Detroit Free Press Building | |
---|---|
General information | |
Status | Completed |
Type | Commercial offices |
Architectural style | Art Deco / Art Moderne |
Location | 321 W. Lafayette Boulevard Detroit, Michigan |
Coordinates | 42°19′48″N83°03′03″W / 42.33°N 83.0508°W |
Construction started | 1924 |
Completed | 1925 |
Owner | Bedrock Detroit |
Height | |
Roof | 57.91 m (190.0 ft) |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 14 2 below ground |
Lifts/elevators | 8 |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Albert Kahn |
Detroit Free Press Building | |
Part of | Detroit Financial District (ID09001067) |
Significant dates | |
Designated CP | December 14, 2009 |
Designated MSHS | January 8, 1981 |
References | |
[1] [2] [3] |
The Detroit Free Press Building is an office building designed by Albert Kahn Associates in downtown Detroit, Michigan. Construction began in 1924 and was completed in 1925.
The high-rise building contains 302,400 sq ft (28,090 m2) on 14 above-ground and two basement levels. [4] The building features Art Deco detailing, and is a steel-frame structure faced with limestone. Its design features stepped massing in the central tower and flanking wings. When constructed, the building housed editorial and business offices for the paper as well as printing facilities and rental space. [5] The building is adorned with bas-relief figures, sculpted by Ulysses A. Ricci, symbolizing commerce and communication. [6]
The building, located at 321 West Lafayette, was unoccupied from 1998, when the newspaper offices moved, to 2020, when it was redeveloped as an apartment building. [7] [8] It was formerly the home of the Detroit Free Press , and while occupied by the newspaper, displayed large neon signs of the newspaper logo on its roof facing north and south. Printing facilities for the newspaper occupied the lower floors of the building until 1979, when a new production facility opened approximately one-mile southwest at 1801 West Jefferson Avenue. [9]
In 1989, the newspaper moved its offices to the building Albert Kahn designed for The Detroit News at 615 West Lafayette. Because the News Building is only three stories, it is constructed of reinforced concrete and faced with concrete fashioned to look like stone. [10] When the Free Press offices moved into the building, they occupied the southern portion and used the address of 600 West Fort Street while The News used its long-time address of 615 West Lafayette. In February 2014, both newspapers announced their intent to move to another facility which would be more suited to their current needs. [11]
Several redevelopment plans were proposed during the time the building was vacant. None of these were successful.
In September 2016, billionaire developer Dan Gilbert bought the property, through Pyramid Development Co, LLC, for a reported $8.425 million. Throughout the next four years, the building was redeveloped into a mixed-use project with 8,000 square feet of retail space, 55,000 square feet of office space, and 105 new apartments. The building, renamed "The Press/321", began leasing in September 2020. [8]
The Renaissance Center, commonly known as the RenCen, is a complex of seven connected skyscrapers in downtown Detroit, Michigan, United States. The Renaissance Center complex is on the Detroit International Riverfront and is owned and used by General Motors as its world headquarters. The central tower has been the tallest building in Michigan since its completion in 1977.
Ally Detroit Center, formerly One Detroit Center, is a skyscraper and class-A office building located in Downtown Detroit, overlooking the Detroit Financial District. Rising 619 feet (189 m), the 43-story tower is the tallest office building in Michigan and the second tallest building overall in the state behind the central hotel tower of the Renaissance Center, located a few blocks away. Although the Penobscot Building has more floors above ground (45), those of Ally Detroit Center are taller, with its roof sitting roughly 60 feet (18 m) taller than that of the Penobscot. It has a floor area of 1,674,708 sq ft (155,585.5 m2).
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The Lafayette Building was a high-rise office building located at 144 West Lafayette Boulevard in downtown Detroit, Michigan. It was built in 1923 and occupied a triangular lot, bordered by Michigan Avenue, West Lafayette Boulevard, and Shelby Street. The building was 14 floors tall, with one basement floor, and 13 above-ground floors. The office building was designed in the neo-classical architecture style by C. Howard Crane who built many of Detroit's theaters. It is built with mainly brick, limestone, and terra cotta. Its triangular form mimicked the Flatiron Building in Manhattan.
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