JULY 20 • 2023 | 39
PHOTO BY NADIR ALI
tion at Milwaukee Junction
“is the birthplace of the U.S.
auto industry where, in the
early 20th century, manufac-
turers sprang up around the
Milwaukee and Grand Trunk
railroad lines.
”
Interim MSU President
Teresa K. Woodruff said MSU
has been working “for decades
with partners in Detroit to sup-
port economic development,
advance the arts, transform
schools, improve health and
sustain the environment.
“This new investment signals
our continued intent to be part
of Detroit’s storied history and
vibrancy,
” she said.
The historic Fisher Building’s
future didn’t look bright eight
years ago when a group led by
The Platform and Cummings,
and Redico LLC, bought the
office structure and adjoining
property out of foreclosure for
$12 million.
Though a great deal of
development was taking place
Downtown led by Dan Gilbert
and the Quicken organization,
years of declining occupan-
cy, the exit of GM from New
Center and the need for capital
improvements had forced the
Farbman Group real estate
organization to return the
property to its lenders.
According to an account
in the Detroit Free Press, the
Farbman Group had bought the
building from TriZec Hahn in
2001 for $31 million.
“The New Center area had
gone through some tough
times,
” said Cummings. “I
thought in order for New
Center to come back, the Fisher
Building had to come back.
”
With New York-based HFZ
Capital real estate group and
Rheal Capital Management,
The Platform spent roughly
$30 million over the next eight
years making improvements to
the building’s antiquated heat-
ing and cooling systems, replac-
ing elevators, restoring artwork
in the arcade, refurbishing a
marble façade and lately adding
brass entrance doors.
Cummings said The Platform
was able to double occupancy
of the building from 2015,
which today stands at between
65% and 70%. In 2021 the
building was put on sale, about
the time HFZ Capital ran into
legal and financial trouble at a
number of its other projects.
Cummings credits Mark
Davidoff, who serves as CEO
of the family office of Max
Fisher and a senior adviser to
The Platform, for attracting the
attention of MSU’s Zecher, who
then spotted an opportunity
for the university to deepen its
commitment in Detroit.
In addition to MSU’s com-
mitment to New Center, the
University of Michigan recently
raised its stake in Detroit as
well. In March, the university
committed to a $250 million
research and innovation center
in partnership with real estate
billionaire Stephen Ross. Ross
is donating $100 million to the
center. The new research and
innovation center will become
part of a $1.5 billion project
in collaboration between Ross
and the Ilitch family to devel-
op a 50-block area north of
Downtown in the vicinity of
Little Caesar’s Arena.
Serendipitously, MSU’s pur-
chase of the Fisher Building
and Ross’ investments in
Downtown share ancestral
threads to another former
owner of the building, the late
philanthropist Max Fisher:
Cummings is Fisher’s son-in-
law; Ross is Fisher’s nephew.
Max Fisher, arguably the
Detroit Jewish community’s
most generous benefactor,
bought the Fisher Building in
1962 for $10.3 million and sold
it in 1974; he maintained his
office on the 27th floor until his
death in 2005 at the age of 96.
A few of Max Fisher’s visitors
may have presumed that the
building was named for him. In
fact, an entirely unrelated fami-
ly, the seven Fisher brothers —
of Fisher Body coachbuilding
fame — spent $3 million to
construct it. The money derived
from the proceeds of the sale of
Fishers’ company to GM. The
brothers hired Albert Kahn
to design the structure, which
featured a golden roof and was
named by the Architectural
League the most beautiful com-
mercial building of 1928.
Originally, the Fishers envis-
aged three office towers; the
Great Depression negated the
plan. The Fisher was added
to the National Register of
Historic Places in 1989.
Cummings also occupied an
office in The Fisher until 2005,
near his father-in-law’s. “I think
about Max a lot,
” he said. “I am
mindful that if he could see
what was happening, he would
want me to do a really good job
making sure” that the building’s
next chapter will be as trans-
formative, positive and inspira-
tional as possible for MSU and
the city.
Peter
Cummings
in the Fisher
Building
The Fisher
brothers at the
groundbreaking of
the building