All of the building's existing 72 apartments will become extended-stay, fully furnished apartment hotel units. The unit count could grow to roughly 92 units, mostly by converting some two-bedrooms into one bedrooms. The conversion is expected to start later next year and existing residents can stay until their leases expire. The tower had been an empty office building until Roxbury bought it and redeveloped it as apartments in 2015-2016. Prior to Roxbury's purchase, the tower faced the possibility of demolition.
David Di Rita, principal of The Roxbury Group, said in a phone interview Tuesday that The Plaza has been doing well as traditional apartments. However, Marriott was one of several groups that approached Roxbury Group with the idea of converting the building into extended-stay. Roxbury will remain the building's owner. “The building has performed just fine since we opened it," Di Rita said. "Candidly, it was more of an evaluation of the evolving nature of the residential demand downtown. This allows us to reach a wider audience than the more traditional, unfurnished long-term lease approach that we’ve been following there."
Similar developments in Detroit include the newly opened 117-unit ROOST Apartment Hotel in Dan Gilbert's Book Tower and Sonder extended-stay properties at 305 Michigan Ave. and 139 Cadillac Square. News of this latest conversion plan for The Plaza was first reported by Crain's Detroit. Di Rita said he believes that demand for furnished extended-stay apartment hotels still exceeds the available supply in Detroit. “I think it speaks to the evolving nature of work and of what people define as home," Di Rita said of demand for extended-stay. "And so I think that this kind of residential product is here to stay — and you’re going to see more of it.”
Back when it was an office building, the tower was officially the Professional Plaza Tower, yet widely known as the "Hammer and Nail" building for a neon sign atop the tower that illuminated in sequence to show a hammer striking a nail, a tribute to a local carpenters union that had offices on the upper two floors. The original hammer and nail signage was later mounted inside the Hammer & Nail cocktail bar that is open on the building's ground floor. The bar is expected to remain in the building during the conversion. Another building tenant, Give Thanks Bakery, also could stay. The tower was designed by architect Gerald Crane and opened in 1966 as a medical arts building to complement the nearby Detroit Medical Center. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.
Marriott announced Tuesday that the first Apartments by Marriott Bonvoy property, situated in San Juan, Puero Rico, will open soon. The news release says that Marriott's Bonvoy brand "sits within the premium and luxury segments." Other Detroit hotels in Roxbury's portfolio are the extended-stay Element Detroit at the Metropolitan, the coming Autograph Hotel in the David Whitney Building and the future AC Detroit at the Bonstelle in Midtown Detroit, which is under construction and could open next September.
