"It's one of the things that limits the ability of the city of Detroit to attract larger-scale convention business," Andrew Leber, vice president of hospitality at Bedrock, said in an interview on the Crain's "Detroit Rising" podcast. "And that business is hugely impactful to the economy. It creates jobs, it creates tax revenue and we need to focus on that opportunity."



Bedrock, the real estate arm of billionaire Dan Gilbert's business empire, "would love to explore" being part of developing a convention hotel, Leber said.



"It's something we would absolutely explore," he said.



Leber made those comments in a podcast interview at Detroit Homecoming last month before my colleague Kirk Pinho first reported Sunday in Crain's that Detroit-based Sterling Group is nearing a deal to redevelop the site of nearby Joe Louis Arena, which is being torn down.



One of the stipulations of New York City-based Financial Guaranty Insurance Corp.'s 2014 acquisition of Joe Louis Arena in Detroit's bankruptcy was to redevelop the site with at least a 300-room hotel.



"Ideally," Leber said, a new convention hotel would be situated between Hart Plaza and TCF Center on the riverfront — on the opposite side of the former home of the Detroit Red Wings.

"But the location of Joe Louis and the potential connectivity could be really unique," said Leber, a 2018 Crain's 40 Under 40 honoree.

Leber is not the first business leader to decry Detroit's shortage of large hotels to handle big conventions and major sporting events.

Detroit Sports Commission Director Kris Smith has said Detroit was snubbed from hosting the NCAA's Final Four in 2023-26 because the city doesn't have enough hotels with 400 rooms or more for each team to stay in separate hotels.