The Detroit Free Press building is ready to undergo a massive renovation to change what was once a newspaper building into a mixed-use building with retail, office, and residential space. On April 25, Detroit-based Kraemer Design Group announced it was selected as the architect of record and historic consultant for the project.
The building, located at 321 W. Lafayette, is one of the last high-rises in Detroit’s downtown core that remains abandoned. The restoration will include structural updates, complete masonry restoration, new energy-efficient windows, and a new interior design that will better equip the building to handle its new mixed-use role.
Many of the 271,858-sf, 14-story building’s historic elements and details will be preserved. The rest of the structure will be modernized to eliminate any hint that the building was vacant for 19 years. “We understand the challenges and preservation techniques needed to maintain historic elements while adding modern amenities,” KDG Principal Brian Rebain says in a release.
Kraemer Design Group is no stranger to historic preservation in the Detroit area. The firm has also worked on the East Main Redevelopment in Milan, Mich., which earned a Governor’s Award for Historic Preservation.
The renovated Detroit Free Press building is scheduled to open in 2020.
Related Stories
| Jun 17, 2013
New North Tower opens at Greensboro, N.C.’s Moses Cone Hospital expansion/renovation
A $200 million expansion and renovation at Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital in Greensboro, N.C. reached a big milestone this month with the opening of the new North Tower.
| Jun 13, 2013
L.A.'s natural history museum completes reimagining of buildings and grounds
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles completed a full-scale transformation this month with the opening of its new Nature Gardens and Nature Lab and the Otis Booth Pavilion with an iconic Fin Whale specimen.
| May 31, 2013
$3 million renovation leads to rebirth of Boston hotel with new upscale identity
After a $3 million renovation, the Bulfinch Hotel in Boston has been reborn as the Boxer, a more upscale property.
| May 28, 2013
Renovated casino part of redevelopment project at Los Angeles-area racetrack
Hollywood Park racetrack in Inglewood, Calif., will soon become Hollywood Park Tomorrow, a 238-acre development project.
| May 2, 2013
New web community aims to revitalize abandoned buildings
Italian innovators Andrea Sesta and Daniela Galvani hope to create a worldwide database of abandoned facilities, ripe for redevelopment, with their [im]possible living internet community.