Detroit, MI: 1927-2022 AMC Headquarters/Kelvinator Office+Factory

(Satellite, once again, a factory has been replaced by a warehouse.)

Street View, Nov 2020

HistoricDetroit
"In 1925, the Kelvinator Corporation produced the industry’s first self-contained electric home refrigerator, and its fortunes and manufacturing needs grew. This administration building and factory were built in 1927 and designed by the Detroit firm Smith, Hinchman & Grylls. The lead architects on the project were Amedeo Leoni and William E. Kapp....Following the January 1937 merger between Kelvinator and Nash Motors of Kenosha, Wis., the building became the home of Nash-Kelvinator....Nash-Kelvinator merged with Hudson Motors in 1954 to form the American Motors Corporation, which continued to call the Plymouth Road plant home. However, the complex was switched to serving as a design-and-research facility for cars, with the appliance manufacturing sited elsewhere. The appliance division was sold off in 1968, and AMC focused exclusively on cars....In 1975, American Motors relocated its headquarters to the American Center on Northwestern Highway in suburban Southfield, Mich. After AMC's move, the Plymouth Road complex building served as engineering offices for the automaker's widely popular Jeep line...Chrysler bought out AMC in 1987, and the west side complex was rebranded the Jeep and Truck Engineering Center, also handling design and research for Dodge trucks. Some 3,000 workers operated out of the facility, designing vehicles such as the Dodge Ram pickup and the Jeep Grand Cherokee." The facility was closed Jun 5, 2009, after Chrysler filed for bankruptcy in 2007. When sold to NorthPoint Development for redevelopment, the facility had 2 million sq. ft. I learned the euphemisim "employment center" for a building to house warehouse and light-assembly tenants. It should create at least 300 jobs.

Facebook Reel, I didn't finish watching. I don't like "urban exploration" videos.

This webpage has a lot of demolition photos.