Denby Center in northwest Detroit hits market again, this time for $2.95M

The Denby Center has had trouble finding a permanent owner and use. The mansion and grounds have changed hands multiple times since the Salvation Army Denby Center for Children & Family Services, a facility for at-risk youth and teens, left in 2016.

The nearly four-acre, 92,875-square-foot campus sold to Southfield-based IDG Holdings LLC for $515,000 in 2017. This year, it sold to ARI Management LLC—also registered in Southfield—for $1.8 million after sitting on the market for over a year and first listing for $3 million.

Once again, it’s back on the market for $2.95 million.

At the time of the last sale, Crain’s Detroit Business reported that new owner Ieshula Ishakis was looking to build a facility to house and serve homeless veterans. Many of the windows are still boarded up and it’s unclear how much if any work has been done. IDG told Crain’s it spent around $250,000 on maintenance and upkeep.

The Denby Center was at one point just a Tudor Revival mansion designed by Jameson & Graves and built in 1931. The gorgeous building has a stucco and brick facade with some stone accents, bay windows, half-timbering, and a turret. It contains classrooms, sleeping quarters, a chapel, and offices. A cafeteria and gymnasium were added later.

Today, it takes up a whole city block with paved paths between seven buildings and a surface parking lot. Three, one-story cottages were built between 1980 and 2010. They’re between 6,000 and 8,000 square feet and all contain office space, laundry rooms, common rooms, bedrooms, and bathrooms.

Want to own an entire campus? 20775 Pembroke Avenue near 8 Mile Road is listed with Kim Page of Front Page Properties for $2.95 million.