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

office An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform Business administration, administrative Work (human activity), work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a po ...

complex located at 3044 West Grand Boulevard (between Cass and Second Streets), in the New Center area of

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, in the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

region of the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

. It was renamed for the Royal French founder of the earlier French /

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

settlements of the

Fort Detroit A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

and subsequent City of Detroit, by

Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac Antoine de la Mothe, sieur de Cadillac (, ; March 5, 1658October 16, 1730), born Antoine Laumet, was a French explorer and adventurer in New France, which stretched from Eastern Canada to Louisiana on the Gulf of Mexico. He rose from a modest beg ...

(1658-1730). It is a National Historic Landmark in Michigan, listed in 1985.

History

General Motors Building

After much pressure by the

General Motors Corporation General Motors Company (GM) is an American multinational automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing four automobile brands: Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, ...

Board of Directors, William C. Durant (1861-1947), agreed in 1919 to construct a permanent headquarters in Detroit for the company he formed a decade earlier in 1908. The corporation then purchased the block between Cass and Second Streets, facing on West Grand Boulevard and removed the earlier 48 smaller longtime structures from the site to begin work. Albert Kahn (1869-1942), was hired as

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

to design the huge massive multi-winged structure, then one of the largest office buildings in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. 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 to be named for Durant, but an internal power struggle led to his ouster two years later in 1921 and the structure was then 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 visible today. The structure was completed in 1922, and served as General Motors world headquarters from 1923 until 2001. It is approximately to the southwest of the Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly, where Cadillac luxury automobiles are currently built.

New Center Development

In 2001, GM moved the last of its employees into the

Renaissance Center The Renaissance Center, commonly known as the RenCen, is a complex of seven connected skyscrapers in downtown Detroit, Michigan, United States. Located on the Detroit International Riverfront, the RenCen is owned and used by General Motors ...

on the

Detroit River The Detroit River is an List of international river borders, international river in North America. The river, which forms part of the border between the U.S. state of Michigan and the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ont ...

. 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 with a pedestrian bridge 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 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 (State of Michigan) purchased the structure. 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,

. Cadillac Place currently houses over 2,000 State employees including the Michigan Court of Appeals 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 s ...

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 National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

on June 2, 1978, it is an exquisite example of

Neoclassical architecture Neoclassical architecture, sometimes referred to as Classical Revival architecture, is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy, France and Germany. It became one of t ...

. 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

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 (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

). 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 Long gallery, gallery or corridor, often on an upper level, sometimes on the ground level of a building. The corridor is open to the elements because its outer wall is only parti ...

behind three arches of the Grand Boulevard facade. It intersects the arcade to form a large elevator lobby with a coffered ceiling.

Interiors

The interior features a vaulted arcade. An Italian

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

from quarries near Chiampo, Vicenza, Veneto, known as , covers its walls. Floors on the ground level are gray Tennessee marble. 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 List of National Historic Landmarks in Michigan, landmark List of tallest buildings in Detroit, skyscraper located at 3011 West Grand Boulevard in the heart of the New Center, Detroit, New Center area of Detroit, Michig ...

was constructed across Grand Boulevard in 1927, the two were connected with an underground pedestrian tunnel that also extends 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. In 1930, the laboratories moved across Milwaukee Avenue to the Art Deco Argonaut Building. 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 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:Cadillac Place, Detroit (Grand Boulevard entrance looking upward) - 20201215.jpg, Grand Boulevard entrance looking upward File:Cadillac Place, Detroit (Grand Boulevard entrance) - 20201215 - 01.jpg, Second Avenue entrance File:Cadillac Place, New Center (31482870943).jpg, Exterior looking southwest File:Cadillac Place, Detroit (Grand Boulevard entrance) - 20201215 - 02.jpg, Grand Boulevard entrance File:Cadillac Place, Detroit (interior arcade) - 20201215 - 03.jpg, Elevator lobby looking toward Cass Avenue entrance File:Cadillac Place, Detroit (arcade ceiling) - 20201215.jpg, Grand Boulevard Entrance ceiling

References

External links

New Center Council

Esmagazine.com: The Mechanical Modernization Of A Classical Icon

Buildingphotos.com
{{Authority control 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