development Authority district to include land where the project could be constructed.

A vote on a transfer of city-owned land was postponed.

The Red Wings would move from Joe Louis Arena to the new facility, which would seat 18,000 for hockey and other events.

The Detroit Downtown Development Authority last week approved a management deal with Olympia Development. Olympia Development is owned by the Ilitch family, which also owns the hockey team.

The Michigan Strategic Fund would issue $450 million in bonds to build the events center.