Music Hall Plans $165M Expansion With New Building

Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts unveiled plans for a $165 million expansion. The project pairs with a $20 million, 25-year agreement with orsa credit union that will rebrand the space as orsa Music Hall. The financial institution, previously known as Community Financial, revealed this arrangement Wednesday during a media gathering at the site.

Construction on the new structure begins this spring. The five-story addition spans 100,000 square feet and will rise adjacent to the current facility. Inside, visitors will find a 1,900-seat concert hall. A music academy occupies several floors. Recording studios and dance spaces fill other areas, while a rooftop restaurant crowns the top. The new construction won’t replace the existing 98-year-old performance hall on Madison Street.

“Detroit was ready for a brand-new, very modern, contemporary concert hall,” said Vince Paul, the president and artistic director of the center, according to The Detroit News.

The expansion adds an underground concert hall. A music store will open there too. Recording studios occupy one section while restaurants fill another, displaying memorabilia from Detroit’s most famous musicians. Fundraising kicked off in late 2022.

The 98-year-old institution has welcomed artists from Count Basie and Eartha Kitt to Aretha Franklin. Each year, the center produces and presents over 400 events. A quarter of a million people attend. Programs reach 5,000 K-12 Detroit students through in-school and after-school performing arts education.

Tansley Stearns, the president and CEO of orsa credit union, said the partnership will grant residents access to the arts and chances for involvement. The deal includes marketing for the venue in orsa’s branches.

“We are continually moved by the power of the arts to ignite impossible dreams, and that same spirit drew us to this partnership,” Stearns said per Model Media.

In 2025, orsa opened a full-service branch on Grand River Avenue in the Old Redford neighborhood. The credit union backs initiatives centered on housing stability, financial well-being, and community resilience through the orsa Foundation.