Chemical Bank [Now TCF Bank] to move their headquarters to Detroit

[SammyS]

Nice. Hope all or most employees decide to stay in the area.
PS. Look at most downtown skylines and you’ll notice it’s littered with banks and insurance companies. Could be the start of something big.

[Atticus]

Only the first four floors [[and possibly the three basement levels) of the ten floor annex building are parking. The rest is office space.

Interesting. I did not know that about the upper floors. Do you know if they are currently occupied, and by whom? If so, I wonder where those occupants will be relocated to.

[NSortzi]

I'm not sure if they're currently used or not. If they are, I hope they're offered space in the new Chemical Bank building or relocated into Grand Park Centre instead of leaving the city. I'd imagine some of the parking garage space in the new build will be used for Grand Park Centre as well. Will be interesting to see if they connect the two via skybridge or not.

This is where I got the information on the annex building. Interesting to note it was one of the few taller buildings in Detroit completed in the '50s.

[rbdetsport]

So, I am all about good design.. I work in it. But this building for that particular site is not that bad. It is not good, but it is not bad. If you have ever been to Tokyo [[where I am currently living temporarily) or even Berlin, you will notice that they have successfully put functionality over design and it has worked for them. Our city is not yet in a position to be nitpicky over every single development. If we can get great design on the prime pieces of property first, like Hudson Block and Monroe Block [[unfortunately the same didn't happen for Statler Site), I think that sets a new precedent for future design. That time will come and I think it already has for our smaller developments and renovations, just look around Corktown and Midtown, and you can see a clear difference in design between developments that occurred in the mid-2000s and the new developments occurring now.

[Zacha341]

Yeah that name for a bank is off-puting as it is!

Summer nights at The Chem have a certain ring to it.

[archfan]

I agree with others - glad for a new building, and neither love nor hate for the design. I doubt anyone's going to mourn the Borg-like Michigan Mutual Annex.

I have to ask, though. As this new wave of buildings age, will the cantilevered roofs start falling, like the old cornices back in the '50s?

[jcole]

*Talmer*...

[Honky Tonk]

Yeah that name for a bank is off-puting as it is!

I don't know, in my younger days I spent many a night in Chemical Park.

[DetroitSoldier]

I agree with others - glad for a new building, and neither love nor hate for the design. I doubt anyone's going to mourn the Borg-like Michigan Mutual Annex.

I have to ask, though. As this new wave of buildings age, will the cantilevered roofs start falling, like the old cornices back in the '50s?

In most cases the cornices were stone simply hanging on their own strength. These modern cantilevered structures are made of steel with a significant amount of support. I'm not saying the materials covering them wont need to be repaired or maintained, but the actual structure itself should hold for well longer than the lifespan of the building.

[douglasm]

As to the name, remember where the bank is now based. I don't know what the relationship with Dow Chemical was [[or is), but I assume it was very strong.

I'm going to assume that the relationship has winded down some since the Dow-DuPont merger. The combined companies are currently run out of both Wilmington, Del. and Midland, Mich., but I would expect that to change some when they split into 3 companies next year.

Now, here's a question for the masses. Is It CHEMICAL BANK that's moving to Detroit, CHEMICAL FINANCIAL CORPORATION [[the bank holding company) or both that are moving to Detroit. They've already announced that their 500 strong Midland staff will remain there.

[Jason]

I agree with others - glad for a new building, and neither love nor hate for the design. I doubt anyone's going to mourn the Borg-like Michigan Mutual Annex.

I have to ask, though. As this new wave of buildings age, will the cantilevered roofs start falling, like the old cornices back in the '50s?

Buildings are constructed better nowadays, so sadly all of these dumb "hats" will be with us for a very long time.

The old cornices fell off because they were poorly designed and poorly constructed. The tops of the cornices leaked into the insides and rotted or rusted them out. Maintenance might have been an issue, but these buildings were only 20-30 years old at the time, so even without stellar maintenance, they shouldn't have been falling off.

[dtowncitylover]

Now, here's a question for the masses. Is It CHEMICAL BANK that's moving to Detroit, CHEMICAL FINANCIAL CORPORATION [[the bank holding company) or both that are moving to Detroit. They've already announced that their 500 strong Midland staff will remain there.

Chemical Financial. Chemical Bank of Grandma Seinfeld fame was out of NYC and is no longer in existence.

[ABetterDetroit]

Good news for sure but I would agree that with the new building and HQ relocation/recent acquisitions it would be good timing for some branding improvement with a new name.

[royce]

Will the ground floor be a branch office of the bank?

[Scottathew]

Good news for sure but I would agree that with the new building and HQ relocation/recent acquisitions it would be good timing for some branding improvement with a new name.

I agree. I had no idea that Chemical Bank was the largest bank headquartered in Michigan. It's an odd name, the only thing it makes me think of is that episode from Seinfeld when Nana overdraws her account at Chemical Bank.

It sounds like this building will be part garage? I hope not, I'd prefer building on Woodward Avenue to be underground parking only. I also hope the first floor is retail\banking, even if it's just a bank branch. It's really important to have Woodward lines with stores.

I'm not in love with the rendering, but I don't hate it either. It's tall, it's streetwall, it looks like it has first floor retail, it checks many of the boxes for me.

[Dan Wesson]

Summer nights at The Chem have a certain ring to it.

I bet we get a lot more "visitors".

Yeah that name for a bank is off-puting as it is!

I don't know, in my younger days I spent many a night in Chemical Park.

Better living through chemistry...

[jcole]

Yeah that name for a bank is off-puting as it is!

Well, Midland; Dow Chemical...

[jcole]

Apparently, even Midland is not too sure what's going on:

"It's a little bit unclear to Midland, we haven't really had direct conversations with Chemical Bank," said Brad Kaye, Midland's city manager. "Initially with the merger that took place back in 2016 the comments that came from Chemical Bank was that the headquarters would stay here in Midland, they've not carried through on that and so we're disappointed in that. But at the same time we recognize that they're looking for growth throughout the Midwest and not just Midland itself."

http://www.abc12.com/content/news/Ch...489158711.html

[iheartthed]

I agree. I had no idea that Chemical Bank was the largest bank headquartered in Michigan. It's an odd name, the only thing it makes me think of is that episode from Seinfeld when Nana overdraws her account at Chemical Bank.

It sounds like this building will be part garage? I hope not, I'd prefer building on Woodward Avenue to be underground parking only. I also hope the first floor is retail\banking, even if it's just a bank branch. It's really important to have Woodward lines with stores.

I'm not in love with the rendering, but I don't hate it either. It's tall, it's streetwall, it looks like it has first floor retail, it checks many of the boxes for me.

The name is not really that weird. Ever heard of M&T Bank? It's a large regional bank based in Buffalo that operates in the northeast and mid-Atlantic states. The M&T stands for Manufacturers and Trade.

I'm also just old enough to [[barely) remember Detroit's Manufacturers Bank, which merged with Comerica Bank to create the current incarnation of Comerica. I believe the Comerica logo still being used today actually came from Manufacturers.

[3WC]

I believe Manufacturer's merged with Detroit Bank and Trust to become Comerica.

The shape and color of the current logo was in fact Manufacturer's

[3WC]

Oops. Comerica had already changed it name from Detroit Bank and Trust before it merged with Manufacturers.

[Jimaz]

Whenever I hear "Chemical Bank" I think of a brief quip from Firesign Theatre.

It went something like: "I gave them my money and they gave me a beaker of chemicals."

[NSortzi]

It sounds like this building will be part garage? I hope not, I'd prefer building on Woodward Avenue to be underground parking only. I also hope the first floor is retail\banking, even if it's just a bank branch. It's really important to have Woodward lines with stores.

The plans call for ground floor retail, a few levels of parking, Chemical Bank office floors, and the upper floors will have either more office space or condominiums.

I'm sure Chemical Bank will have a branch on the ground floor. I imagine we'll start seeing more branches pop up in Detroit and the suburbs.

[MSUguy]

The Historic District Commision recently approved the demo of 25 W Elizabeth


https://detroitmi.gov/media/19671

[restoretheroar]

cant wait for this to get completed before Little Caesars HQ