In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Cass Park was one of Detroit’s leading residential neighborhoods, home to stately mansions and large homes. By the early 1900s, Detroit was seeing a population boom that was about to further accelerate as it got on the road to becoming the Motor City. As more and more people moved to the city for work in the city’s factories, there was a quick and sharp increase in the need for housing.

To help meet this need, architect Almon C. Varney developed the first apartment building in the city, the Varney Apartments, in 1892 at Park Avenue and Montcalm Street. After that, Detroit went apartment crazy. In nearly every corner of the city - and especially on the outskirts of downtown and near the city’s auto factories - apartments went up.

It also helped that it was around this same time, apartments were finally beginning to become socially acceptable dwellings for the wealthy. To help Detroit embrace these new ways of living and to change the negative perceptions, such as those around New York City tenements, some of these apartments used the term “flats” instead. This helped to distinguish them as fashionable, quality places in which to live that were on par with single-family houses only without the hassle of cleaning and maintenance given the in-house staff.

The Manhattan arrives in Motown

In 1904, Mr. and Mrs. N. Davis hired Pollmar & Ropes to design an apartment building of 16 suites on the southeast corner of Second and Charlotte avenues. The size of the flats varied from four rooms and a bathroom to seven rooms and a bathroom. The building also held a corner drugstore, and its basement had offices intended for doctors offices. Adding to the appeal, Cass Park was a block away, and the heart of downtown was a 15-minute walk.

"It is first-class in every detail,” the Detroit Free Press wrote Sept. 24, 1905, with marble stairways and vestibule, hardwood interior finishes and floors, and an intercom telephone system. “Especial attention is paid to the soundproofing of floors and walls, which is of the very best. … Every room in the building, including bathrooms, had direct outside light and air."

To combat fears over fires - which were often disastrous in an era before motorized fire engines and modern advances in firefighting - the building employed fireproof Makolite gypsum tiles and a thick brick fire wall between units.

On Sept. 24, 1905, the Detroit Free Press reported that the Manhattan was "now nearing completion," and ads for the units started appearing that November. The papers were frequently running items about residents of the Manhattan hosting parties and social events at their flats.

The building stayed out of the papers other than an occasional burglary or an obituary of a resident, so it’s not entirely clear when it closed.

However, based on the dates that its neighbors closed, and the giant hole in its roof, it’s likely that the Manhattan has been abandoned since at least the 1980s.

Hope for the future

In May 2009, the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MHSDA) was seeking for developers for the Manhattan to turn it into lower-income housing. Interestingly, the MSHDA bid package included not only the Manhattan but the Altadena and Cromwell apartments next door, as well. There were to be 42 units of housing across the three buildings.

On Aug. 31, 2009, Line Rock - an LLC associated with the Ilitch family’s Olympia Development - bought all three of the buildings. It’s unclear whether they responded to the MSHDA request or acquired them separately without a commitment to rehab them as affordable housing. Either way, there wouldn’t be any redevelopment work on any of the three over the next 17 years. Giant holes formed in the roofs of the Manhattan and Altadena, though it’s not clear whether those formed before or after the 2009 purchase.

Meanwhile, the Manhattan, Altadena and Cromwell were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005 as part of the Cass Park Historic District, and were designated in 2016 by the City of Detroit as part of the local Cass Park Historic District.

Finally, on Sept. 9, 2026, the Detroit Historic District Commission (HDC) voted unanimously in favor of a plan to "protect and stabilize" the Cromwell, Manhattan and Altadena. Though there were no plans announced to actually rehab and reopen the buildings, the Ilitch family did say it would replace their deteriorated roofs, fix masonry and damaged parapets, and other repairs in order to prepare them for future redevelopment.

This plan, by Detroit-based Infuz Architects, specifically says that the work is to "prepare the properties for a future rehabilitation and reuse phase."

"There are no redevelopment plans for the property at this time," Olympia Development said in a statement after the HDC meeting. "Our immediate focus is ensuring the long-term integrity of these historic buildings. We look forward to sharing further updates as appropriate."

Though not the ultimate outcome many had hoped for, it is a serious step forward that should help ensure the buildings will eventually be renovated and won’t be torn down, which had long looked like their likely outcome. With the coming University of Michigan Center of Innovation under construction in the general area, it is hoped that the need for nearby housing will finally lead to the three Jacobethan neighbors on Second Avenue will finally see new life.