As GM prepares to shift its headquarters to the Hudson’s Detroit building, the towers of the Renaissance Center complex it occupied since 1996 will undergo various fates, with some destined to be demolished along with the podium in front of the entrance and others to be renovated and repurposed as part of the $1.6 billion project.
While Towers 300 and 400 will metaphorically fall under the wrecking ball – though asbestos insulation could complicate the process and increase demolition costs by up to 20 percent – the 600 Tower of the Renaissance Center will be auctioned off this week, Crain’s Detroit Business reports.
500 Tower And 600 Tower On The Right
The auction opened on Monday, March 17th, 2025 and will run through Wednesday, March 19th with an unknown reserve price. Bidding started at $2.75 million. The building, a faceted polygonal structure 21 stories high, is mostly unoccupied at this point, with the Canadian Consulate, a daycare business, dentists’ offices and the headquarters of the non-profit Detroit Riverfront Conservancy as the only occupants in the nearly empty structure.
Notably, the 600 Tower of the Renaissance Center is not part of the cluster of five towers owned by GM. Instead, it and the 500 Tower – home of Blue Cross Blue Shield Michigan, sold to Kawa Private Investments LLC for $30.4 million in late 2023 – was acquired by a partnership consisting of F&F Capital Group and Friedman Real Estate. The two towers were bought together as a package deal for $15 million, though somewhere north of $10 million was also spent to keep Blue Cross Blue Shield on site.
The senior vice president of Friedman Real Estate, Steven Silverman, expressed excitement over the sale of the 600 Tower. He claims “an incredible level of interest in the 600 RenCen property” exists among potential buyers, remarking that “the demand has been overwhelming, with strong interest from local, regional, and even international groups.”
“Office, mixed-use development, apartments, condos, and hotel concepts” are among the possible uses of Tower 600 once it has sold, according to Silverman. He added that his company is “eagerly anticipating” the results of the auction and that “it will be exciting to see who secures the winning bid.”
Meanwhile, GM has already expanded its plans for occupancy at its new Hudson’s Detroit headquarters, opting to lease four floors instead of the originally planned two. However, it will probably continue to operate from the Renaissance Center through 2025, with plans for the move probably pushed back until 2026.
No Comments yet