The United Way Community Services Building is a high-rise office building completed in 1895 at 1212

Griswold Street Griswold Street is a major north-south street in downtown Detroit, which passes through the city's Financial District lined with many of its most familiar and recognizable structures, such as the Guardian Building and One Woodward Avenue. Griswo ...

, at the northeast corner of State Street, in the Capitol Park Historic District of downtown Detroit,

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 ...

. The 12-

story Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * Story, a narrative (an account of imaginary or real people and events) ** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting * Story (American English), or storey (British ...

building was designed by architects

Spier & Rohns Spier, Rohns & Gehrke was a noted Detroit, Michigan architectural firm operated by Frederick H. Spier and William C. Rohns, best remembered for designs of churches and railroad stations. These were frequently executed in the Richardson Romanesque s ...

and was the tallest in the state when built. The lower two floors are faced with a brown rusticated stone with the main entry centered on the south façade and framed by four square pilasters of gray granite. Floors three through five are smooth stone and floors six through twelve are tan brick. The structure originally had an elaborate cornice surrounding the twelfth floor which was removed in the 1950s. The

light court In architecture, a lightwell,light well, light-well sky-well,skywell, sky well or air shaft is an unroofed or roofed external space provided within the volume of a large building to allow light and air to reach what would otherwise be a dark or ...

which extended from the fifth to twelfth floor above the entry was filled in 1988 and faced with glass and a gabled glass roof to provide additional office space.

History

The building was owned and occupied by the United Way for Southeastern Michigan from 1987 to 2009; the city's redevelopment agency purchased it from United way for $1.75 million. For many years prior to 1987, it was known as the Detroit Savings Bank Building and contained offices for the Detroit Savings Bank, which became Detroit Bank and Trust and later Comerica. At the time of construction it was known as the Chamber of Commerce Building and, at 12 stories, is Detroit's oldest existing skyscraper and among the first constructed in the city with a steel skeleton. The 10-story Hammond Building (1889), now demolished, is considered the city's first skyscraper. The Qube in the

Detroit Financial District The Detroit Financial District is a United States historic district in downtown Detroit, Michigan. The district was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on December 14, 2009, and was announced as the featured listing in the ...

now stands on former Hammond Building site. In May 2013, the

Archdiocese of Detroit The Archdiocese of Detroit ( la, Archidiœcesis Detroitensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church covering the Michigan counties of Lapeer, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair, and Wayne. It is ...

announced it would consolidate offices from multiple sites in the city into approximately of the building, currently owned by Capitol Park Partners, LLC. After renovations were completed, the chancery and other components moved into the lower six floors of the structure in early 2015, with residences on the upper floors. Part of the renovations included re-creating a cornice at the top of the façade. Richard Karp, whose company oversaw the renovations, said he also plans to restore the name of the ''Detroit Savings Bank Building''.

Gallery

File:The Detroit Chamber of Commerce Building Construction.jpg, The building during construction c.1893 File:Detroit Bank Clock2.jpg, Clock at Griswold and State Streets, July 1942

References

External links

{{Architecture of metropolitan Detroit Office buildings completed in 1895 Spier & Rohns buildings Skyscraper office buildings in Detroit