New Center, Detroit
Encyclopedia
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, adjacent to Midtown, one mile (1.6 km) north of the Cultural Center
Cultural Center Historic District
The Cultural Center Historic District is a historic district located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, which includes the Art Center : the Detroit Public Library, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Horace H. Rackham Education Memorial Building were listed on the National Register of Historic Places...
, and approximately three miles (5 km) north of Downtown. The area is centered just west of the intersection of Woodward Avenue and Grand Boulevard
Grand Boulevard (Detroit)
Grand Boulevard is a thoroughfare in Detroit, Michigan, running east to west in some places and north to south in other places. It once constituted the city limits of Detroit. Grand Boulevard is named the "Berry Gordy, Jr...
, and is approximately bounded by Virginia Park Historic District
Virginia Park Historic District
The Virginia Park Historic District is located in Detroit, Michigan, along both sides of Virginia Park Avenue from Woodward Avenue to the John C. Lodge Freeway access road...
on the north, the Ford Freeway on the south, John R. on the east and the Lodge Freeway on the west.
The heart of the New Center was developed in the 1920s as a business hub that would offer convenient access to both downtown resources and outlying factories. Some historians believe that the New Center may be the original edge city
Edge city
"Edge city" is an American term for a concentration of business, shopping, and entertainment outside a traditional urban area in what had recently been a residential suburb or semi-rural community...
—a sub-center remote from, but related to, a main urban core. The descriptor "New Center" derived its name from the New Center News, an automotive-focused free newspaper begun in 1933 that continues to operate under the name Detroit Auto Scene. From 1923 to 1996, General Motors maintained its world headquarters in the New Center (in what is now Cadillac Place
Cadillac Place
Cadillac Place is an ornate high-rise class-A office complex in the New Center area of Detroit, Michigan constructed of steel, limestone, granite, and marble between 1919 and 1923 and was listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1985. The building houses several agencies of the State of Michigan...
) before relocating downtown to the Renaissance Center
Renaissance Center
Renaissance Center is a group of seven interconnected skyscrapers in Downtown Detroit, Michigan, United States. Located on the International Riverfront, the Renaissance Center complex is owned by General Motors as its world headquarters...
; before becoming a division of GM, Fisher Body was headquartered in the Fisher Building
Fisher Building
The Fisher Building is an ornate Art Deco skyscraper located on the corner of West Grand Boulevard and Second Avenue in the heart of the New Center area of Detroit, Michigan. It is constructed of limestone, granite, and several types of marble, and was financed by the Fisher family with proceeds...
. Both Cadillac Place and the Fisher Building are National Historic Landmarks. In addition to the government and commercial offices along Woodward and Grand Boulevard, the New Center contains the Fisher Theatre, the boutique Detroit St. Regis Hotel, Henry Ford Hospital
Henry Ford Hospital
Henry Ford Hospital, the flagship facility for , is an 805-bed tertiary care hospital, education and research complex located in Detroit ....
, restaurants, and residential areas.
History
In the 1890s, major railroad infrastructure known as the Milwaukee Junction
Milwaukee Junction
Milwaukee Junction is an area in Detroit, Michigan with significant history related to the automobile industry. Located near the railroad junction of the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad, and the Grand Trunk Western Railroad lines, the area encompassed the streets of E Grand Boulevard and Clay St....
was built just south of Grand Boulevard to facilitate industrial expansion in the city of Detroit. To take advantage of the rail line, industrial plants were built in this area on both sides of Woodward Avenue, with the automotive industry prominently involved. Part of this area east of Woodward is now the Piquette Avenue Industrial Historic District
Piquette Avenue Industrial Historic District
The Piquette Avenue Industrial Historic District is a historic district located along Piquette Street in Detroit, Michigan, from Woodward Avenue on the west to Hastings Street on the east. The district extends approximately one block south of Piquette to Harper, and one block north to the Grand...
, while the area west of Woodward and south of the railroad tracks is the New Amsterdam Historic District
New Amsterdam Historic District
The New Amsterdam Historic District is a historic district located in Detroit, Michigan. Buildings in this district are on or near three sequential east-west streets on the two blocks between Woodward Avenue and Second Avenue...
. Most notably, in 1904, Burroughs Adding Machine Company built a large factory on Third, and the following year Cadillac
Cadillac
Cadillac is an American luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors . Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mostly in North America. Cadillac is currently the second oldest American automobile manufacturer behind fellow GM marque Buick and is among the oldest...
built an assembly plant just to the east of Burroughs.
In 1915, Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
bought the financially struggling Detroit General Hospital and its lands on Grand Boulevard and Hamilton (just west of Woodward) and reopened it as Henry Ford Hospital
Henry Ford Hospital
Henry Ford Hospital, the flagship facility for , is an 805-bed tertiary care hospital, education and research complex located in Detroit ....
with 48 beds. Soon after, Ford broke ground on a 50000 square feet (4,645.2 m²) facility at the same location; the larger hospital opened in 1921.
Architecture
William C. Durant
William Crapo "Billy" Durant was a leading pioneer of the United States automobile industry, the founder of General Motors and Chevrolet who created the system of multi-brand holding companies with different lines of cars....
in his search for the optimum location for his planned General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
headquarters. Durant looked to the north, and settled on a location just west of Woodward Avenue on Grand Boulevard. A the time, the area was a residential district of private homes and small apartment buildings.
Argonaut Building
The Argonaut Building, renamed in 2009 the A. Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education , is a large office building located in the New Center area of Detroit, Michigan. The building is located at 485 West Milwaukee Avenue, and is located across the street from Cadillac Place...
), also designed by Kahn, directly south of their headquarters. The building was built in two phases, and was completed in 1930.
Around the same time, the Fisher Brothers of Fisher Body
Fisher Body
Fisher Body is an automobile coachbuilder founded by the Fisher brothers in 1908 in Detroit, Michigan; it is now an operating division of General Motors Company...
followed General Motors to the area. They broke ground on their eponymous Fisher Building
Fisher Building
The Fisher Building is an ornate Art Deco skyscraper located on the corner of West Grand Boulevard and Second Avenue in the heart of the New Center area of Detroit, Michigan. It is constructed of limestone, granite, and several types of marble, and was financed by the Fisher family with proceeds...
in 1927, located across Grand Boulevard from the General Motors Building. The Fisher Brothers also hired Kahn, and spared no expense to construct their headquarters building. The followed this up with the construction of New Center Building
New Center Building
The New Center Building is an office building located at 7430 Second Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. It is currently known as the Albert Kahn Building...
(now the Albert Kahn Building), completed in 1932. The Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, however, forced the Fishers to break off their plans to construct a complex of buildings in the New Center, including a grandiose three-towered version of the Fisher building.
In 1940 Saks Fifth Avenue opened their fourth full-line department store in this building. The store closed in 1978 and relocated to Fairlane Town Center in Dearborn.
In 1967, the Hotel St. Regis was built on the north side of Grand Boulevard near General Motors' headquarters. In 1988, the hotel was doubled in size. In 1980, General Motors built another addition to the heart of the New Center, New Center One, located across Grand Boulevard from their headquarters. The new eight-story building housed retail stores, offices, and some divisions of General Motors.
In 1977, General Motors began refurbishing some of the residential neighborhoods north of Grand Boulevard. The result was the "New Center Commons," a collection of refurbished single-family homes on the north side of the New Center. With the revitalization of Virginia Park, the New Center has two distinct historic residential neighborhhods within its boundaries. General Motors also facilitated the rehabilitation of some multi-family dwellings. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, new townhomes and condominiums were constructed in what had been empty areas of the New Center, including a section along Woodward just north of Grand Boulevard. Additional loft renovation (as well as the TechTown research incubator) took place at the same time within the New Amsterdam Historic District.
The New Center served as a kind of corporate campus for GM for 70 years. However, the company left the area in the 1990s, moving their headquarters to the Renaissance Center
Renaissance Center
Renaissance Center is a group of seven interconnected skyscrapers in Downtown Detroit, Michigan, United States. Located on the International Riverfront, the Renaissance Center complex is owned by General Motors as its world headquarters...
downtown. The old General Motors Building—now called Cadillac Place—is occupied by the State of Michigan.
Structures and areas near New Center
- Argonaut BuildingArgonaut BuildingThe Argonaut Building, renamed in 2009 the A. Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education , is a large office building located in the New Center area of Detroit, Michigan. The building is located at 485 West Milwaukee Avenue, and is located across the street from Cadillac Place...
(College for Creative Studies) - Albert Kahn BuildingNew Center BuildingThe New Center Building is an office building located at 7430 Second Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. It is currently known as the Albert Kahn Building...
- Boston-Edison Historic DistrictBoston-Edison Historic DistrictThe Boston-Edison Historic District is a historic neighborhood located in the geographic center of Detroit, Michigan. It consists of over 900 homes built on four east/west streets: West Boston Boulevard, Chicago Boulevard, Longfellow Avenue, and Edison Avenue, stretching from Woodward Avenue on...
- Cadillac PlaceCadillac PlaceCadillac Place is an ornate high-rise class-A office complex in the New Center area of Detroit, Michigan constructed of steel, limestone, granite, and marble between 1919 and 1923 and was listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1985. The building houses several agencies of the State of Michigan...
(state office complex) - Detroit (Amtrak station)Detroit (Amtrak station)Detroit is an Amtrak station located in the New Center area of Detroit, Michigan. It is served by the . The station was built in 1994 as a replacement for the former Michigan Central Station, which closed in 1988...
- Detroit St. Regis Hotel
- Fisher BuildingFisher BuildingThe Fisher Building is an ornate Art Deco skyscraper located on the corner of West Grand Boulevard and Second Avenue in the heart of the New Center area of Detroit, Michigan. It is constructed of limestone, granite, and several types of marble, and was financed by the Fisher family with proceeds...
- Henry Ford HospitalHenry Ford HospitalHenry Ford Hospital, the flagship facility for , is an 805-bed tertiary care hospital, education and research complex located in Detroit ....
- Metropolitan United Methodist ChurchMetropolitan United Methodist ChurchThe Metropolitan United Methodist Church is a church in the New Center area of Detroit Michigan, 8000 Woodward Avenue . It was constructed in 1926, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, and designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1986.- History :In 1901, two Detroit...
- New Center BuildingNew Center BuildingThe New Center Building is an office building located at 7430 Second Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. It is currently known as the Albert Kahn Building...
- New Center One
- New Center Park
- New Amsterdam Historic DistrictNew Amsterdam Historic DistrictThe New Amsterdam Historic District is a historic district located in Detroit, Michigan. Buildings in this district are on or near three sequential east-west streets on the two blocks between Woodward Avenue and Second Avenue...
- Piquette Avenue Industrial Historic DistrictPiquette Avenue Industrial Historic DistrictThe Piquette Avenue Industrial Historic District is a historic district located along Piquette Street in Detroit, Michigan, from Woodward Avenue on the west to Hastings Street on the east. The district extends approximately one block south of Piquette to Harper, and one block north to the Grand...
(western portion) - Virginia Park Historic DistrictVirginia Park Historic DistrictThe Virginia Park Historic District is located in Detroit, Michigan, along both sides of Virginia Park Avenue from Woodward Avenue to the John C. Lodge Freeway access road...
Culture and contemporary life
The New Center has a retail section, primarily along the Woodward and Grand Boulevard corridors. The Cadillac PlaceCadillac Place
Cadillac Place is an ornate high-rise class-A office complex in the New Center area of Detroit, Michigan constructed of steel, limestone, granite, and marble between 1919 and 1923 and was listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1985. The building houses several agencies of the State of Michigan...
state office complex and Fisher Building
Fisher Building
The Fisher Building is an ornate Art Deco skyscraper located on the corner of West Grand Boulevard and Second Avenue in the heart of the New Center area of Detroit, Michigan. It is constructed of limestone, granite, and several types of marble, and was financed by the Fisher family with proceeds...
are National Historic Landmarks in the area. An area south of Grand Boulevard along Woodward contains some retail stores in the district which have existed at their present location since the 1920s. The boutique Hotel St. Regis Detroit is adjacent to the Fisher Theatre.
In 2010, Henry Ford Health System
Henry Ford Health System
The Henry Ford Health System is a comprehensive, integrated, non-profit, managed care, health care organization located in Southeast Michigan. The corporate office is in Detroit, Michigan...
in the New Center announced a $500 M expansion in Detroit with plans for a biomedical research center.
The Consulate-General of Lebanon in Detroit
Diplomatic missions of Lebanon
This is a list of diplomatic missions of Lebanon, excluding honorary consulates.-Europe:** Vienna ** Brussels ** Sofia ** Nicosia ** Prague ** Paris ** Marseille...
is located in Suite 560 in the New Center One Building.
Virginia Park Historic District
The Virginia Park Historic District is located in Detroit, Michigan, along both sides of Virginia Park Avenue from Woodward Avenue to the John C. Lodge Freeway access road...
on the northern edge of the New Center. Interspersed in the area were small apartment buildings. Larger apartment buildings were constructed in the area in the 1920s to serve the population of workers and visitors to the area after larger office buildings had been built on Grand Boulevard.
According to the New Center Profile market study paid for the New Center Council, Inc:
- Population: 3,185
- Housing Units: 2,346
- Employees: 20,962
- Size: 60 blocks/500 acres
Education
New Center is within the Detroit Public SchoolsDetroit Public Schools
Detroit Public Schools is a school district that covers all of the city of Detroit, Michigan, United States. The student population of the Detroit Public Schools is about 65,971 , which is down about 9.7% from the previous school year. Detroit Public Charter Schools educate an additional 56,000...
district. DPS has its headquarters in the Fisher Building
Fisher Building
The Fisher Building is an ornate Art Deco skyscraper located on the corner of West Grand Boulevard and Second Avenue in the heart of the New Center area of Detroit, Michigan. It is constructed of limestone, granite, and several types of marble, and was financed by the Fisher family with proceeds...
in New Center. The district paid the owner of the Fisher Building $24.1 million in 2002 so the district could occupy five floors in the building. Officials claimed leasing the Fisher Building as its headquarters was more economical than a remodel of the Maccabees Building
Maccabees Building
The Maccabees Building is a historic building located in Midtown Detroit, at 5057 Woodward Avenue. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. and is currently owned by Wayne State University....
in Midtown where the district previously had its headquarters.
Three schools, Golightly K-8, Loving Elementary, and Thirkell Elementary, serve sections of New Center for elementary school. Golightly K-8 and Hutchins Middle School serve sections of New Center for middle school. All residents are zoned to Northwestern High School
Northwestern High School (Michigan)
Northwestern High School is a secondary education facility in Detroit, Michigan. The most recent enrollment figures for Northwestern indicate a student population of approximately 2,000. Northwestern High School features numerous extracurricular activities; including: Debate, US Army JROTC,...
.