Suburban Collection Showplace

The Suburban Collection Showplace is a convention center in Novi, Michigan. Located off Interstate 96, about 20 miles (32 km) northwest of Detroit, it is the second-largest convention center in Metro Detroit (after Huntington Place).[1][2] It is best known as the current location of the Michigan State Fair.[3]

Suburban Collection Showplace


Main entrance to the Showplace
Location46100 Grand River Avenue
Novi, Michigan 48377
United States
Coordinates42.4889367°N 83.5050613°W / 42.4889367; -83.5050613
OwnerTBON, LLC.
TypeConvention center
OpenedAugust 2005
Tenants
Michigan State Fair (2012-present)
Motor City Comic Con (2011-present)
Website
suburbancollectionshowplace.com

History

In the late 1980s, Irvin Yackness, the president of the Home Builders Association of Southeast Michigan, proposed the construction of a convention center in Detroit's suburbs to host the organization's expositions.[4][5] He approahced Blair Bowman, a local attorney, to develop the proposed center. In lieu of constructing a new facility, Bowman instead opted to lease a vacant warehouse near the I-96 interchange at Novi Road.

Constructed in 1966 as a factory for the Adell Corporation, a manufacturer of automobile door guards, the warehouse was closed when its owner, Franklin Adell, moved the company to Texas in the 1980s. Adell initially leased the building to Mohawk Liqueur, which used it to bottle Kahlúa for sale across the Midwest.[4] When Mohawk moved out, Adell agreed to lease the building to Bowman. Following extensive renovations, the Novi Expo Center opened in the space in March 1992.[6]

In 1994, the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America subleased a space in the Expo Center to open a museum.

Construction of new facility

In 2000, Bowman announced plans to relocate the Expo Center to a new facility, to be built 1 1/2 miles to the west.[7]

The new, $18 million facility opened in August 2005 as the Rock Financial Showplace, under a naming rights deal with Quicken Loans, which, at the time, used its former name, Rock Financial, for its Detroit-area operations.[1][8][9] The company later expressed more interest in using the Quicken Loans name, which was nationally known, instead of Rock Financial, which was only well-known around Metro Detroit. Bowman instead terminated the original naming deal, and resold the naming rights to the Suburban Collection, a local automobile dealership group, in 2010.[1][10]

Following the new Showplace's opening, a portion of the original Expo Center was still used by the Motorsports Hall of Fame, until the Hall's collections relocated in 2009 to the Detroit Science Center. The building was then completely vacant, and remained so until its demolition in June 2012.[11][12] The land, still owned by the Adell family, would eventually be redeveloped into the Adell Center, a mixed-use complex including hotels, retail, and restaurants.

In 2013, a six-floor Hyatt Place hotel was constructed at the east end of the Showplace, along with a new ballroom and additional meeting space.[2] Later, in 2019, a two-floor expansion opened at the Showplace's west end, with additional event space.[13]

Facilities

Currently, the center has 340,000 square feet (32,000 m2) of exhibition and convention space.[2] To accommodate the state fair's anticipated growth, Bowman made several land purchases since 2012, totaling 43-acre (17 ha) of space, including a plot of land across Grand River Avenue and a 30-acre (12 ha) lot to the west.[3]

Events

Since 2012, the Showplace is the home of the revived Michigan State Fair.

It has also been the location for Motor City Comic Con since 2011 due to the large space available for many VIPs, merchants, and other vendors and artists, making it a popular place for many cosplayers and other guests to see their favorite stars, artists, and get merchandise otherwise unavailable through stores and via online.

References
  1. "Former Rock Financial Showplace in Novi renamed Suburban Collection Showplace " (Archive). Associated Press at Mlive.com. December 17, 2010. Retrieved on January 3, 2016.
  2. Reindl, JC. "New Hyatt Place Hotel for Suburban Collection Showplace to open Thursday" (Archive). Detroit Free Press. August 20, 2013. Retrieved on December 2, 2015.
  3. Borst, Leah. "Michigan State Fair expands with land purchase" (Archive). The Detroit News. July 6, 2015. Retrieved on January 3, 2016.
  4. "#Novi50 - Novi Expo Center". City of Novi, Michigan (Video). 2019-09-03 – via YouTube.
  5. "Hall of Fame: Michael C. Stoskopf" (PDF). Building Business & Apartment Management. Home Builders Association of Southeast Michigan. December 2022.
  6. Gallagher, John (1992-03-16). "Conventional thoughts". Detroit Free Press – via Newspapers.com.
  7. Green, Leslie (2006-03-29). "Novi Expo Center plans new location, hotel". Crain's Detroit Business.
  8. "Rock Financial Showplace Gets New Name" (Archive). CBS Detroit. December 16, 2010. Retrieved on January 3, 2016.
  9. Dietderich, Andrew (2006-03-29). "Rock Financial buys naming rights to new Novi Expo Center". Crain's Detroit Business.
  10. Duggan, Daniel. "Suburban Collection wins naming rights for Rock Financial Showplace" (Archive). Crain's Detroit Business. December 16, 2010. Retrieved on January 3, 2015.
  11. "Demolition of Novi Expo Center begins Monday". WDIV. 2012-06-11. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  12. "Former Novi Expo Center Site to Become Adell Towers". Novi, MI Patch. 2013-04-03. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  13. "Showtime! Suburban Collection Showplace celebrates expansion in Novi". Observer and Eccentric Newspapers and Hometown Weeklies. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
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