By Michael Poris, McIntosh Poris Architects Long defined by its industrial legacy, Detroit development currently combines ground-up construction with intelligent, innovative adaptive reuse. Brick-and-mortar manufacturing-era remnants include many buildings that originally served the automotive industry. As large-scale manufacturing relocated and Detroit’s population declined, several significant buildings were abandoned. Many are viable for second lives, ones that fulfill current commercial real estate market demands. Adaptive reuse makes sense I co-founded McIntosh Poris in 1994 to protect Detroit’s historic buildings from bulldozers and redesign them for a post-manufacturing economy. At that time, demolition was the most expedient option. To address this, we focused as much on civic networking and preservation education as architectural design. Implementation involved organizing events with public officials and the local business community to meet leaders of other cities’ successful urban-renewal programs. To make Detroit more attractive to commercial real estate investment, we lobbied for zoning changes. Most relevant, commercial and historic districts were re-evaluated to permit mixed-use redevelopment. Historic preservation became viable, often making sense both financially and culturally. Well before sustainability became a commercial real estate consideration, we educated developers on available adaptive reuse incentives such as historic tax credits. Combined with the inherent efficiencies of reuse, …
