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Detroit's United Artists Building to become housing
A building that has been abandoned for years will be transformed into housing
DETROIT (FOX 2) - Almost a hundred years old, Detroit's United Artists Building has spent nearly half of its time in the city's skyline as a symbol of blight and abandonment.
But in 2023, it will reopen as a mixed-use housing building, along with a new name: The Residences @ 150 Bagley.
The $75 million project, overseen by the Detroit-based Bagley Development Group, will usher in 148 new apartments, of which 20% will be affordable housing. The remaking 80% will be priced at area median income. The project will also turn 10,000 square feet into productive retail and dining space along Bagley Street.
It's the latest effort by the city to rehab some of its most iconic buildings that had fallen into blight and disrepair over the decades.
"My partners and I are honored to develop Residences @150 Bagley in such a vibrant, downtown community," said Emmett Moten, the Bagley Development Group’s managing partner. "Residences @ 150 Bagley represents the perfect model for urban development, with the public and private sectors working collectively to benefit the community."
"Residences @ 150 Bagley, will become a flagship, residential development in The District Detroit, and will honor the past while creating the next step in downtown’s exciting future," he added in a statement.
The groundbreaking at 150 Bagley Thursday morning tracks along with other building projects in Detroit, including the Fort Shelby Hotel, Farwell and Capitol Park Buildings, the Michigan Central Station, and the Fisher Body 21 plant.
"For nearly half a century, the United Artists Building has been one of our city’s iconic images of blight and abandonment," Mayor Duggan said. "I'm so proud that we have a development team that truly represents our city turning this great building into new housing, with 20 percent of the units reserved for Detroiters of lower incomes. This project would not have been possible without the leadership of Chris Ilitch and the partnership of HUD, the State of Michigan, our Department of Housing and Revitalization and others. This is a great day for Detroit."
Representatives from HUD and Olympia Development were also in attendance.
The project received a $43 million loan from the federal government, $8.5 million from the Downtown Development Authority, $7 million from the Michigan Strategic Fund, and $3 million in community development block grants.
The original building opened in 1928 as an 18-story building. It's expected to reopen in late 2023.