According to the Detroit Free Press, a downtown building that had been vacant since 1979 and once had trees growing out of the roof has reopened as The Element, a 110-room hotel owned by Marriott. Operated under the Westin brand, nightly rates will start at $189. A $33 million renovation saved the 14-story neo-Gothic structure that was nicknamed the "jeweler building" for the large number of diamond cutters and goldsmiths who used to work there.
The renovation preserved many of the building's original features, including decorative staircases, terrazzo flooring and an ornate vaulted ceiling in the lobby. The original storefronts of the jewelry stores also were preserved on the second floor and repurposed as meeting rooms.
"When the building closed 40 years ago, it would have been hard for Detroiters of that era to have imagined that it would come back to life in this way," David Di Rita, co-founder and principal of the Roxbury Group, said in a statement.
The hotel is expected to house three food and beverage venues, with the first, a rooftop bar and patio known as the Monarch Club at Metropolitan, scheduled to open in the coming months. The building also has 7,000 square feet of retail space and several conference and meeting rooms.
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