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Can anyone provide any information on this building? It is right on the edge of the proposed new Wings site on the corner of Woodward and Charlotte.
I did a google search of the address as well as a search of this site and nothing came up.
It looks to be an old auto dealship but I am just guessing. I would love to know who ownes it.
Thanks in advance
Look it up on WDWOT. Under "data layers", select "ownership info" and then click on the particular parcel. That info is often a little out of date, especially if the last sale was a land contract. To confirm, look it up by parcel ID at the Wayne County Register of Deeds. They charge $5 for a successful search [[one which returns results), $1 per page to look at documents. Searches are free if you're only searching by owner name, which is usually a craps shoot that only tells you part of the story.
In this case, WDWOT says it was sold in 2011 to 'Golden Realty, LLC.' You can see whose name is on the corporate paperwork for that LLC through the State of Michigan's Business Entity Search, but if they're trying to be discrete, it's usually all signed by a lawyer in Lansing or Southfield. More interesting might be finding out who was paid $1 for it. Again, Register of Deeds, parcel ID search. $20 isn't a lot of money to satisfy a curiosity, considering the hourly rate some people would bill you for this work.
The other free-but-unreliable option is to request a copy of the property tax receipt from Wayne County. Or, for $2, you can look up the city property tax, but that usually just repeats WDWOT and the Register of Deeds info that you already got, and usually doesn't tell you much about the owner.
I think Joel Landy owns this spot.
I believe that building was built as the main Studebaker showroom, sales facility, and repair shop in Detroit. The pre-1921 address of that building was 507-513 Woodward.
Just across the street from the old Unitarian Church. In Crackhead Corridor.
Thank you very much for the information, I will continue my research. Very cool building with a ton of potential.
regards
Although I don't know when the building itself was built, from what I can find, Studebaker was at that location as early as 1907. The building still shows as Studebaker on the 1922 Sanborn map, but they apparently moved from there sometime in the 1920s to a building at Woodward and Brady [[a block north of Mack on the east side).
In the 1936 city directory the building shows as the Willys-Overland showroom and service shop. By 1950 it has been cut up into 4 storefronts with a pool hall on the 2nd floor.
That building housed a ballroom in the 1930's, and later was the SereNgeti Ballroom [[1990's). Gorgeous inside on the second story, where those ballrooms were located.
I learned that Ilitch Holdings controls this property, must be part of the master plan for the new arena behind it.