3100 W. Big Beaver Road

3100 W. Big Beaver Road in Troy, Michigan, USA, is the former international headquarters of Kmart Corporation. The building, on the northwest side of the intersection of W. Big Beaver Road and Coolidge Highway, used to employ thousands of people, but has been vacant since 2006.

The building was erected in 1969, designed by Smith, Hinchman, and Grylls, Inc.[1] In 1972, the Kresge company, the precursor of KMart, moved its headquarters there from Detroit (where its former headquarters is now the Metropolitan Center for High Technology).[2] In 1975 a Michigan historic marker was erected to mark the significance of the company.[3] It was constructed for more than 5,500 headquarters staff.[4] When Kmart purchased Sears and moved its headquarters to Chicago in 2006, the building, then housing 2,000, was vacated; art from the corporate art collection including a tapestry by Picasso and a signed Warhol poster and exhibits from the science and technology collection including a work by Alan Bean signed by US astronauts were sold off.[5]

The 40-acre building is enclosed by nine towers, six smaller, two larger, and one overlooking the rest at the corner nearest the intersection of W. Big Beaver and Coolidge. The tallest tower offers a panoramic view of the surrounding area, including the adjacent Somerset Mall.

The building was sold in December 2005 to Madison Marquette, a development company that planned to use the site for a hotel, condominiums, shopping, offices, and entertainment.[5] It was sold in 2006 for US$40 million. In 2009 The Forbes Company & Frankel Associates, owners of the mall, purchased it from Diamond Troy JV, L.L.C. for an undisclosed price.[6] Many people have since attempted to purchase the area from Forbes, but all have been unsuccessful. Forbes has said he is working with the city to decide how to develop the area. One idea was a project called the Pavilions of Troy, to tear down the old building and create an outside shopping mall.[7] For now the building stands empty and decrepit. Everything inside the building has been broken and parts of it are flooded. The Somerset mall security have had accounts of people breaking into the building to explore it, so most of the windows have been broken and boarded up.

References

  1. ↑ "S.S. Kresge Company International Headquarters, Troy, Michigan", Joseph Messana Architectural Image Collection, NLA Trove.
  2. ↑ Associated Press, "A look at KMart's history", The Argus-Press, May 4, 2003, p. 6A.
  3. ↑ S. S. Kresge Corporation, Michigan Markers Registered Site S0425.
  4. ↑ David Eggert, Associated Press, "Kmart's future in Michigan unclear after merger announcement", The Argus-Press, November 18, 2004, p. 6.
  5. 1 2 Associated Press, "At Kmart, the art is high-end: former headquarters sells off fine art", The Spokesman-Review June 21, 2006, pp. A8, A11.
  6. ↑ Nancy Kaffer, "Former Kmart Corp. headquarters in Troy sold to Somerset owner", Crain's Detroit Business, January 6, 2010.
  7. ↑ Terry Parris, Jr., "Pavillions of Troy breaking ground in former Kmart HQ", Development news, Metromode, May 29, 2008.

Further reading

Coordinates: 42°33′45″N 83°11′20″W / 42.56256°N 83.18880°W / 42.56256; -83.18880

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