The winning bid appeared to narrowly meet the property’s undisclosed auction reserve price, or minimum bid for a sale.

On Wednesday, the old Detroit Free Press Building, 321 W. Lafayette, also sold at online auction for just over $4 million. The identity of its winner bidder is also a mystery for now.

Both buildings were owned and put up for auction by Florida-based Luke Investments, headed by investor Emre Uralli. The investment group has said it once nearly had a development deal for the David Stott, but the deal fell through.

The David Stott building is a reddish-orange brick Art Deco tower designed by Donaldson and Meier and opened in 1929. It was said to capture the modernist, streamlined ideal of famed architect Eliel Saarinen’s unbuilt Chicago Tribune skyscraper proposal of the 1920s.

Today the building is 80%-85% vacant. Its most popular current tenant, Skybar Lounge, is on the first and 33rd floors and, along with other David Stott occupants, is expected to stick around with the building’s new owner. The 33rd floor was once home to radio station WABX-FM.
http://www.freep.com/article/2013091...old-at-auction