"Prestigious" building?

[prokopowicz]

Does Detroit, or its suburbs, have any prestigious multi-unit addresses these days? Something like 1500 N Lakeshore in Chicago, or 720 Park Ave in Manhattan, where older-money folks live?

[dtowncitylover]

Not that I know of. They all lived in houses. However, I was told Seward Avenue, despite being a smaller residential street unlike Park or Lakeshore, was very much a prestigious street.

[mwilbert]

Does Detroit, or its suburbs, have any prestigious multi-unit addresses these days? Something like 1500 N Lakeshore in Chicago, or 720 Park Ave in Manhattan, where older-money folks live?

I will be interested to see what other people think, but I would say no. The culture of home ownership in the area is very strong. I think it is very possible that such building will emerge in the future, but I can't think of anything now.

[Mind field]

The Willits in Birmingham. Birmingham probably has other buildings similar to the Willits, but i'm not sure. The Book Cadillac in Detroit?

[p69rrh51]

Designed by Chicago based architect Walter W. Ahlschlager. Detroit Towers 8162 East Jefferson built in 1925 Detroit Towers Historic District Detroit, MI. Includes an article featuring the penthouse of the building from a 1953 issue of the Detroit Free Press.

[hybridy]

Metro Detroit is all about single family! the 'tree streets' in Birmingham would rank highly [[aspen, hawthorne, linden) due to their walkability to downtown birmingham and they're not through streets.

[Detroitdave]

I totally agree about the Detroit Towers. I've been to a couple parties there and it's an amazing building. Also the Indian Village Manor were pretty swanky addresses.
I have friends that live in both buildings.
I agree with the earlier statement about Detroit being a home buyers city.
I was told that the two buildings I just mention where for temporary homes for the children of the super rich of Detroit to live in while their mansions were being built .
Most of their families had homes near by in Indian village or B.E or Brush park and they used these places to "slum" it until they built their mansions.
Not sure if this is true , but it sounds like it could be.

[masterblaster]

Weren't many of the Palmer Park Apartment District apartments high-end when they were first built. For instance, the Walbri Apartments were built by the owner of the Detroit Tigers, Walter Bridggs, for his players who had children [[apparently a lot of apartment buildings didn't allow children). Each apartment was 2,400 sq ft with an additional 300 sq ft storage closet.






Also, I would imagine that the Highland Towers Apartment in Highland Park was upscale, it has its own underground parking garage.

The following link shows interior photos before the building was torched. A ton of detail on the interior.
http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthr...efore-the-Fire

[Neilr]

Detroit Towers, IMO, is #1 in Detroit.

Some other building that were in their day, and some still are, very prestigious in no particular order:
The Pasadena on East Jefferson
Indian Village Manor
The Palms at 1001 East Jefferson
The Garden Court on East Jefferson
333 Covington in Palmer Park
The Walbri in Palmer Park
The Colonial at Parker and Lafayette and the Parkstone in West Village

Somewhat on a lesser level would be The Hibbard and The Kean on East Jefferson just east of Indian Village.

Newer buildings would include The Jeffersonian and 1300 East Lafayette.

There are also a couple of buildings on Whitmore in Palmer Park that are a definite cut abouve most of the neighborhood.

While these whole buildings may not qualify, the penthouses, with terraces, atop Alden Park Manor, River Terrace, and the Glynnwood at 120 Glynn Court likely would make most folk's lists.

[masterblaster]

What about the high rise buildings and low-rise "condos" in Lafayette Park designed by Miers Van der Rohe? Were they high-end?

[southen]

What about the high rise buildings and low-rise "condos" in Lafayette Park designed by Miers Van der Rohe? Were they high-end?

They were built for the middle class and are mostly still middle class. There are a few wealthy and notable people in the neighborhood though. That may change more as units become more valuable.

[EastsideAl]

From the 1928 Polk city directory: a list of the residents of the then-brand-new Detroit Towers. The list reveals some historic Detroit names, like James Scripps Booth, C. Howard Crane, and Robert Graham of Graham-Paige fame.

[Bham1982]

The Willits in Birmingham. Birmingham probably has other buildings similar to the Willits, but i'm not sure. The Book Cadillac in Detroit?

I wouldn't say the Willits is "old money". It tends to be retiree snowbirds, with a place in Naples [[or somewhere similar) and the other in Birmingham. Fairly affluent demographic, but not necessarily "old money."

The thing is, Metro Detroit has been single family oriented since basically forever. The Pointes never had grand old apartment buildings, Oakland County is too new, and the wealthy in Detroit were in mansion neighborhoods just off Woodward.

I don't think there are too many "old money" type buildings anywhere in the U.S. outside of NYC. Even in Chicago, the money, whether old or new, tends to favor single family homes, whether in the city or the suburbs. SF has a few in Pacific Heights. Chicago has a couple in Gold Coast. Boston and Philly probably have a few. That's about it, outside of NYC.

[Bham1982]

Metro Detroit is all about single family! the 'tree streets' in Birmingham would rank highly [[aspen, hawthorne, linden) due to their walkability to downtown birmingham and they're not through streets.

Those are very nice streets, and possibly the most expensive streets psf in Michigan [[alongside Quarton Lake just across Maple) but I don't think they're particularly old money. It's just rich people in general.

[renf]

Right on with Detroit Towers!