“This rezoning will require City Council’s approval and afford council further involvement in the progression of the development,” Olympia Development said in a statement. A more specific explanation of how the zoning change permits additional public involvement wasn’t available.

Work on the three-year project is expected to begin this month, possibly with a groundbreaking Sept. 25. Olympia has emailed vague pre-invitations for an arena district event on that date.

For years, the Ilitches have been planning an arena to replace 35-year-old, city-owned Joe Louis Arena, spending about $50 million to acquire land north of the Fisher Freeway and west of Woodward Avenue. That land, and other public land, was transferred to the DDA.

The arena is the centerpiece of a proposed 45-block entertainment district that Olympia unveiled in July. The plan calls for restaurants, bars, retail and housing to the west and south of the arena, creating new mixed-use neighborhoods in the current area around the Fox Theatre and Comerica Park — all to be paid for by Olympia or third-party investors/developers.

The rezoning request is for the arena site, not the entire 45-block district. The arena itself will be between Woodward Avenue on the east and Clifford Street on the west and between Henry Street to the south and Sproat Street to the north.

A 2013 deal with the DDA obligates the Ilitch family to spend, or cause to be spent, at least $200 million in ancillary development within five years of the venue’s opening. Since then, Olympia Development has announced it would accelerate that $200 million commitment to the outset of the project.

A 20,000-seat, eight-story arena, with three main entrances and a lower bowl that sits 40 feet below grade, will anchor a 12.37-acre development that includes a piazza, residential units and a 1,200-space, five-story parking garage that has one level underground.

Also planned is a 37,300-square-foot below-grade practice ice rink inside the arena, which will be 650,000 total square feet.

Olympia previously disclosed that the yet-unnamed arena, which has been in planning since the 1990s, will be a “deconstructed” design that pulls the glass-roofed concourse, offices and other elements in separate buildings outside the arena to make its restaurants and retail available all the time, even when the venue isn’t being used for hockey or events.

Kansas City, Mo.-based 360 Architecture is lead designer on the arena.

Olympia also has invested $3 million in the $137 million public-private M-1 Rail streetcar line on Woodward. That money buys Olympia Development rights to a branded station near the arena’s northeast entrance.

The transportation plan also includes taxis staged along Henry Street and Park Avenue, along with courtesy shuttles encouraged to stage along Clifford Street, Olympia Development said.

Olympia’s housing plan on the arena site is 184 units split between 16 planned townhouse units and 168 loft-style and apartment units.

The specific breakdown:

56 efficiency/lofts (690 square feet each)

20 efficiency/studios (475 square feet)

8 one-bedroom units (960 square feet)

64 one-bedroom units (710 square feet)

20 two-bedroom units (970 square feet)

16 townhouses (1,365 square feet)

A piazza next to the arena will serve as a central gathering space for pre-event concerts, smaller events and some festivals, Olympia Development said. The lighted piazza, which will be lined with trees and possible sculptures and fountains, will be open during nonevent times and could be used as a ticketed site for events.

Along the edges of the piazza will be sidewalk café zones with tables and chairs, and amenities will include bike racks and benches throughout the area.

Olympia Development will ask the city to vacate Park Avenue between Henry and Sproat streets and Sibley Street between Clifford and Woodward Avenue to allow for pedestrian movement and to “avoid creating an unfriendly, impenetrable superblock.”

Olympia also provided examples of the types of uses that will and will not be permitted within the arena district.

Authorized: Dry-cleaning establishment, brewpub, residential, hotel, exhibition hall, offices for professional or medical, health club, restaurant, retail, sports arena.

Unauthorized: Pawn shop, warehouse operations, businesses that involve firearms or hazardous materials, bail bondsman services, topless club, alcohol/drug rehabilitation clinics, psychic or tarot-card-reading businesses.

Southfield-based Barton Malow Co., Detroit-based White Construction and Indianapolis-based Hunt Construction Group have been jointly hired to manage construction of the arena. Other companies involved with the rest of the project haven’t been disclosed, but Chris Ilitch, president and CEO of Ilitch Holdings Inc., said they will be this year.

Heavy earthmoving will begin in March, with the goal of having the arena open by summer 2017.

Additionally, the Ilitches promised to spend “tens of millions” more for infrastructure improvements in the district, mainly around Cass Park west of the arena site to create mixed-use neighborhoods, Ilitch told Crain’s in July. But he declined to specify a total because Olympia still is determining what needs to be done.

That additional spending will be used to fix roads and streetlights and add landscaping and other aesthetic work within the 45-block area, all aimed at creating a clean, desirable slate from which to build five neighborhoods with unique identities, Olympia said.

All together, the entire project stretches from Charlotte Street south to Grand Circus Park, east to the existing stadiums and to a northwestern boundary abutting MotorCity Casino Hotel, owned by Marian Ilitch.

Olympia bills its arena project as an economic boon for the revived downtown and predicts its work will create 8,300 construction jobs and 1,100 permanent post-construction jobs, along with at least $1.8 billion in economic impact for the city, region and state through new wages, materials, taxes and additional related spending.

Some economists and critics dispute such numbers as overly optimistic and debate the utility of any public funding spending on sports venues.

Property taxes collected by the DDA in a downtown district will pay for $261.5 million or 58 percent of the arena’s construction cost, while team owners are to provide the remaining $188.4 million.

Olympia, which will operate the arena under a 35-year concession agreement with the DDA, is the property development arm of the Ilitches’ $3.1 billion business empire, which includes the Red Wings, Detroit Tigers and the Little Caesars pizza chain.

The deal calls for Olympia to keep all revenue generated by the arena, including concessions, parking and any possible naming rights. The 35-year management deals allows for 12 subsequent renewal options of five years each.