The Godfrey will be the third new hotel to open in Detroit since Memorial Day weekend. The other new arrivals are the 154-room Cambria Hotel Detroit, 600 W Lafayette Blvd. in downtown, and the 117-unit ROOST extended-stay apartment hotel, situated in Dan Gilbert’s newly restored Book Tower, 1265 Washington Blvd.
Detroit has experienced a mini-boom in boutique hotels starting in the mid-2010s with the opening of a series of upscale properties, including the Aloft, Shinola, Foundation and Siren hotels — and a slew of announcements for more hotels in the future.
Detroit boosters and tourism officials have for years said that the city needs significantly more hotel rooms to better compete with other cities to host big events and conventions.
What a room in the Godfrey Hotel Detroit will look like. Godfrey Hotel Detroit.
The occupancy rate for downtown hotels has been strong in recent weeks, with some hotels completely sold out for special weekends, thanks to visitors arriving for Taylor Swift, the Detroit Grand Prix and the Movement festival.
According to the Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau, the nightly occupancy rate for greater downtown, which includes New Center, was 70% for the week ending May 27 and 60% for the weeks ending June 3 and June 10. It was 62% for the week ending June 17. (Figures for last week are not yet available.)
The Godfrey was co-developed by Farmington Hills-based Hunter Pasteur Homes and Chicago-based Oxford Capital Group. The hotel cost $75 million to $100 million to build, according to Aaron Black, the hotel’s general manager.
The co-developers, along with The Forbes Company, also are building a nearby 188-unit apartment building called Perennial Corktown that is still under construction and expected to open in December.
Oxford Capital is also part of a joint venture that in December 2021 purchased the renowned 453-room Westin Book Cadillac hotel in downtown Detroit.
The Godfrey Hotel in Detroit’s Corktown photographed on Monday, June 26, 2023. Mandi Wright, Detroit Free Press
Black said business at the Book Cadillac has been “very strong,” which indicates “there is probably room for more in the market.”
The Godfrey’s rooftop bar and lounge will be known as the I∣O lounge, as the retractable roof will make it a great “indoor” and “outdoor” space to hang out or book for special events, Black said. The lounge will be open to anyone and not restricted to hotel guests.
“Every potential bride we’ve had come and see the site looks at the ballroom and says ,’Oh it’s great,’ he recalled during the tour. “Then we come up here (the I∣O Lounge) and take a look at this, and they’re like ‘This is where we want to get married.’ ”
Other new downtown-area Detroit hotels on the horizon:
- Construction began this month on a 10-story, 154-room Marriott International AC Hotel along Woodward in Midtown Detroit that could open in the fourth quarter of 2024.
- A possible 225-room luxury Edition Hotel in Dan Gilbert’s Hudson’s site skyscraper in downtown. Construction of the skyscraper is expected to finish in late 2024.Construction of a new 14-story, 290-room hotel next to Little Caesars Arena at 2455 Woodward. Although the building was originally announced last June as an Equinox Hotel, the actual brand of hotel has yet to be confirmed. Construction could begin in spring 2024.
- Redevelopment of the 10-story Fox Theatre office building, 2211 Woodward, to become a 177-room Fox Hotel. Construction could begin in spring 2026.
- Redevelopment of the former Standard Accident Insurance Co. building, 620 Temple St. near the Masonic Temple, into the future Temple Detroit could restart later this year. The project was started before the COVID-19 pandemic but has faced delays from rising costs and is now going through a restructuring and refinancing, according to the developer.
- A possible hotel next to the Huntington Place convention center in downtown.
- A possible hotel in Ford’s rehabbed Michigan Central Station in Corktown.
