Cadillac Place, formerly the General Motors Building, is a landmark high-rise

office An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific du ...

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 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 ...

. It was renamed for the French founder of Detroit, Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac. It is a National Historic Landmark in Michigan, listed in 1985.

History

General Motors Building

After much pressure by the General Motors Board of Directors, William C. Durant 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 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—an area collectively referred to as Detro ...

. 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 attemp ...

(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. 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 sta ...

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 cur ...

. 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 most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

). 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 ...

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. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

from quarries near Chiampo, 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, and ...

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

. 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

File:Fisher Building, Detroit.jpg, The

along with Cadillac Place are

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

References

External links

New Center Council

Esmagazine.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