On November 24, 1971, Henry Ford II, then
chairman of the board of directors of Ford Motor Company, announced the
Renaissance Center project to the Detroit Common Council. One year
later, site clearance for the Center began. On July 1, 1976 the first
office tower (Tower 100) was opened. A formal dedication was held on
April 15, 1977 for the four, 39-floor office towers and the 73-story
hotel.
Renaissance Center Phase II, Towers 500 and
600, was opened in 1981, as a separate venture developed by
subsidiaries of Ford Motor Land Development Corporation and Rockefeller
Center, Inc. and purchased by ANR Ren-Cen, Inc. in 1984.
On May 16, 1996, General Motors announced the purchase of the
Renaissance Center for use as its global headquarters and later
announced a $500 million renovation of the Center. The GM Renaissance
Center is now home to more than 6,000 GM workers and 4,000 Center
tenant employees.
The total square footage of the GM Renaissance Center is 5.5 million.
The office towers include 2.2 million square feet of space; 230,000
square feet is dedicated to retail space. The Marriott Detroit at the
Renaissance Center is one of the tallest hotels in the world with 1,298
guest rooms.
Other interesting facts:
- Construction on the Ren Cen began May 22, 1973 (Phase I).
- Project architects were by John Portman & Associates.
- The Ren Cen has its own zip code – 48243.
- The construction company was Tishman Construction (New York).
- Hines became the Redevelopment Manager in 1996.
- The GM Renaissance Center sits on 14 acres.
- There are four 39-story towers (508’ high each).
- The 73 story 1,298 room hotel (Marriott) is 726’ high and 128’ in diameter.
- There is a 5-story glass enclosed atrium (GM Wintergarden).
- There
is a 12 ft. wide glass circulation walkway with access to all four
towers (for exercise purposes, you need to walk around 8 times for one
mile).