Historic Detroit

Every building in Detroit has a story — we're here to share it

Detroit Police Headquarters

This Albert Kahn-designed structure in Detroit's Greektown neighborhood served as the Detroit Police Department headquarters from 1923 until 2013.

Ground was broken for the former Detroit Police Headquarters in late 1921, with the cornerstone being laid on Dec. 28 of that year. The builder was Otto Misch Co.

The department's traffic unit was the first to set up cop shop there, on Dec. 22, 1922. Their fellow boys in blue joined them over the next month or so in this Albert Kahn-designed temple of law and order.

The Police Department moved out of the well-loved but well-worn 1300 Beaubien and into the Detroit Public Safety Headquarters on Third Avenue and Howard Street on June 28, 2013.

As part of Detroit's historic bankruptcy settlement, the old headquarters development option was given to one of the City's creditors, Syncora Guarantee Inc., which controls the property through its subsidiary Pike Pointe Holdings LLC.

In February 2018, Dan Gilbert's Bedrock announced that it would acquire and redevelop the 240,000-square-foot building in partnership with Pike Pointe.

“We are excited to work with Syncora to revive a priceless piece of Detroit architecture,” Bedrock CEO Jim Ketai said. “Greektown and its neighboring districts have experienced tremendous growth and have several new transformative developments coming out of the ground in the near future, making this the perfect opportunity to begin this building’s next chapter.”

How the building will be reused, the timeline and the expected cost were not revealed, and almost six years later, no work has been started or plans revealed.

More on this building coming soon.

Last updated 27/03/2023