Cadillac Place
Interactive map of Cadillac Place
Former names	General Motors Building
General information
Type	Government offices
Architectural style	Neo-classical
Location	3044 West Grand Boulevard (between Cass and Second Streets) Detroit,Michigan
Coordinates	42°22′07″N83°04′32″W / 42.3686°N 83.0756°W /42.3686; -83.0756
Construction started	June 2, 1919
Completed	1922; 103 years ago (1922)
Renovated	2002
Height
Roof	220 ft (67 m)
Technical details
Material	Masonry and stone
Floor count	15
Floor area	1,395,000 sq ft (129,600 m2)
Lifts/elevators	31
Design and construction
Architects	Albert Kahn (1869–1942)
Main contractor	Thompson-Starrett Co.
General Motors Building
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Area	3.7 acres (1.5 ha)
NRHP reference No.	78001520
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	June 2, 1978
Designated NHL	June 2, 1978
References
[1][2][3][4][5]

Cadillac Place, formerly theGeneral Motors Building, is a landmarkhigh-riseoffice complex located at 3044 West Grand Boulevard (between Cass and Second Streets), in theNew Center area ofDetroit,Michigan, United States. It was renamed for theRoyal French founder of the earlierFrench /British settlements of theFort Detroit and subsequentCity of Detroit, byAntoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac (1658–1730). It is aNational Historic Landmark in Michigan, listed in 1985.^[4][5]

After much pressure by theGeneral Motors Corporation Board of Directors,William C. Durant (1861–1947), agreed in 1919 to construct a permanent headquarters in Detroit for the company he formed a decade earlier in 1908. The corporation then purchased the block between Cass and Second Streets, facing onWest Grand Boulevard and removed the earlier 48 smaller longtime structures from the site to begin work.Albert Kahn (1869–1942), was hired asarchitect to design the huge massive multi-winged structure, then one of the largest office buildings in theUnited States.

Groundbreaking was held June 2, 1919, and the Cass Avenue wing was ready for occupancy in November 1920 while the remainder of the building was under construction. The building was originally to be named for Durant,^[6] but an internal power struggle led to his ouster two years later in 1921 and the structure was then renamed theGeneral Motors Building. However, the initial "D" had already been carved above the main entrance and in several other places on the building where they remain visible today.^[7]

The structure was completed in 1922,^[6][8] and served as General Motors world headquarters from 1923 until 2001. It is approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) to the southwest of theDetroit/Hamtramck Assembly, where Cadillac luxury automobiles are currently built.

In 2001, GM moved the last of its employees into theRenaissance Center on theDetroit River.^[9] In 1999, General Motors transferred the property to New Center Development, Inc., a non-profit venture controlled byTrizecHahn Office Properties which acted as developer and began renovation on the upper floors which GM vacated in 2000.^[10] The Annex was constructed shortly after the main building, and in the 1940s, it was connected to the adjacentArgonaut Building with apedestrian bridge on the fourth floor. A parking structure was constructed to the east across Cass Avenue and also connected with a pedestrian bridge. A third bridge was constructed across Grand Boulevard in the early 1980s, to connect the building with New Center One and theSt. Regis Hotel.

The building now houses severalGovernment of Michigan agencies, originally, under a 20-year lease agreement approved in 1998. At the end of the lease, the State had the option to purchase the structure for $1.^[11] In 2011, theMichigan Economic Development Corporation (State of Michigan) purchased the structure.^[12]

The building's 2000–2002 renovation, to house State offices, was one of the nation's largest historic renovation projects. When the renovation project was completed it was renamedCadillac Place as a tribute to Detroit's founder,Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac.

Cadillac Place currently houses over 2,000 State employees including theMichigan Court of Appeals for District I. The building's former executive office suite serves as the Detroit office for Michigan's governor and attorney general, and several Justices of theMichigan Supreme Court have offices in the building.

The building rises 15 stories to a total height of 220 feet (67 m), with the top floor at 187 ft (57 m). The building has 31 elevators. It was originally constructed with 1,200,000 sq ft (110,000 m²) and expanded to 1,395,000 sq ft (130,000 m²). Designated aNational Historic Landmark on June 2, 1978, it is an exquisite example ofNeoclassical architecture.

Designed by architectAlbert Kahn, the structure consists of a two-story base with four parallel 15-story wings connecting to a central perpendicular backbone. Kahn used this design to allow sunlight and natural ventilation to reach each of the building's hundreds of individual offices.^[6] The entire building is faced in limestone and is crowned with a two-storyCorinthiancolonnade. In 1923, it opened as the second largest office building in the world (behind theEquitable Building inNew York City).^[6]

The base of the building is surrounded by an arched colonnade supported byIonic columns. The entrance is set into aloggia behind three arches of the Grand Boulevard facade. It intersects the arcade to form a large elevator lobby with acoffered ceiling.

The interior features a vaultedarcade. An Italianmarble from quarries nearChiampo, Vicenza, Veneto, known astavernelle,^[13] covers its walls.^[14] Floors on the ground level are grayTennessee marble. The arcade was originally lined by stores and an auditorium which could be used for corporate functions or by community groups. The auditorium space was later converted into an auto showroom. On the upper stories, floors are also gray Tennessee marble, while corridor walls are covered in the original whiteAlabama marble.^[7]

Two swimming pools were located on the lower level, one was converted into a cafeteria. Tile with a water theme gives a hint to the original use of the cafeteria space. A depressed driveway extending between Cass and Second divides the lower level of the main building from the lower level of the Annex.^[7][15]

When theFisher Building was constructed across Grand Boulevard in 1927, the two were connected with an underground pedestrian tunnel that also extends north to theNew Center Building. They allow employees and visitors to traverse between the three buildings without going outdoors into inclement weather.

To the south of the main building is the five-story Annex which served as the original home ofGeneral Motors Research Laboratory. In 1930, the laboratories moved across Milwaukee Avenue to the Art DecoArgonaut Building. For many years after the Annex housed theChevrolet Central Office. In 2009 when the Argonaut Building was sold, a fourth-floor pedestrian bridge connecting the two was removed and the Annex facade was restored.^[16]

Between 2000 and 2002, the General Motors Building was thoroughly renovated to house the State of Michigan offices. ArchitectEric J. Hill participated in the redevelopment which was headed by Albert Kahn and Associates, the original architects. In addition to upgrading existing systems, reconfiguring some spaces and redecorating, the project installed central air conditioning. When the building was first occupied, it was cooled in the warmer months by opening windows. Later, General Motors installed window units to cool various offices and work areas. During the renovation, large-scale systems replaced almost 1,900 window units that were left when GM vacated the structure.^[17]

• 
  Grand Boulevard entrance looking upward
• 
  Second Avenue entrance
• 
  Exterior looking southwest
• 
  Grand Boulevard entrance
• 
  Elevator lobby looking toward Cass Avenue entrance
• 
  Grand Boulevard Entrance ceiling

• Fisher Building
• Henry Ford Hospital
• New Center, Detroit
• Penobscot Building
• Wayne State University
• List of National Historic Landmarks in Michigan
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Detroit

• Fogelman, Randall (June 9, 2004).Detroit's New Center. Arcadia.ISBN 978-1-4396-1493-8.
• Hill, Eric J.; John Gallagher (2002).AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture. Wayne State University Press.ISBN 978-0-8143-3120-0.
• Meyer, Katherine Mattingly; Martin C.P. McElroy with Introduction by W. Hawkins Ferry & Hon A.I.A. (1980).Detroit Architecture A.I.A. Guide (Revised ed.). Wayne State University Press.ISBN 0-8143-1651-4.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toCadillac Place (General Motors Building).

• New Center Council
• Esmagazine.com: The Mechanical Modernization Of A Classical Icon
• Buildingphotos.comArchived March 3, 2016, at theWayback Machine

• 1922 establishments in Michigan
• Albert Kahn (architect) buildings
• General Motors facilities
• Government buildings in Michigan
• Headquarters in the United States
• National Historic Landmarks in Metro Detroit
• National Register of Historic Places in Detroit
• Neoclassical architecture in Michigan
• Office buildings completed in 1922
• Skyscraper office buildings in Detroit

• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• CS1: unfit URL
• Articles using NRISref without a reference number
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from October 2025
• Use American English from February 2025
• All Wikipedia articles written in American English
• Pages using infobox mapframe without shape links in Wikidata
• Coordinates on Wikidata
• Articles containing Italian-language text
• Commons category link is on Wikidata
• Webarchive template wayback links
• Pages using the Kartographer extension