GM buys Detroit HQ for $626 million

[Robert Hall]

Apparently the building was leased previously.

CNN Money article

[Newbiewar]

yea since 96 its been leased... but... probably a good decision, the owner, probably wanted out, and GM saw an oppertunity to reduce fixed costs

[CARBIZ]

Maybe they can turn them into condos and make some money.

[mustang84]

One of my buddies just graduated and will be working at the hotel there. I know it used to be the Westin back when the complex was first built, but I think it's something different now.

It's kinda ironic that the RenCen was Henry Ford II's baby and today it's GM's headquarters.

Edited May 15, 2008 by mustang84

[The O.C.]

One of my buddies just graduated and will be working at the hotel there. I know it used to be the Westin back when the complex was first built, but I think it's something different now.

It's kinda ironic that the RenCen was Henry Ford II's baby and today it's GM's headquarters.

It's a Marriott now....

....and that is the worst-designed cluster of buildings I've EVER been in. There's no logic to the layout at all.....you can't ever find your way around......and the buildings are not exactly pretty to look at either.....

I think it's an ugly scar on the face of Detroit......sad that it's the most prominent part of the skyline.....<ugh>

[FAPTurbo]

....and that is the worst-designed cluster of buildings I've EVER been in. There's no logic to the layout at all.....you can't ever find your way around......and the buildings are not exactly pretty to look at either.....

I think it's an ugly scar on the face of Detroit......sad that it's the most prominent part of the skyline.....<ugh>

I think that's kinda subjective. The complex doesn't look all that bad.

Plus, as this thread has shown, it could be much, much worse.

[CARBIZ]

When I was at the Detroit Auto Show a couple years ago, I thought the buildings looked very cool close up, especially with the monorail track in the foreground - very Jetsons, I thought. Now Cobo Hall - that's a travesty!

[daves87rs]

All I can say is that it is about time...

[The O.C.]

When I was at the Detroit Auto Show a couple years ago, I thought the buildings looked very cool close up, especially with the monorail track in the foreground - very Jetsons, I thought. Now Cobo Hall - that's a travesty!

I think the RenCen might have been attractive.....back in the 70's when it was built.......but there's nothing about it today that makes it stand out....I stay there every year when I go to the Auto Show.....(plus I was there numerous times during my 7 years in Detroit).....and it's simply the most illogical layout of any office building/hotel complex that I've EVER been into.....it's simply laughable....plus, they are just a bland, charcoal-colored grouping of cylinders with no style at all......

Detroit has WAY too much history.....to be saddled with such an ugly city skyline......to me, I'd rather look at all the old historic highrises (many of them art deco) that make up the decaying core of downtown....than I would to have the RenCen hog the cityscape so overwhelmingly......

Edited May 15, 2008 by The O.C.

[CARBIZ]

To each his own.

[mustang84]

Neat pic of the complex

[Intrepidation]

Neat pic of the complex

Awesome.

[The O.C.]

Awesome.

OK....so GM has a nice facade on the front.

I don't get why so many people seem to think this complex is some kind of architectural wonder???

To me, it looks bland, old, boring, and totally lacking ingenuity in design. And inside? It's even worse......

I guess that's just MHO.....

[CARBIZ]

SHEESH! What would it take to excite you these days? The building is phallic, modern, clean looking and a much better example of the glass wall buildings built in the '80s than most examples I've seen. (In fact, Houston and Dallas are polluted with them!)

[The O.C.]

SHEESH! What would it take to excite you these days? The building is phallic, modern, clean looking and a much better example of the glass wall buildings built in the '80s than most examples I've seen. (In fact, Houston and Dallas are polluted with them!)

Oh crist...it's just my opinion.....

I just happen to be really interested in urban planning and architecture.....one of my hobbies aside from cars. The RenCen to me holds onto an architectural "dead" period of the 70's (when it was built) that never captured the romanticism of the styles of the past (like many of the art deco buildings STILL in and around Detroit, albeit in a state of disrepair) nor did it even try to attempt to recapture that same spirit.

Nor, does it share the same sort of architectural flair that we saw start to crop up in the mid- to-late 80's into the 2000s......just look at the skylines of some of the more modern cities today (many of them in Asia) to see how trends have really matured......

Atlanta's a great one to contrast and compare. You've got the RenCen's sister hotel (without the four surrounding office buildings like the RenCen has) located downtown, built in the same time period as the RenCen.....and then all around it, moving from downtown to midtown, you have many highrises built in the decades that followed that really showcase a unique combination of glass, concrete, and steel....and they all have their own signiature details that make them interesting to study.....