College for Creative Studies to Redevelop Detroit's Historic Argonaut Building
The College for Creative Studies (CCS) in Detroit is launching a $145 million expansion that will transform both the institution and the city's New Center neighborhood.
CCS announced Wednesday that it plans to redevelop the long-vacant Argonaut Building as the new home for its design programs, community outreach activities, research and professional activities in the design fields. Also included will be new student housing as well as charter middle and high schools. The opening planned for the fall of 2009.
General Motors Corp., which built the 760,000-square-foot building as its first research facility, has donated it to CCS and provided substantial assistance in planning the project. GM has also donated three adjacent pieces of property. CCS programs and departments will occupy about 70 percent of the Argonaut Building, with other partners making up the remainder.
The new campus will be home to all of CCS’s design-based majors, including graduate programs to be launched in 2009, CCS’s master of fine arts degree programs in design and in transportation design. The new programs are intended to prepare students for leadership in design industries. In addition to a full design curriculum, graduate students will take business courses through a partnership with University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.
The New Center campus also will house CCS’s Community Arts Partnerships program, which serves about 3,000 Detroit youth annually in partnership with local schools and community organizations, as well as the Continuing Education department, which provides youth and adult art and design programs.
The project also will include 300 new beds of student housing, a conference center with a 400-seat auditorium and a 360-seat dining hall.
The Argonaut Building will become the home of an art and design-based charter middle school and high school for Detroit students. CCS is partnering with the Thompson Educational Foundation and Henry Ford Learning Institute to develop the schools.
The building also is slated to host one of two creative business accelerators that are part of Detroit Renaissance’s new creative economy initiative. The accelerators will provide rental space and support services to creative businesses to help them become sustainable.
The building was originally designed by Albert Kahn in 1927, and an addition was built in 1936. The first design department in the history of the auto industry, directed by legendary designer Harley Earl, was located in the building. It has been vacant since 1999 when GM moved its headquarters to the Renaissance Center.
Renovations began on the building in May and are being led by project architect Albert Kahn Associates. The development team is led by Eric Larson of Larson Realty Group and includes Jones Lang LaSalle and Preservation Development.
WWJ e-newsletters sign up WWJ Newsradio 950 e-newsletters bring automotive, business, technology, entertainment, and home news and information to your desktop. Interested in a complimentary subscription? Please register as a new reader by clicking here.
ADVERTISEMENT
Sponsored Links:
WWJ Newsradio 950 is Detroit's only all-news radio station and is the leader in Detroit radio news. Listen online to WWJ-AM 950 for live, local Detroit news, up-to-the-minute Detroit traffic, Detroit sports, Detroit business and Detroit community information. WWJ Newsradio 950 is an award winning radio station and you can listen online and podcast on demand Detroit news, Detroit Construction Alerts, Detroit School Closings, Winter Survival Guide and learn more about our Business Breakfasts. www.wwj.com.
E-Mail Story
Print Story
The College for Creative Studies (CCS) in Detroit is launching a $145 million expansion that will transform both the institution and the city's New Center neighborhood.
