DETROIT -- The unfinished jail, currently an eyesore along Gratiot Avenue in Downtown Detroit, will not be completed, Wayne County announced Friday morning.

The unfinished jail was originally projected to cost $220 million. Construction began in 2011 and was halted in 2013 due to project cost overruns estimated to drive the price up to near $391 million.

Since that time, taxpayers have incurred an estimated $1.2 million per month for debt servicing, litigation and other ongoing costs related to the architectural blemish.

The county instead plans to move closer toward an agreement with billionaire Dan Gilbert's Rock Venture's proposal to build a new $520.3-million criminal justice center near Interstate 75 and Warren Avenue, east of Midtown. In exchange, Gilbert's companies would take possession of the unfinished jail site downtown.

Gilbert aims to build a $1 billion commercial development that would include a Major League Soccer Stadium in partnership with Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores. Detroit was recently named one of the four finalists in the bid for an MLS expansion team.

But the Detroit MLS bid team recently announced that if approved, the team would play inside Ford Field. However, the bid group has not ruled out the potential for a new stadium.

Part of the agreement includes Rock Ventures paying a $500,000 stipend to Walsh Construction, the entity that was slated to finish the partially-built jail.

In February, the Wayne County Commission approved Evans' recommendation to pay Walsh the stipend, essentially a fee to buy time in order to review and vet Gilbert's proposal.

"The stipend ensured we received a proposal so we could fully evaluate finishing the jail at Gratiot," Wayne County Executive Warren C. Evans said in a news release.

"As we dug into the project with an actual proposal, the more we recognized it had too much inherent risk for the county at too high a price. We're negotiating a deal with Rock that caps the county's costs and creates the best solution available to our jail problem."

The rejection of Walsh finishing the jail came the week after Detroit City Council approved a deal for the county to acquire former American Motors Corp. (AMC) land parcels needed for the criminal justice center under Gilbert's plan.

Wayne County is also waiting on a decision from the IRS on whether it can use jail bonds intended for the failed jail site instead on the Rock Ventures' site.

"We're making progress and moving toward a deal with Rock. But there hasn't been a simple step in this entire process, nor will there be," Evans said in a news release.

"We've had to vet two proposals, are working to acquire land from the city, need to settle an issue with the IRS and are negotiating a half a billion dollar development deal - it all takes time, but we're confident we'll get there."

The land swap deal will have to go through Wayne County Commission and Wayne County Land Bank for approval. A final agreement with Rock Ventures will also require Wayne County Building Authority's approval.

Key reasons for moving toward Rock Ventures' proposal instead of Walsh were: cost comparisons of each proposal, total number of facilities to be built and protection against cost overruns.