Corktown Lofts

Corktown Lofts, previously known as the Edson, Moore and Company Building, is a former warehouse building, constructed for Edson, Moore & Company in 1913. It is located at 1700 West Fort Street in Detroit, Michigan, and as of 2017 is being redeveloped into a mixed use space.[2] The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.[1]

Edson, Moore and Company Building
Warehouse, 2017
Location1702 W Fort St.
Detroit, Michigan
Coordinates42°19′25″N 83°34′56″W
Built1913 (1913)
Built byBryant & Detwiler Company
ArchitectSmith, Hinchman & Grylls
Architectural styleCommercial Style, Neoclassical
NRHP reference No.100001839[1]
Added to NRHPNovember 27, 2017

History

Edson, Moore & Company was founded in 1872 and quickly became one of the largest dry goods wholesale businesses in Michigan. The firm employed a number of travelling salesmen, and by the turn of the century it was one of the largest wholesale jobbers in the Midwest. The increase in sales necessitated new headquarters: the company's first location was at the southwest corner of Bates Street and East Jefferson Avenue, but in 1882 the company moved to the newly constructed Palms Building across the street. A disastrous fire in 1893 leveled the building, but the firm rebuilt at the same location.[3]

By the early 1910s, Edson, Moore and Company desperately needed more warehouse space, but there was no room remaining in the built-up downtown wholesale district. They turned to the western riverfront district, at that time being newly developed. The firm hired the development company owned by John F. and Horace E. Dodge to construct this warehouse building. In 1913, the Dodges hired Detroit-based Smith, Hinchman & Grylls to design the warehouse building, and contracted Bryant & Detwiler Company to construct it at a cost of $237,000.[3]

Over subsequent years, Edson, Moore & Company's business evolved, from clothing to textiles and carpeting. The firm moved out of the Fort Street building in 1958 into a larger facility on Weest Chicago Boulevard. The firm lasted until 1974. In 1959, Edson, Moore & Company sold the Fort Street warehouse. In the 1970s the building was owned by the Charles Sabadash Company, and was used to rent warehouse space for storage. In the 1990s, the building was used by the Olde Discount brokerage for storage, and in 2004, Display Group, a design, fixtures and trade show kiosk company, purchased the building and moved in. In 2016, the building was purchased by Bedrock Real Estate, the real estate development division of Quicken Loans.[3] As of 2017, the property is being redeveloped into a mixed-use space.[2]

Description

The Corktown Lofts is a four-story Neoclassical warehouse building constructed of reinforced concrete and faced with dark reddish brown brick. The building is trapezoidal, filling the lot and abutting the former railroad tracks, laid diagonally to Fort Street, to the west. Additional levels below grade are exposed along the railroad track. The main facade, facing Fort Street, contains nine vertical bays. The seven center bays contain window openings with four vertical panes and a horizontal transom above. The window bays on each end contain the same windows, but with cast stone quoined surrounds on the upper levels and an arched window at the very top. There is a central entrance, deeply recessed, on the ground floor. A stone string course separates the upper floors from the lower.[3]

On the west facade, the decorative cast stone quoined surround and string course wraps around to ornament the first bay. The remaining bays are simplified in form, separated by vertical piers.[3]

  • Side view of warehouse, 2017

References
  1. "National Register of Historic Places Program: Weekly List". National Park Service. December 1, 2017. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  2. Louis Aguilar (January 13, 2016). "Dan Gilbert's Bedrock buys huge Corktown property". The Detroit News.
  3. Rebecca Binno Savage (September 2017), National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Edson, Moore & Company Building (PDF)
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