Crain's is reporting that Detroit's most magnificent gilded age mansion has been acquired by Wayne State.

"Built between 1889 and 1892, the mansion was once the home of industrial tycoon Col. Frank J. Hecker, housed the Smiley Bros. Music Co. and most recently has been the home of the offices of personal injury law firm Charfoos & Christensen PC that since 2011 has been looking to sell and move out.

The property consists of the 21,000-square-foot mansion, which has more than a dozen fireplaces, and a 5,700-square-foot carriage house.

The university plans to move the roughly 15 Alumni Relations Department employees there from Gilmour Mall in the spring, said Rick Nork, Wayne State’s vice president of finance and business operations, treasurer and CFO.

It will also be used for alumni-related activities and for emeritus faculty events, he said.
Matt Lockwood, Wayne State’s director of communications, said the university will drop the reference to Smiley Bros. in the mansion’s name and instead call it the Hecker House."

I was given a tour of it by then owner Larry Charfoos not long after his law firm had acquired it from Smiley Brother pianos and then did a massive restoration, well remodeling at least as it had previously been turned into a commercial space. The condition was excellent but was not longer a residential mansion as it originally had been and was more like a luxury office space.

The carriage house had been turned into a mock court room for practice trials.

I'm having some trouble parsing Wayne State's purpose for getting it. It's a neat office space but the upkeep, if they are maintain its historicity, doesn't seem cost effective on the surface. Perhaps it adds to the brand. What do you think?