A new potential future for the former Uniroyal Tire Co. site centered on a multi-sport athletic complex has emerged as part of a vision proposed by Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores and a group of investors looking to lure a WNBA team to Detroit.

The vision includes indoor and outdoor athletic facilities for sports such as basketball, volleyball, soccer and football, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to Crain’s.

It’s not known whether the project would take up the entirety of the 42-acre former heavy manufacturing site along the Detroit River nestled up to the bridge to Belle Isle, said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

However, if Gores and his group of investors are successful in bringing a WNBA franchise back to the city, a practice facility and headquarters for the team would help anchor the site, according to the source.

The proposal was first reported Monday by the Detroit Free Press.

The future of the site has been in flux since October, when the Detroit Brownfield Redevelopment Authority severed a development agreement with Jerome Bettis, the Detroit native and former star NFL running back, for the site after nearly 20 years.

The source said other uses could emerge, including housing, long seen as a desirable component for any redevelopment there.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Mayor Mike Duggan confirmed “discussions” about the Uniroyal site being used for the sports complex and described Duggan as “optimistic” about it.

“The Pistons have been tremendous community partners for years, and this kind of use of this riverfront land fits perfectly into the mayor’s mission to return as much of Detroit’s riverfront as possible back to residents,” the statement said.

A representative for the Detroit Pistons declined to comment. 

A group led by Gores and his wife, Holly, formally submitted a bid on Jan. 31 to bring a WNBA franchise back to Detroit. Crain’s previously reported that the group includes a “who’s who” of local sports executives, business people and athletes.

The diverse group of equity investors also includes Pistons Vice Chair Arn Tellem and his wife, Nancy; Detroit Lions principal owner and Chair Sheila Ford Hamp and her husband, Steve Hamp; Lions quarterback Jared Goff along with his wife, Christen; General Motors Co. CEO Mary Barra and her husband, Tony; NBA Hall of Famers Chris Webber and Grant Hill and Hill’s wife, Tamia, a recording artist; Crain Communications President and CEO KC Crain and his wife, Ashley, the founder of Crain Homes; and a host of other prominent metro Detroit business leaders.

Detroit rap superstar Eminem reportedly has interest in joining the group, too.

Other cities that submitted bids for a WNBA team are Nashville, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Houston, Kansas City, St. Louis, Milwaukee and Austin, Texas.

The new WNBA team would play its home games at Little Caesars Arena in downtown Detroit, bringing an additional 22-plus sporting events to the city each year.

The Gores bid includes a comprehensive facilities plan that would utilize new and current facilities for the team, its players and the community. The plan includes building a dedicated WNBA practice facility and team headquarters, highlighted as a priority by the league. That facility would include state-of-the-art courts, a locker room, workout facilities, and office and lounge space.

The development also would include a public sports center that would house a youth development academy that would promote youth sports and address a lack of access and equity of youth facilities in Detroit. The plan calls for the facility to have youth basketball and volleyball courts and fields for soccer, football and lacrosse along with spectator seating.

A redevelopment of the Uniroyal site would be a key step toward building out the riverfront between Gabriel Richard Park just east of the Belle Isle bridge and the Ambassador Bridge to the west. For years, the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy has been, piece by piece, constructing the Detroit RiverWalk, a 5.5-mile-long pedestrian- and family-friendly boardwalk along the water that today attracts millions of visitors a year and is a major destination for residents of the city and region, but also tourists.

In fall 2023, the conservancy opened an important stretch of the RiverWalk: the Uniroyal site connector, which runs 0.42 miles between Mt. Elliott Park and eastward under the Belle Isle bridge, connecting with Gabriel Richard Park on the other side.