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The Present & Future of WSU's Dalgleish Cadillac Building

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Photographs taken this week by Jason Keen Photography.

With the adjacent American Beauty building out of the way, our attention turns to another property now owned by Wayne State University: the former Dalgleish Cadillac dealership. The Midtown dealership which was the last to sell Cadillacs in Detroit, closed in 2010. The building was designed by Albert Kahn in the 1920s and features original terrazzo floors shipped from Italy. WSU will turn it into a $93 M biomed research center and work is scheduled to start in late October/early November according to Matt Lockwood, Director of WSU Communications.

Earlier this week we sent photographer Jason Keen to capture the old dealership pre-WSU treatment. WSU has started referring to the project as the Multidisciplinary Biomedical Research Building, or MBRB. The buildings' new look will be the work of the architects at Harley Ellis Devereaux. According to Lockwood, the current project scope includes plans to renovate 127,700 square feet of existing space in the former Dalgleish Cadillac building, and construct a 75,000 square foot new building fronting Woodward Avenue. The HED architects website has these renderings below currently posted which ostensibly show what that new building will look like.

Renderings via Harley Ellis Devereaux.

Of the $93 M cost for the facility, $75 M goes towards construction. It's expected to open in January of 2015 so once they get started we're looking at about two years of construction site life. Tech Town employees will have a front row view so we invite them to send in tips about any construction action!

· Multidisciplinary Biomedical Research Building [Harley Ellis Devereaux]
· End of the road for Dalgleish Cadillac [The Detroit News]
· Jason Keen Photography [Official]
· WSU to build $93M biotech hub [Crain's]
· American Beauty Building Now Mostly Just A Rubble Pile [Curbed Detroit]

WSU BioMed Building

Cass Avenue at Amsterdam, Detroit, MI 48202