New Center, Detroit facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids New Center, Detroit, Michigan
Cultural enclave and neighborhood
Grand Boulevard looking west through New Center. The National Historic Landmarks Cadillac Place (left) and the Fisher Building in the background, with the Hotel St. Regis on the right
Country	United States
State	Michigan
County	Wayne
City	Detroit
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern Standard Time (North America))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (Eastern Daylight Time (North America))

New Center is a busy area in Detroit, Michigan, with both businesses and homes. It's about one mile north of the city's Cultural Center and three miles north of Downtown. This area is mainly found west of where Woodward Avenue and Grand Boulevard meet.

New Center was created in the 1920s to be a business hub. It was designed to be easy to reach from both downtown Detroit and the factories outside the city. Some people think New Center was one of the first "edge cities". This means it was a smaller city-like area that grew outside a main city, but still connected to it. The name "New Center" came from a newspaper called New Center News, which started in 1933.

From 1923 to 1996, General Motors had its main office in New Center. This building is now called Cadillac Place. Before it became part of GM, Fisher Body had its main office in the Fisher Building. Both Cadillac Place and the Fisher Building are very important historical sites. Besides offices, New Center also has the Fisher Theatre, the Hotel St. Regis, the Henry Ford Hospital, many restaurants, and places where people live.

History of New Center

How Grand Boulevard Shaped the Area

In 1891, Detroit's mayor, Hazen S. Pingree, started building Grand Boulevard. This was a large road that went all the way around the city. It was about 12 miles long and crossed Woodward Avenue about 3 miles from downtown. People first thought this road would be the very edge of the city. But Detroit grew so much in the early 1900s that the city limits quickly went far beyond Grand Boulevard.

Early Industries and Factories

In the 1890s, a big railroad system called the Milwaukee Junction was built just south of Grand Boulevard. This helped industries grow in Detroit. Factories were built in this area on both sides of Woodward Avenue, especially for the car industry. Part of this area east of Woodward is now the Piquette Avenue Industrial Historic District. The area west of Woodward and south of the railroad tracks is the New Amsterdam Historic District.

In 1904, the Burroughs Adding Machine Company built a large factory. The next year, Cadillac built a car assembly plant nearby.

Henry Ford Hospital's Beginnings

In 1915, Henry Ford bought Detroit General Hospital. It was located on Grand Boulevard and Hamilton. He reopened it as Henry Ford Hospital with 48 beds. Soon after, Ford started building a much larger hospital at the same spot. This bigger hospital opened in 1921.

Architecture and Growth

Skyline of New Center

Why Businesses Moved North

In the late 1910s and early 1920s, the car industry in Detroit grew very fast. This made land in downtown Detroit hard to find and expensive. William C. Durant, who wanted to build a new headquarters for General Motors, looked north. He chose a spot just west of Woodward Avenue on Grand Boulevard. At that time, this area had mostly homes and small apartment buildings.

Building Iconic Landmarks

Durant hired a famous architect named Albert Kahn to design the new building. Construction started in 1919. It was first going to be called the "Durant Building." But Durant left the company before it was finished. So, when it opened in 1922, it was named the "General Motors Building" (now Cadillac Place).

As General Motors kept growing, they needed more space. In the late 1920s, they built a second building, the General Motors Research Laboratory. This building, also designed by Kahn, was finished in 1930. It is now known as the Argonaut Building.

Around the same time, the Fisher Brothers, who owned Fisher Body, also moved to the area. They started building their own Fisher Building in 1927. It was located across Grand Boulevard from the General Motors Building. The Fisher Brothers also hired Albert Kahn and spent a lot of money to make their headquarters beautiful. They then built the New Center Building (now the Albert Kahn Building), which was finished in 1932. However, the Great Depression stopped their plans to build even more buildings.

Expanding Hospitals and Hotels

Henry Ford Hospital has continued to grow over the years. It has added many new parts to its campus. These include the Clara Ford Nursing Home in 1925 and a tall clinic building in 1955. In 1992, Henry Ford Hospital bought the old Burroughs headquarters building. They renamed it One Ford Place, and it is now their main corporate office.

In 1966, the Hotel St. Regis was built near General Motors' headquarters. In 1988, the hotel was made twice as big. In 1980, General Motors added another building called New Center One. This eight-story building had stores, offices, and some GM departments.

Making New Center a Home

In 1977, General Motors helped fix up some of the homes north of Grand Boulevard. This project was called "New Center Commons." It brought new life to single-family homes. With the improvements in Virginia Park, New Center now has two important historic neighborhoods. New homes and apartments were also built in the late 1990s and early 2000s in empty areas of New Center.

Economy and Businesses

Major Employers in New Center

For 70 years, New Center was like a big company campus for General Motors. But in the 1990s, GM moved its headquarters downtown to the Renaissance Center. The old General Motors Building, now called Cadillac Place, is owned by the State of Michigan. Many state employees work there.

Today, the economy of New Center is mainly supported by Henry Ford Health, the Detroit Public Schools (whose main office is in the Fisher Building), and the State of Michigan.

Shinola, a company known for watches and bikes, has its headquarters in the College for Creative Studies building (the old Argonaut Building). In 2012, Shinola fixed up the fifth floor for its offices and a watch factory. In 2014, Shinola gave Detroit four large street clocks.

Future Growth and Development

Midtown Detroit, Inc. is an organization that helps plan and invest in the area north of downtown Detroit. They have helped expand the boundaries of New Center. This group is working to bring more growth and development to the area.

Neighborhoods and Buildings

Historic Districts in New Center

New Center is surrounded by several interesting historic districts. These areas have unique homes and buildings that tell the story of Detroit's past.

Name	Location	Summary
Arden Park-East Boston Historic District	Arden Park and East Boston Avenues between Woodward and Oakland Avenues	This district was planned in the 1890s for wealthy residents. It has large lots with many trees and flowers. Famous people like Frederick J. Fisher and John Francis Dodge lived here. It has about 92 large homes and mansions.
Atkinson Avenue Historic District	Atkinson Avenue between the John C. Lodge Freeway (M-10) and Linwood Avenue	This area has about 225 homes built between 1915 and 1925.
Boston-Edison Historic District	Roughly bounded by Edison Street, Woodward and Linwood Avenues and Glynn Court	This is one of the largest historic neighborhoods in the country, with over 900 homes. Most were built from 1905 to 1925. Many important people, including Henry Ford, lived here.
New Amsterdam Historic District	435, 450 Amsterdam;440, 41-47 Burroughs; 5911–5919, 6050-6160 Cass; 6100-6200 Second; 425 York	This district has a mix of factories, businesses, and government buildings. It grew because of the Milwaukee Junction railroad built in the 1890s. The first Cadillac assembly plant is here.
New Center	7430 Second Avenue and 3011 West Grand Boulevard	Cadillac Place and the Fisher Building are very important landmarks in New Center. They show amazing Art Deco style. Both were paid for by the Fisher brothers and designed by Albert Kahn.
Piquette Avenue Industrial Historic District	Roughly bounded by Woodward, Harper, Hastings and the Grand Trunk Western Railroad Line	This area was a key place for making cars in the early 1900s. Companies like Ford Motor Company, Studebaker, and Cadillac had plants here. The Ford Piquette Avenue Plant is a National Historic Landmark in this district.
Virginia Park Historic District	Both sides of Virginia Park From Woodward Avenue to service drive for John Lodge Freeway (M-10)	Virginia Park was planned in 1893 with smaller lots. Most homes were built between 1893 and 1915 in styles like Tudor and Georgian.

Important Buildings in New Center

Historic 6001 Cass Avenue building, now with new offices and an art gallery after a $40 million renovation.

New Center is home to many important buildings:

Albert Kahn Building (now homes)
Argonaut Building (home to the College for Creative Studies)
Cadillac Place (former GM Building, now state offices)
Detroit Amtrak station (train station)
Fisher Building (headquarters of Detroit Public Schools)
Henry Ford Health System
Henry Ford Hospital
Hitsville U.S.A. (Motown Museum)
Hotel St. Regis, Detroit
Metropolitan United Methodist Church
New Center One (Henry Ford Medical Center)
New Center Park

Life and Culture

Shopping and Entertainment

New Center has stores mainly along Woodward and Grand Boulevard. The Cadillac Place and Fisher Building are important landmarks. Some stores in the area have been there since the 1920s. The fancy Hotel St. Regis is right next to the Fisher Theatre, a famous place for shows.

The Consulate-General of Lebanon in Detroit is located in the New Center One Building.

Events and Community Life

New Center hosts a summer-long series of events in New Center Park. This park has an outdoor concert area that can hold 1,000 people. It's a great place for national music acts to perform.

Grand Boulevard became a popular place to live in the early 1900s. Many homes were built along Grand Boulevard and in nearby neighborhoods, like the Virginia Park Historic District. Smaller apartment buildings were also built. Later, larger apartment buildings were constructed in the 1920s for workers and visitors.

New Developments and Improvements

The 2010s brought a lot of new development to New Center.

Streetcar maintenance bay, inside Penske Tech Center

In 2010, the Henry Ford Health System started a $500 million project. This project aims to improve 300 acres of land for hospital expansion and neighborhood growth.
A new $30 million Medical Distribution Center was built for Cardinal Health, Inc..
In 2017, plans were announced for a new $155 million Brigitte Harris Cancer Pavilion. It opened in 2021 and connects to Henry Ford Hospital with a skywalk.
In 2023, Henry Ford Health announced a huge $2.5 billion development plan. They will work with the Detroit Pistons and Michigan State University.

Other new buildings in New Center include:

Wayne State University's $92 million Integrative Biosciences Center (IBio).
The M-1 Rail Penske Tech Center, built in 2015.
The Boulevard, a $60 million complex with 231 apartments and stores.
The $137 million Detroit Pistons practice and team headquarters, called the Henry Ford-Detroit Pistons Performance Center.
A new Data center for Wayne State University.
A new Pocket park along Cass Avenue.

6200 Second Avenue, now the Lofts at New Amsterdam, with 62 loft units, located across from the new Pistons Performance Center

Many older buildings in New Center have also been updated:

In 2013, U-Haul restored the historic NBC-Nabisco Building.
In 2014, the Hotel St. Regis annex was turned into 58 apartments, now called Regis Houze.
In 2015, plans were announced to renovate the Casamira Apartments.
In 2018, the Hotel St. Regis was bought for a $6 million update.
The Albert Kahn Building was bought and will be turned into 211 apartments and over 75,000 square feet of stores and offices. It's now called The Kahn.
In 2022, the former WJBK-TV studios building was bought and given to the Midnight Golf Program. They plan a $10-12 million renovation for their new headquarters.

Education in New Center

Public Schools and Universities

New Center is part of the Detroit Public Schools district. The district's main office is located in the Fisher Building.

Three elementary schools, Golightly K-8, Loving Elementary, and Thirkell Elementary, serve parts of New Center. Golightly K-8 and Durfee K-8 serve sections of New Center for middle school. All students in New Center go to Northwestern High School.

The New Center area also has the offices for the University Prep Schools system. These include:

Ellen Thompson Elementary School
Mark Murray Elementary School
University Prep Academy High School (New Center)

The College for Creative Studies (CCS) is a private college with campuses in Midtown and New Center. It offers degrees in art and design. The New Center campus also has the Henry Ford Academy: School for Creative Studies. This is a special art and design school for middle and high school students.

Wayne State University used to hold its criminal justice classes in the Criminal Justice Building, designed by Albert Kahn. The university stopped using the building in 2016. It was then sold and will be turned into a mixed-use development.

Past Schools in the Area

In the past, Sherhard K-8, Hutchins Middle School, Murray-Wright High School, and Northern High School served students in New Center.

Media Connections

In the 1950s and 1960s, the TV studios for WJBK were in New Center. After WJBK moved in 1970, WTVS (Detroit Public Television), the city's PBS station, used the New Center site until 2008.

Images for kids

Streetscape on Cass, looking north, in the New Amsterdam Historic District
The Fisher Building, which has the headquarters of Detroit Public Schools
Woodward Avenue looking north just past Grand Boulevard at the Lakeshore Global Building
New Center townhomes on Pallister
Henry Ford Hospital
The Henry Ford Health System Headquarters Complex in New Center
Hotel St. Regis, Detroit
General Motors Building (now Cadillac Place)
Homes on Pallister, a pedestrian only street in this block.
Apartment building (Wellington Place) at 59 Seward Avenue on the north side of New Center under renovation in 2017 for 91 senior apartments.
The former WJBK-TV Studios Building (on the National Register of Historic Places) sold to developers in late 2019.