Lawyers Building to be Converted into Lofts

[Allan]

Upgrade is likely to attract office users and residential owners

By R.J. King / The Detroit News

DETROIT

[bobliocatt]

Do you have a picture of this building? Is it near the (Merchant's Row?) project on Woodward?

[Allan]

This is actually south of Compuware, near the Cadillac Tower. So it is several blocks from Merchants Row. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places.

From the Woodward Heritage Site:

The Lawyers Building is significant as the finest unaltered Chicago Style high-rise office building in Detroit. It is notable as one of the few office buildings to reject a heavy overlay of historically derived ornamentation and strive for modernism. The Lawyers Building is historically relevant as the first building erected in the Barlum family's attempt to rebuild the Cadillac Square area. Catering primarily to middle class tenants, many of the spaces were rented to unions and benevolent organizations. One of these, the A.F.L's Waiter and Waitress Union, went on strike against the Barlum Hotel while renting space in their office building.

Photo Courtesy of Greg Kacier, Detroit Pix