Detroit-based real estate management firm Bedrock has revealed a slew of new renderings depicting both the exterior and interior of its massive new mixed-use development project underway in the heart of downtown Motor City.
The 1.5 million-square-foot scheme includes a recently topped-out mid-rise office building and a glassy neighboring tower that is slowly but surely rising at a prominent site at Woodward and Gratiot Avenues that was once home to the gargantuan flagship of long-defunct department store chain Hudson’s. Designed by Smith, Hinchman, & Grylls, the storied Detroit institution was shuttered in 1983 and demolished over a decade later in 1998 during a near record-setting controlled implosion. In its mid-20th-century heyday, Hudson’s ranked as the tallest retail building/department store in the world at 32 stories (!) and was only second in total size to Macy’s New York flagship at roughly 2.2. million square feet.
The development rising at the old Hudson’s site is similarly, superlatively big. SHoP Architects, joined by Detroit-based firm Hamilton Anderson Associates, is leading the design of the two buildings, which together encompass an entire city block just north of Campus Martius Park with a public plaza between them. The tower, featuring a 227-room luxury hotel topped by 100-plus residential units, will eventually rise 685 feet above the city. Edging out Philip Johnson and John Burgee’s postmodernist Ally Detroit Center (née One Detroit Center) by only 60-some feet, the tower will be the new second tallest skyscraper in Detroit—and all of Michigan—behind the central tower of the Renaissance Center complex. Ground first broke on the downtown development—simply known for now as Hudson’s Site— in 2017; since March of last year, the height of the tower has been steadily creeping upwards to its current height of nearly 200 feet.
Directly next to the tower fronting Woodward Avenue will be the squatter office mid-rise, which will include roughly 408,000 gross square feet of office space with large, adaptable floor plates and floor-to-ceiling windows. Detroit-based commercial interior design studio Pophouse is leading the design of the office space common areas, including a soaring central atrium, with an eye toward future “tech-forward” tenants. (The founder and creative director of Pophouse is Jennifer Gilbert, wife of Quicken Loans and Rock Ventures founder Dan Gilbert; Bedrock is the real estate arm of Rock Ventures.)
Incorporated into the second and third floors of the office building will be a 126,000-gross-square-foot event venue able to accommodate both intimate goings-on and large-scale affairs of up to 2,500 people. What’s more, an art-filled cut-through plaza tucked between the residential tower and office building will be lined with ground-level retail, dining, and exhibition space. Additional public space will be be found at a roof terrace atop the office building, where Bedrock plans for food and drink options in a setting that promises to be “one of Detroit’s most unique experiences for residents and visitors.”
“The significance of this development goes beyond its unique and distinctive physical presence,” said Bedrock CEO Kofi Bonner in a statement. “Once complete, along with impressive views, the project will bring premier office, residential, hotel and event spaces with carefully curated dining and entertainment experiences. But more importantly, the project will anchor the transformation of the historic Woodward corridor and exemplifies the resurgence of Detroit. The reinvigoration of Detroit’s most centrally located site will become a must-see location and will generate fond memories for Detroiters and visitors for generations to come.”
Other notable Bedrock-owned properties, many of them revamped historic Detroit skyscrapers, include 1001 Woodward, Book Tower, Chrysler House, the David Stott Building, and the Minoru Yamasaki-designed One Woodward.
AN will continue to track the transformative Hudson’s Site development as it progresses towards completion, which is slated for 2024.
