Downtown Detroit's retail scene is expected to include more upscale fashion by the fall, with a focus on local and nationally known boutiques.

"You're going to see a lot more high-fashion, a lot more variety in women's fashion, more in travel ... in furniture ... food and beverage (and) electronics," said Dan Mullen, president of Bedrock, Downtown Detroit's dominant real estate firm with more than 90 properties.

"You're going to kind of see a lot of that coupled with service."

On top of that, developers anticipate a November opening for the luxury boutique Shinola Hotel at the corner of Woodward and Grand River avenues.

And a coveted national retail chain that's long avoided Detroit may be get closer to venturing into the city, Bedrock executives said.

For seven years, Bedrock has been pitching a move into Downtown Detroit to executives at Target during the annual International Council of Shopping Centers conference. The retailer was never convinced.

"We meet with them every single ICSC and we call on them all the time. It's a combination of Target being ready to come to market and where they're going to go. If we land them in downtown, great, but if they go somewhere else in Detroit, great as well," Mullen said. "We're just underserved."

"And I think they're ready," said Bedrock CEO Jim Ketai. "They're saying that there's enough activity now. They have an interest."

Detroit's central neighborhoods are seeing about $5.1 billion in builing construction and renovations this year, with $3.4 billion in downtown alone. The majority of that involves Bedrock developments. Construction of a skyscraper at the former J.L Hudson's department store site alone is expected to cost $900 million. The Monroe Block project, set to break ground this year, will be about $800 million and restoration of the Book Tower is estimated at more than $300 million.

And the building boom, Ketai says, is just beginning.

"We're in the second inning," Ketai said. "I think there is so much more to go and we've just gotten the ball rolling here. A lot has changed."

Another major upcoming project for Bedrock will be redeveloping the Gratiot Avenue site of a partially built jail project, which Wayne County halted in 2013 due to budget overruns. The site has been an eyesore for several years.

The county this week approved transfering the site to Gilbert's Rock Ventures, which plans to build a new criminal justice complex north of downtown.

"We desperately need these new facilities and shovels can't get into the ground soon enough," said Wayne County Executive Warren C. Evans said in a Thursday statement. "Heading into summer, Wayne County is on its best financial footing in quite some time. It's only fitting that we'll see that unfinished Gratiot jail torn down soon."

Rock will build Wayne County a new $533-million criminal justice center, with $380-million in taxpayer money and the rest from Gilbert, on a site bounded by East Warren Avenue, the I-75 Service Drive, Russell and Ferry Streets.

"We'll take down the partially-built jail (this summer), and we'll do some sort of mixed-use development," Ketai said. "We have not made a plan of when we're going to break ground."

Mullen said Bedrock is still looking to determine how to best utilize the property.

"Maybe we'll be fortunate enough to land a tenant in the near future to build it with us," Mullen said. "I think it's a combination of understanding what the market needs ... we like to use this term: 'What does it want to be and how does it fit into the fabric of the master plan?'"

A professional soccer stadium was Gilbert's the original vision for the site, but Major League Soccer last week passed on a Detroit expansion team, choosing Cincianatti instead.

It's now likely to become a mixed-use development with residential and retail offerings.

"From day one, our philosophy has been: how can we work in and mix in local entrepreneurs in the retail and food and beverage side, along with national," Mullen said. "The perfect corner is Avalon right next to Under Armour ... how can we repeat that over and over again and really create that rhythm of retail."

"It's about a timeless block that's super charming. Block by block... we try to hit people's senses" with flowers, facade lighting, merchandising and retail.

"When you walk through a city, you're not looking at the 15th floor wondering what's going on up there, your interaction is at the street level."