Noticed something wild about old downtown office buildings

I was digging through old city records last month for a project on Woodward Ave and found out that nearly 40% of the commercial space built before 1960 is still sitting empty or underused. That blew my mind considering how much new development is happening around Campus Martius. Makes me wonder what it would take to actually repurpose those older floors instead of just building new towers. Has anyone here had luck converting one of those classic buildings.

2 comments

2 Comments

carr.elliot18d ago

Honestly, is it really that big of a deal though? Downtown's changing, yeah, but 40% of some old records from who knows when doesn't mean those buildings are all rotting. Some of those places have character that new towers can't touch, even if the floor plan is a little weird.

williams.jenny18d ago

Honestly, I gotta push back on this a little. Those old buildings are usually a nightmare to renovate - think narrow floorplates, low ceilings, and asbestos everywhere. Plus, modern companies want open layouts with big windows and high-speed HVAC that those pre-1960 structures just can't handle without gutting the whole place. Look at the Kales Building over on Adams - they tried converting it to lofts and offices a few years back and ended up with half the units sitting empty because the layouts were just too clunky for today's tenants. Tbh, sometimes it's cheaper and smarter to tear down and start fresh than to pour millions into a space that'll always feel outdated.