Curbed Detroit reports the Free Press building on W. Lafayette has a new owner after a three-day auction.
A winning bid of $4.025M prevailed over a flurry of last-minute bids. That's just below the highest bid from last year's auction, where the Free Press Building would've sold for $4.15M had it not been for a higher reserve price (the current auction had no reserve). The winning buyer's identity is not yet known, but here's to hoping they've got the chops to take advantage of this Kahn-designed building's unique layout and pre-approved tax breaks.
Dan Austin, at Historic Detroit, describes the building, which has been empty since the Free Pres staff moved into the first two floors of the Detroit News building in 1998:
The six-story building — with a 14-story tower — was commissioned by Free Press owner E.D. Stair and cost $6 million (about $72 million in today’s dollars) to build. The construction firm of Spencer, White & Prentice was entrusted to erect Kahn’s limestone masterpiece. The Lafayette Hotel was among the buildings razed to make way for the paper’s new home.
The 288,517 square-foot building has limestone carvings by New York sculptor Ulysses Ricci, including two imposing statues of the goddesses of Commerce and Communication who guard the front doors. An arch with owls, snakes and, oddly, pelicans and seahorses is above them.
