Wayne County executive offers update on jail site, proposal from Gilbert

The site of a failed Wayne County jail project in Detroit. (WDIV)

DETROIT – We should learn more Monday about whether Wayne County Executive Warren Evans is interested in Dan Gilbert's offer for the failed jail site. 

NEW: Wayne County executive: Gilbert's jail site offer warrants deeper analysis 

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Gilbert's company wants to build an entirely new criminal justice complex up the road from the site on Gratiot Avenue. In return, Wayne County would give up the current jail site to make way for a new soccer stadium. 

The complex would include a new adult and juvenile jail and a new courthouse. It would be on Forest Avenue at I-75, where the current Lincoln Juvenile Center is located. The county would pay the $300 million it already has set aside to finish the failed jail build on Gratiot Avenue across from the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice. 

DETAILS: Dan Gilbert offers deal to fix Wayne County's jail problem

In exchange for this, Gilbert would get the Gratiot Avenue site so he and Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores can build a mixed-use development, which likely would include a professional soccer stadium. 

Evans will outline the county's initial thoughts on the pitch from Gilbert during a news conference Monday. He discussed this Sunday morning on Local 4's Flashpoint. 

"It is not the kind of proposal that you would discard out of hand, at least I wouldn't. But there are a lot of unanswered questions that aren't in the proposal and that doesn't mean that the answers won't be good, it just means that we don't have answers at this point. And so it's impossible for me to commit," said Evans. 

Monday's news conference is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.

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About the Author:

Nick joined the Local 4 team in February of 2015. Prior to that he spent 6 years in Sacramento covering a long list of big stories including wildfires and earthquakes. Raised in Sterling Heights, he is no stranger to the deep history and pride Detroit has to offer.