1401 rivard

**hamtown mike** · May-18-10, 10:44 AM

Hey Detroit Yessians...

Pulled some good stuff from the pile outside 1401 Rivard-former Wayne State Medical School building.

The cornerstone is from 1951. Did Wayne State build the structure in 1951? Was it something before?

Just wondering if anyone has some info on it's history or some tips on where to look to find out more.

**MikeM** · May-18-10, 11:29 AM

Built in 1951. The medical campus was built there in the early fifties as part of the Gratiot redevelopement project [[slum clearing).

**DetroitSTAR** · May-18-10, 01:23 PM

When I lived at the Pavilion from 07-08 I realized the electricity is still on inside the building. Walking past it while cutting through to the service drive to go Downtown there were often lights on in the lobby. Occasionally a light would be on up above too.

I do not understand why a building in the middle of a safe, dense, well located area is left in this condition. The building is not old [[by Detroit standards) and has a great location. I really wonder why nobody would jump on this as an investment opportunity.

**hamtown mike** · May-18-10, 01:59 PM

In my digging I found out that Kefallinos has bought it. 2.3 million. apartments/retail planned.

Toolbox · May-19-10, 10:17 AM

Originally Posted by hamtown mike

In my digging I found out that Kefallinos has bought it. 2.3 million. apartments/retail planned.

If it is the old Lafayette Clinic building he has owned it for several years and let it languish along with most of his other derelict real estate "holdings". He wanted to turn it into a hotel but was shot down when the neighbors rightfully claimed it would not be a good neighbor.

**Neilr** · May-19-10, 01:28 PM

The building mentioned by the OP is the former Shipero Hall. It was not the WSU medical school, but rather the Pharmacy School. It's currently owned by Dennis Kefallinos. The Lafayette Park neighborhood successfully fought his request to change the zoning to allow him to put a night club and "hotel" in the building. Here's a link to an earlier DY thread about Mr. Kafallinos and his Detroit real estate holdings..

http://atdetroit.net/forum/messages/...tml?1180537124

Just to the North of Shipero Hall is the former Wayne County Medical Society Building. In recent years it was the Entrepreneurial Institute [[or some such name). They abandoned the building last year. The building suffered extensive damage from, I assume, scrappers who stole the pipes. However, the building now seems secure. It is a beautiful 1950s era structure with a very nice 200-300 seat auditorium, offices, and assembly rooms.

The 3rd building on that site is the former Lafayette Clinic bounded by Rivard, Lafayette, and the I-375 Service Drive. The clinic was closed by the State in the early 1990s. It now houses the Woodward Academy, a charter school, and appears to be in OK shape. Last year they installed a nice black [[fake) wrought iron fence around the property.

**Elouise** · May-20-10, 01:56 PM

Does anyone know what is going on currently? Workers are gutting the building and throwing the debris out the windows. Trucks removed some portion of this pile yesterday. I wonder if they have permits to do this or even if permits are necessary.

**Gsgeorge** · May-20-10, 02:31 PM

Sounds like scrapper activity, but you never know.

**Neilr** · May-24-10, 05:33 PM

One of my very knowledgeable neighbors just informed me that Shipero Hall was in fact part of Wayne's Medical School until the 1970's when it then became the Pharmacy School. Sorry for the misinformation in my post #6 on this thread.