06/23/2026
New JW Marriott hits the
spot on Detroit’s riverfront
By Marty Mulcahy
Editor
DETROIT – Joe Louis Arena really had no business being built on the city’s riverfront. Built hard-up against the Detroit River access to the site was less-than-ideal, and the windowless venue offered zero opportunity to view the scenic river.
Six years after the demolition of JLA was completed, a much more appropriate – and much-needed – hotel tower is going up at the site. Construction of the 25-story JW Marriott Detroit Water Square began in spring 2024, and it is being erected at Second Avenue and West Jefferson. The tower has been encased in blue glass, offering unlimited views of the aforementioned river on three sides, and the rest of the city on the other.
The new JW Marriott is situated next door to the other property that was built at the former Joe Louis Arena site, the 496-unit, 25-story Residences at Water Square, which opened in February 2024. Construction of both projects have employed union trades managed by Colasanti.
Slated to open in February 2027, the JW Marriott has risen west of Huntington Place convention center, and the buildings will be connected by an enclosed skybridge. The lack of a hotel connection to Huntington Place – as well as a general need for more hotel rooms downtown – have long been considered a hindrance to the convention center attracting more conventions.
“We’re ahead of schedule, and the project is going well,” said Scott Stinebaugh, pre-opening director of sales and marketing for JW Marriott Detroit Square. “Having a hotel connected to a convention center certainly elevates our presence, and creates a new dynamic on the waterfront that will allow us to attract a wider group of conventions.”
The 450,000-square-foot JW Marriott will do its part to help grow the number of hotel rooms – it will offer 601 rooms, including 44 suites. The $396 million hotel property will include five podium floors with 53,000 square feet of event space, two large ballrooms, four “dining experiences,” a fitness center and a 50-foot indoor lap pool.
Above the podium floors, wrote City of Detroit’s then- Planning Department Director Antoine Bryant in a 2024 letter to the City Council, “the hotel tower floors will comprise 20 levels and offer unprecedented views and amenities.”
He added: “Detroit is at a significant disadvantage when competing for convention business, as the number of rooms within walking distance of the convention center and not having a connected hotel is a major concern of all meeting planners.”
The property will be steps away from the four-mile Detroit Riverwalk and will be near the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park. The floor-to-ceiling windows will offer views of the City of Windsor across the Detroit River, as well as Belle Isle, the Ambassador Bridge, and the Gordie Howe International Bridge.
The project is being managed by Detroit-based developer Sterling Group, and is being financed by Ullico, which is the only labor-owned insurance and investment company in the country. “This connected hotel will change the hospitality landscape in the City of Detroit and allow for Huntington Place to attract more and larger conventions. It will be a significant economic benefit to the City and the region,” said Sterling Group Chief Development Officer Danny Samson.
Ullico is the same lender that provided the financing for the adjacent Residences at Water Square.
“We are proud to invest in a Detroit project that supports unions,” said Brian J. Hale, CEO and president of Ullico Inc. “Through J for Jobs, we help increase the vast economic power of the labor movement while bolstering local economies.” The hotel project is expected to create 426 direct and indirect jobs as well as more than 600 union construction jobs.
