The Lee Plaza is a vacant 15-story high-rise apartment building located at 2240 West Grand Boulevard, about one mile west of New Center along West Grand Boulevard, an area in Detroit, Michigan.
First built as an ornate high-rise hotel along West Grand Boulevard, Lee Plaza was an upscale apartment with hotel services. Designed by Charles Noble and constructed in 1929, it rises to 15 floors and is an excellent example of Art Deco architecture of the 1920s.
Decorated with sculpture and tile outside, the structure rivaled the Book-Cadillac and Statler Hotels for architectural notice in Detroit during the 1920s. After economic contraction, the apartment’s ownership changed several times, being used as a senior citizens’ complex before finally closing as a residence in the early 1990’s.
On November 5, 1981, the Art Deco building was registered historic site by the state of Michigan and was added to the United States National Register of Historic Places
On November 19th, 2015, developer Craig Sasser, announced that he will purchase Lee Plaza for $258,000 from the Detroit Housing Commission, and announced a $200 million redevelopment of Lee Plaza and the surrounding area, starting in January 2016, with completion in late 2017.
The redevelopment will include 200 units of luxury, market-rate apartments, and the redevelopment of two adjacent lots, as well as several nearby new construction projects, including single-family houses, apartment buildings, low-income housing and some commercial properties. The building renovation will cost around $34 million, with another $50 million earmarked for the adjacent lots. In total, approximately $200 million is expected to be spent redeveloping Lee Plaza and the surrounding area.