The Bankers Trust Company Building is an office building located at 205 West Congress Street in
Downtown 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 t ...
,
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
, within the
Financial District
A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies and other related finance corporations have their head offices. In major cities, financial districts are often home to s ...
. Designed by
Wirt C. Rowland of
Smith, Hinchman & Grylls and completed in 1925 the ornately modeled building is an exquisite example of Italian
Romanesque Revival architecture.
[Bankers Trust Company Building](_blank)
''Detroit1701''. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
History
The Bankers Trust Company was founded in 1917 and its offices were originally located in the
State Savings Bank Building, at the northeast corner of West Congress and Shelby Streets.
[McGeen, Denise]
Bankers Trust Company Building
''Historic Detroit''. Retrieved April 26, 2016. The bank later hired the architectural firm of
Smith, Hinchman & Grylls to design a new headquarters building down the street; the structure, designed by
Wirt C. Rowland, was completed in 1925. The Bankers Trust Company occupied the building from 1925 to 1948, when a brokerage firm moved in.
The structure later housed a fast food restaurant, a diner, and several nightclubs, before being sold in 2015 to an unidentified buyer for $3 million.
Description
The two-story building is faced with terra cotta and includes elaborate exterior Italian Romanesque–style decorations, with massive arched windows designed to admit light to the banking room.
The large first-floor arches are echoed on the second floor. Green marble columns topped with lions flank the corner entrance, which once had a revolving door (now removed).
The interior has been remodeled multiple times as the structure served different uses; the three-story addition on Shelby Street, designed in the
International Style, was completed in 1960.
References
Further reading
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External links
Historic Detroit — Bankers Trust Company Building
{{National Register of Historic Places in Michigan
Bank buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan
Office buildings in Detroit
Historic district contributing properties in Michigan
National Register of Historic Places in Detroit
1925 establishments in Michigan