The Detroit Pistons unveiled its $90-million, four-story, 185,000-square-foot Henry Ford Detroit Pistons Performance Center in Midtown yesterday. The largest facility of its kind in the NBA, the center anchors a multi-use development that includes a Plum Market outlet and other retail operations.
Connected to the $37-million William Clay Ford Center for Athletic Medicine, the new Pistons facility was designed as a community hub and features publicly accessible grocery, food, fitness, and retail amenities, in addition to practice, training, and offices for the team.
“This facility is a huge win – for the community, our franchise, our fans, and our future,” says Tom Gores, owner of the Pistons. “It’s the best training facility in the league and will give our players and coaches an edge in maximizing their performance. We are grateful to Henry Ford and everyone who played a part in establishing our new home.”
Gores adds that while the opening completes the team’s transition to downtown, the impact of that move is just beginning.
“This is an important milestone, but our work in Detroit is only getting started,” he says. “Our ambitions have always been bigger than just basketball. This is an investment in the future of our city.”
In addition to housing the training facility and corporate headquarters for the NBA franchise, the development includes a comprehensive sports medicine, treatment, and rehabilitation facility managed by Henry Ford Health System, retail spaces occupied by Plum Market and Blink Fitness, and public spaces available for community relations activities, networking receptions, and team-hosted events.
“We are pleased to partner with the Detroit Pistons on this unique collaboration that provides food and beverage services for the basketball team and engages Detroit and the New Center community,” says Matt Jonna, CEO of Plum Market. “Tom Gores and the Detroit Pistons share our vision for providing a high-quality product with service that goes above and beyond.”
The new center sits on land owned by Henry Ford between Wayne State University and Henry Ford Hospital, approximately two miles north of Little Caesars Arena where the Pistons have been playing since 2017.
The performance center houses an estimated 100,000 square feet of the most-up-to-date basketball training equipment. A short walk across a 125-foot enclosed glass walkway offers players and team medical staff seamless accessibility to injury diagnosis and rehabilitative treatment at the William Clay Ford Center for Athletic Medicine.
Amenities for both basketball and front office operations include:
- Player locker room and lounge
- Full-service kitchen/dining facilities and personal chefs
- Weight room facility with the latest performance technology and training equipment
- Film study room and positional meeting rooms
- Advanced training room capabilities with three hydro pools and cryogenic treatment systems
- Green space and courtyard locations for outside access and views of the city
- Rocket Fiber Detroit Pistons Broadcast Studio and media/interview rooms
- A 370-space private and public parking structure to be used by Detroit Pistons and Henry Ford personnel
The facility will serve as a hub for community fitness, health and nutrition programming through the Detroit Pistons Fit and annual NBA Fit Week programming. Youth basketball clinics and Pistons Academy basketball programs will be hosted throughout the year. Additionally, a spacious lobby and second-floor event space will be available for team-hosted private events, receptions, and community networking activities.
The Henry Ford Detroit Pistons Performance Center is the first NBA facility to introduce publicly accessible food and beverage and fitness retail areas. Plum Market will provide food service for the team and open a new café and retail store inside the new complex while Blink Fitness will open a 15,000-square-foot workout facility inside the performance center. Both retail locations are expected to be completed by the end of the calendar year.
Outside walkways along Amsterdam Street and Second Avenue celebrate the tradition and history of the franchise while national and locally sourced art is displayed inside the lobby, second floor skyway and throughout each floor of the building.
“Our vision for the performance center was to create a facility that is publicly accessible and engaging to the community in a way that serves as an asset for everyone in Detroit,” says Arn Tellem, vice chairman of the Pistons. “Henry Ford Health System shares our commitment to the community and has created a sports medicine center that will provide the latest performance training technology and innovation for patients and athletes of all levels of sport.”
Mayor Mike Duggan says that completion of the organization’s business and basketball relocation helps accelerate the city’s continued turnaround.
“With the opening of their new corporate headquarters and practice facility, the Pistons move back to Detroit is now complete,” says Duggan. “Not only will this fantastic new facility be great for the team, it will be great for the community, which will be able to take advantage of the community spaces and programming and the new retail opportunities.”
