VOICE-OVER SCRIPT:

THE PAST HALF-CENTURY WENT SOMETHING LIKE THIS FOR DETROIT …

DECADES OF DECAY.

2013 BANKRUPTCY.

WIDESPREAD DEMOLITIONS.

AND NOW, FROM THE RUBBLE COMES …

REVIVAL.

SOUNDBITE (English) Dan Gilbert, billionaire developer:

“Lot of people say, ‘Do you want to be the next Chicago? Do you want to be the next New York?’ No, I think we want to be the next Detroit.”

THE MOTOR CITY IS REINVENTING ITSELF -- LITERALLY FROM THE GROUND UP.

RALPH WILSON PARK WILL OPEN IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS ALONG THE BANKS OF THE DETROIT RIVER.

ORGANIZERS SAY THE 80-MILLION-DOLLAR, 22-ACRE GREENSPACE SETS A NATIONAL PRECEDENT FOR PHILANTHROPY-DRIVEN URBAN RENEWAL.

SOUNDBITE (English) Matthew Cullen, Detroit Riverfront Conservancy:

“I think it’s become almost a rallying cry for the people in Detroit, because they said, ‘You know what? We can change the perception, we can change the reality of the city of Detroit.’”

AND THE SKYLINE.

HUDSON’S DETROIT IS THE CITY’S FIRST NEW SKYSCRAPER IN YEARS.

IT’S THE LONGTIME PASSION PROJECT OF DAN GILBERT, WHOSE PROPERTY MANAGEMENT COMPANY BEDROCK DEVELOPED THE ONE-POINT-FIVE-BILLION-DOLLAR PROJECT.

SOUNDBITE (English) Dan Gilbert, billionaire developer:

“People have the wrong image of Detroit. The image that was probably rightfully earned over those 60 years, unfortunately. But now, we’re on the way up.”

NEARLY 700 FEET UP.

THE EXTERIOR IS DONE AND WILL FEATURE DOZENS OF CONDOS, EATERIES AND A LUXURY EDITION HOTEL WHEN IT OPENS IN 2027.

BESIDE IT IS A 12-STORY LOW-RISE BUILDING THAT’LL FEATURE RETAILERS, OFFICE TENANTS AND SOON, GENERAL MOTORS’ GLOBAL HEADQUARTERS.

SOUNDBITE (English) Dan Gilbert, billionaire developer:

“This isn’t your father’s or grandfather’s Detroit anymore. The city’s on its way back. You don’t have to even look at numbers. You can just feel it walking around.”

SOUNDBITE (English) Bill Sharples, Hudson’s Detroit architect:

“Detroit is a city about creation. New York is finance, Wall Street. Detroit makes things.”

WHAT IT’S MAKING THESE DAYS IS OPTIMISM.

SOUNDBITE (English) Dan Gilbert, billionaire developer:

“I think a big skyscraper coming out of the ground like this should give people the hope – we want this to serve as a beacon of hope for the future.”