Cadillac Place, formerly the General Motors Building, is a landmark
high-rise office
An office is a space where an Organization, organization's employees perform Business administration, administrative Work (human activity), work in order to support and realize objects and Goals, plans, action theory, goals of the organizati ...
complex located at 3044 West Grand Boulevard in the
New Center area of
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
,
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
. It was renamed for the French founder of Detroit,
Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac
Antoine is a French language, French given name (from the Latin ''Antonius'' meaning 'highly praise-worthy') that is a variant of Danton (name), Danton, Titouan, D'Anton and Antonin.
The name is used in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, West ...
. It is a
National Historic Landmark in Michigan, listed in 1985.
History
General Motors Building
![General Motors Building (NBY 10093)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/General_Motors_Building_%28NBY_10093%29.jpg)
After much pressure by the
General Motors
The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
Board of Directors,
William C. Durant
William Crapo Durant (December 8, 1861 – March 18, 1947) was a leading pioneer of the United States automobile industry and co-founder of General Motors and Chevrolet. He created a system in which a company held multiple marques – each s ...
agreed in 1919 to construct a permanent headquarters in Detroit for the company he formed in 1908. The corporation purchased the block between Cass and Second on
West Grand Boulevard
Grand Marais Road ( French for "Big Marsh Road") is a road that travels through Windsor, Ontario. Its use and significance has dwindled considerably following the completion of the E.C. Row Expressway.
History
The intersection with Walker Road ...
and removed the 48 structures from the site to begin work.
Groundbreaking was held June 2, 1919 and the Cass Avenue wing was ready for occupancy in November 1920 while the remainder of the building was under construction. The building was originally named for Durant,
but an internal power struggle led to his ouster in 1921 and the structure was renamed the ''General Motors Building''. However, the initial "D" had already been carved above the main entrance and in several other places on the building where they remain today.
The structure was completed in 1922,
[ P. 176.] and served as General Motors world headquarters from 1923 until 2001. It is approximately 2 miles to the southwest of
Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly
Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly, also called Factory Zero, is a General Motors automobile assembly plant straddling the border between Detroit and Hamtramck, Michigan. It is located about three miles (five km) from GM's corporate headquarters. Wh ...
, where Cadillacs are currently built.
New Center Development
In 2001, GM moved the last of its employees into the
Renaissance Center
The Renaissance Center (also known as the GM Renaissance Center and nicknamed the RenCen) is a group of seven connected skyscrapers in Downtown Detroit, Michigan, United States. The Renaissance Center complex is on the Detroit International Riv ...
on the
Detroit River
The Detroit River flows west and south for from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie as a strait in the Great Lakes system. The river divides the metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, Windsor, Ontario—an area collectively refe ...
.
In 1999, General Motors transferred the property to New Center Development, Inc., a non-profit venture controlled by
TrizecHahn Office Properties which acted as developer and began renovation on the upper floors which GM vacated in 2000.
The Annex was constructed shortly after the main building, and in the 1940s, it was connected to the adjacent
Argonaut Building
The Argonaut Building, renamed in 2009 the A. Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education (originally the Argonaut, or General Motors Research Laboratory), is a large office building located at 485 West Milwaukee Avenue in the New Center area of D ...
with a
pedestrian bridge
A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...
on the fourth floor. A parking structure was constructed to the east across Cass Avenue and also connected with a pedestrian bridge. A third bridge was constructed across Grand Boulevard in the early 1980s, to connect the building with New Center One and the
St. Regis Hotel.
Government of Michigan—Cadillac Place
The building now houses several
Government of Michigan
Michigan has a republican form of government with three branches of government: the executive branch consisting of the Governor of Michigan and the other independently elected constitutional officers; the legislative branch consisting of the Hous ...
agencies, originally, under a 20-year lease agreement approved in 1998. At the end of the lease, the State had the option to purchase the structure for $1.
In 2011 the
Michigan Economic Development Corporation
The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) is a public-private partnership agency and economic development corporation dedicated to job creation in the U.S. state of Michigan. Operating under the slogan "Pure Michigan", the MEDC attempt ...
(State of Michigan) purchased the building.
The building's 2000-2002 renovation, to house State offices, was one of the nation's largest historic renovation projects. When the renovation project was completed it was renamed Cadillac Place as a tribute to Detroit's founder,
Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac
Antoine is a French language, French given name (from the Latin ''Antonius'' meaning 'highly praise-worthy') that is a variant of Danton (name), Danton, Titouan, D'Anton and Antonin.
The name is used in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, West ...
.
Cadillac Place currently houses over 2,000 State employees including the
Michigan Court of Appeals
The Michigan Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court of the state of Michigan. It was created by the Michigan Constitution of 1963, and commenced operations in 1965. Its opinions are reported both in an official publication of ...
for District I. The building's former executive office suite serves as the Detroit office for Michigan's governor and attorney general, and several Justices of the
Michigan Supreme Court
The Michigan Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is Michigan's court of last resort and consists of seven justices. The Court is located in the Michigan Hall of Justice at 925 Ottawa Street in Lansing, the state ...
have offices in the building.
Architecture
The building rises 15 stories to a total height of , with the top floor at . The building has 31 elevators. It was originally constructed with and expanded to . Designated a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
on June 2, 1978, it is an exquisite example of
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...
.
Designed by architect
Albert Kahn, the structure consists of a two-story base with four parallel 15-story wings connecting to a central perpendicular backbone. Kahn used this design to allow sunlight and natural ventilation to reach each of the building's hundreds of individual offices.
The entire building is faced in limestone and is crowned with a two-story
Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to:
*Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible:
**First Epistle to the Corinthians
**Second Epistle to the Corinthians
**Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox)
*A demonym relating to ...
colonnade
In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...
. In 1923, it opened as the second largest office building in the world (behind the
Equitable Building in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
).
The base of the building is surrounded by an arched colonnade supported by
Ionic columns. The entrance is set into a
loggia
In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior gallery or corridor, usually on an upper level, but sometimes on the ground level of a building. The outer wall is open to the elements, usually supported by a series of columns ...
behind three arches of the Grand Boulevard facade. It intersects the arcade to form a large elevator lobby with a
coffer
A coffer (or coffering) in architecture is a series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault.
A series of these sunken panels was often used as decoration for a ceiling or a vault, also c ...
ed ceiling.
Interiors
The interior features a vaulted
arcade
Arcade most often refers to:
* Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine
** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware
** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board
* Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games
* ...
. An Italian
marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...
from quarries near
Chiampo
Chiampo is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean ...
, Vicenza, Veneto, known as , covers its walls.
Floors on the ground level are gray
Tennessee marble
Tennessee marble is a type of crystalline limestone found only in East Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. Long esteemed by architects and builders for its pinkish-gray color and the ease with which it is polished, this stone has been ...
. The arcade was originally lined by stores and an auditorium which could be used for corporate functions or by community groups. The auditorium space was later converted into an auto showroom. On the upper stories, floors are also gray Tennessee marble, while corridor walls are covered in the original white
Alabama marble.
On the lower level two swimming pools were located, one was converted into a cafeteria. Tile with a water theme gives a hint to the original use of the cafeteria space. A depressed driveway extending between Cass and Second divides the lower level of the main building from the lower level of the Annex.
When the
Fisher Building
The Fisher Building is a landmark skyscraper located at 3011 West Grand Boulevard in the heart of the New Center area of Detroit, Michigan. The ornate 30-story building, completed in 1928, is one of the major works of architect Albert Kahn, an ...
was constructed across Grand Boulevard in 1927, the two were connected with an underground pedestrian tunnel that also connects north to the
New Center Building. They allow employees and visitors to traverse between the three buildings without going outdoors into inclement weather.
Annex Building
To the south of the main building is the five-story Annex which served as the original home of
General Motors Research Laboratory
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
. In 1930, the laboratories moved across Milwaukee Avenue to the Art Deco
Argonaut Building
The Argonaut Building, renamed in 2009 the A. Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education (originally the Argonaut, or General Motors Research Laboratory), is a large office building located at 485 West Milwaukee Avenue in the New Center area of D ...
. For many years after the Annex housed the ''Chevrolet Central Office''. In 2009 when the Argonaut Building was sold, a fourth-floor pedestrian bridge connecting the two was removed and the Annex facade was restored.
Renovation
Between 2000 and 2002, the General Motors Building was thoroughly renovated to house the State of Michigan offices. Architect
Eric J. Hill
Eric J. Hill, Ph.D., FAIA, is a Professor of Practice in Architecture at the University of Michigan. He earned his bachelor's degree in Architecture in 1970 from the University of Pennsylvania, a Masters in Architecture from Harvard in 1972, and a ...
participated in the redevelopment which was headed by Albert Kahn and Associates, the original architects. In addition to upgrading existing systems, reconfiguring some spaces and redecorating, the project installed central air conditioning. When the building was first occupied, it was cooled in the warmer months by opening windows. Later, General Motors installed window units to cool various offices and work areas. During the renovation, large-scale systems replaced almost 1,900 window units that were left when GM vacated the structure.
Photo gallery
File:CadillacPlaceinsideentryfoyer.jpg, Main entrance from West Grand Blvd.
File:CadillacPlaceShoppingconcourse.jpg, Interior shopping arcade
File:CadillacPlaceNewCenterDetroit5.jpg, Second Avenue facade
File:CadillacPlaceNewCenterdetroit4.jpg, Entrance loggia
File:CadillacPlacefromCassMilwaukeestreets.jpg, Rear annex addition from Cass and Milwaukee Street
File:CadillacPlacefromGrand.jpg, View from Grand Blvd and Woodward Ave.
File:CadillacPlaceNewCenterdetroit2.jpg, Grand Blvd colonnade
File:CadillacPlaceNewCenterdetroit1.jpg,
File:CadillacPlaceFisherbldg.jpg, Cadillac Place (left) and the Fisher Building
The Fisher Building is a landmark skyscraper located at 3011 West Grand Boulevard in the heart of the New Center area of Detroit, Michigan. The ornate 30-story building, completed in 1928, is one of the major works of architect Albert Kahn, an ...
File:Fisher Building, Detroit.jpg, The Fisher Building
The Fisher Building is a landmark skyscraper located at 3011 West Grand Boulevard in the heart of the New Center area of Detroit, Michigan. The ornate 30-story building, completed in 1928, is one of the major works of architect Albert Kahn, an ...
along with Cadillac Place are National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
s in the City's New Center area
File:CadillacPlaceNewCenterdetroit3.jpg, Cadillac Place, Main entrance
File:Detroit December 2021 18 (Cadillac Place).jpg, Cadillac Place, Main entrance
See also
*
Fisher Building
The Fisher Building is a landmark skyscraper located at 3011 West Grand Boulevard in the heart of the New Center area of Detroit, Michigan. The ornate 30-story building, completed in 1928, is one of the major works of architect Albert Kahn, an ...
*
Henry Ford Hospital
Henry Ford Hospital (HFH) is an 877-bed tertiary care hospital, education and research complex at the western edge of the New Center area in Detroit, Michigan. The flagship facility for the Henry Ford Health System, it was one of the first hos ...
*
New Center, Detroit
New Center is a commercial and residential historic district located uptown in Detroit, Michigan, adjacent to Midtown, one mile (1.6 km) north of the Cultural Center, and approximately three miles (5 km) north of Downtown. The area is ...
*
Penobscot Building
The Greater Penobscot Building, commonly known as the Penobscot Building, is a class-A office tower in Downtown Detroit, Michigan. Constructed in 1928, the Art Deco building is located in the heart of the Detroit Financial District. The Penobsc ...
*
Wayne State University
Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...
*
List of National Historic Landmarks in Michigan
The National Historic Landmarks in Michigan represent Michigan's history from pre-colonial days through World War II, and encompasses several landmarks detailing the state's automotive, maritime and mining industries. There are 43 National Hist ...
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Detroit
This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Detroit, Michigan.
This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Detroit, Michigan, United States. La ...
References
Further reading
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*
*
External links
New Center CouncilEsmagazine.com: The Mechanical Modernization Of A Classical Icon Buildingphotos.com
{{National Register of Historic Places listings in Wayne County, Michigan
Skyscraper office buildings in Detroit
Government buildings in Michigan
General Motors facilities
Headquarters in the United States
National Historic Landmarks in Metro Detroit
National Register of Historic Places in Detroit
Office buildings completed in 1921
Neoclassical architecture in Michigan
1920 establishments in Michigan
Albert Kahn (architect) buildings