Will Cobo Center in Detroit be named TCF by the end of the year?

TCF Financial will soon have its name on the convention center in Detroit as a result of its pending merger with Chemical Financial Corp.

When the proposed TCF/Chemical deal gets final approvals the new name of the facility will be TCF Center.

When TCF and Chemical were negotiating their merger of equals announced in February both sides were aware Chemical was negotiating a $33 million deal, to be paid $1.5 million annually over 22 years, to have its name on the Detroit convention center, a 59-year old landmark in Detroit that is home of the annual Detroit auto show.

The Cobo Center in Detroit (courtesy Cobo Center)

On Wednesday Chemical Financial and the Detroit Regional Convention Facility Authority announced that Chemical had won the naming rights to the center. In a release announcing the deal they said the facility will remain the Cobo Center until the end of 2019.

By that time the proposed merger between TCF and Chemical should be complete. As part of the negotiations for the deal it was agreed that the headquarters would be in Detroit where Chemical is building a 20-story, $60 million office building in downtown Detroit, but the name of the company would be TCF Financial.

"Today's announcement continues to build on our bank's investment in the city, its neighborhoods, the region and our state," said Gary Torgow, chairman of the board for Chemical Financial Corp.. "Along with our recently announced merger with TCF Financial Corp. that will bring the headquarters of the combined company and the TCF brand to downtown Detroit, we look forward to contributing to make this Center a vibrant destination for our city and our region for many years to come."

Opened in 1960 the building has 723,000 square foot of exhibit space and is the 17th largest convention center in the United States

The building was originally named after Albert Cobo, the mayor of Detroit from 1950 to 1957. According to a story in the Detroit News city officials have been eager to remove Cobo's name from the convention center.

"With Wednesday's announcement in Detroit, the TCF name will be prominent on two major landmark facilities in the two largest employment centers for the combined company," said TCF spokesman Mark Goldman.

In 2005, Wayzata-based TCF Financial agreed to a 26-year, $35 million sponsorship agreement with the University to support Gopher Athletics and the construction of TCF Bank Stadium. They amended that deal in 2017 investing another $8 million in part to support the University's Athlete's Village.

The merger between TCF and Chemical could enhance the value of naming rights deal for TCF Bank Stadium since the combined footprint now includes more Big 10 Conference cities. TCF has national lending operations but its branch locations are concentrated in – Minneapolis, Chicago, Milwaukee, the Detroit area and Denver. Chemical's branch locations are concentrated in Michigan and Northern Ohio.

"Our customers across major cities in the upper Midwest prominently see the TCF name on the field, which builds our brand awareness beyond Minneapolis. We believe our naming rights agreement is a highly successful use of our marketing spend, particularly based on the measurement of our brand strength across all of our markets,' Goldman added.