Former Detroit car factory to be redeveloped into apartments

DETROIT (AP) — Developers are planning to turn a 600,000-square-foot (55,741-square-meter) former car factory in Detroit into 433 market rate and affordable apartments.

The $134 million project at Fisher Body 21 is to include commercial and retail space, Mayor Mike Duggan's office announced Monday.

Duggan said that for nearly 30 years the old factory loomed over part of Detroit “as an international poster child for blight and abandonment.”

“For much of that time, demolition seemed like the likely outcome because the idea of finding a developer willing to renovate and reuse it seemed impossible,” Duggan said.

Gregory Jackson of Jackson Asset Management, Richard Hosey of Hosey Development, and Lewand Development are taking on the Fisher 21 Lofts project.

Construction is expected to begin late next year and wrap up in 2025.

The steel-reinforced concrete factory was built in 1919, according to the city.

It closed as an auto factory in 1984 and later was used for industrial paint operations. The building has been abandoned since 1993. The city of Detroit took over its title in 2000.