Borders to Join Downtown Retail Mix

DETROIT-It’s official, the Borders Group will create an 8,000-sf bookstore in themassive new Compuware headquarters in downtown.The store would be the first Borders store in Detroit, said Emily Swan, aspokeswoman for the company.

Compuware is just finishing a multi-million dollar new headquartersbuilding, which will be part of the Campus Martius project.Campus Martius, the 7-block, 2 million-sf project at the center ofthe Necklace District downtown, is now under construction, with Compuware asthe largest tenant. The headquarters is expected to open this year, withemployees moving from the current headquarters in Farmington Hills, MI.

Swan told GlobeSt.com that the agreement has not yet been officially signed,but there will be a lease. She told GlobeSt.com two months ago that Borderscould be in by Christmas, but now she revised that move in date.”We plan to open the store by the fall, hopefully October,” Swan said.

There are no other Borders in Detroit; most ofthe company’s stores are located in the suburbs to the north and west of thecity. Swan said the company has been looking to move into the city for sometime, but had not found a suitable site.”We’re really excited about going into Detroit,” Swan said. “They’re tryingto revitalize the retail down there, and we’re happy we’re going to be apart of it.”

She said the discussions have been going on for some time to locate atCompuware,but nothing had been confirmed until just recently. The area is bustlingwithnew interest, though Compuware is still the only major tenant to take spacein the project, which is to include five new office buildings and moreretailspace. The Hard Rock Cafe recently announced plans to move into theCompuwarebuilding as well.