Construction has officially started (for the second time) on a large mixed-use development downtown next to the Campus Martius Park.

Officials from the city and Dan Gilbert’s Bedrock LLC real estate company held a formal groundbreaking ceremony for the Cosm project, a live sports video dome and entertainment venue that marks the first phase of what is now referred to as The Development at Cadillac Square. 

Kofi Bonner, Bedrock CEO, told attendees at the Thursday afternoon event Cosm would be a “linchpin” for an entertainment district starting at Cadillac Square and working up towards the Paradise Valley area. 

“Cosm will be a tremendous addition to the downtown entertainment, and it will draw thousands of people, thousands of people that will be energized and innovative and remembering and experiencing just what a great city this is,” Bonner said. 

Cosm — which counts Gilbert as an investor — also has locations in Los Angeles and Dallas, plus another underway in Atlanta. The company, which is also looking at an international expansion, said last year it raised $250 million-plus from Stephen Winn, the chairman, president and CEO of RealPage Inc. and his Mirasol Capital; plus new investors like Gilbert and others. 

Winn, who is also chairman of the Cosm board of directors, relayed that the head of Fox Sports, Eric Shanks, made a convincing argument to open a location in the city.

“He looked me right in the eye and said, ‘You don’t understand the fans in Detroit. They are like no one else in the world. This town is the town you’re going to win in, and you should be in Detroit. You should move there as fast as you can.’ SO we took his advice, and we’re here,” Winn recalled. 

The most recently disclosed vision for the Development at Cadillac Square site has dropped all office space from its plans. The first iteration of plans for the site included 857,000 square feet of office space, which was later reduced to 400,000 square feet and has now been scrapped entirely.

Now, Bedrock’s plans call for a first phase of development that includes the 70,000 square foot Cosm venue, as well as a 34,000 square foot market hall and a 0.76-acre parking lot. The second phase of proposed development includes a residential building with 250-280 units, 42,000 square feet of retail and 950-1,100 parking spaces in a structure.

Cosm is expected to open by the end of next year, Bonner told reporters following the groundbreaking ceremony, which was held in a white tent on the 3.66-acre development site. 

Bonner also told reporters that he hopes to anticipate the market hall component of the project around the same time as Cosm. 

The National Theatre façade is still expected to be incorporated into the project, although precisely how is not determined, Bonner told Crain’s last week. 

The first groundbreaking for the property was in December 2018. At the time, the project was called the Monroe Blocks project and clocked in at $830 million; but work was halted not long afterwards for a redesign. 

Bonner declined to disclose the current development cost on Thursday.