Bloomfield Township-based Princeton Enterprises LLC has purchased the two-building Grand Park Centre office complex at 28 W. Adams St. in Detroit from the Detroit Police and Fire Retirement System.
Princeton Enterprises likely paid between $4 million and $5.5 million for Grand Park Centre, according to real estate sources.
The deal for the 177,000-square-foot complex, previously known as the Michigan Mutual Building, also includes an attached 115-space parking deck and a surface lot on Woodward Avenue with 23 spaces.
Matt Lester, founder and CEO of Princeton Enterprises, said his company also plans to open a 5,000- to 10,000-square-foot satellite office in Grand Park Centre in the fall and to double the amount of available parking space “in order to be a first-choice facility among potential office users.”
“We want to be down there,” Lester said. “Then, longer-term, there are some thoughts about extensive renovations, particularly to the vacant floors in the (40,000-square-foot) annex, so that’s where the action is going to be more mid-term.”
Princeton Enterprises will remain headquartered in Bloomfield Township for the time being, although Lester said the company may eventually move its headquarters to Detroit.
Some of Princeton’s senior executives, including Lester, will maintain dual offices in the city and in Bloomfield Township, he said. About 10 employees will be housed in Grand Park Centre, with it also serving as conference and event space.
The Class B complex is currently about 65 percent occupied, Lester said.
Bill Bubniak, senior vice president for Southfield-based NAI Farbman, represented the retirement system in the sale, while Charles Mady, owner and CEO of Detroit-based Exclusive Realty, represented Princeton Enterprises, Lester said.
In October, Princeton Enterprises also purchased the 10-story, 62,480-square-foot Milner Hotel at 1528 Centre St., which it plans to turn into the 50-unit Ashley apartment complex that is expected to include studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments and penthouses.
That sale was for $900,000, according to Washington, D.C.-based real estate information service CoStar Group Inc.
The Milner, which was the oldest continually operated hotel in Detroit, was first developed as the Henry Clay Hotel in 1917. It was converted to the Milner Hotel in the 1930s and operated under that name until it closed on Oct. 31, 2012.
Princeton Enterprises also purchased the nearby 44-unit Claridge House Apartments at 1514 Washington Blvd. in June 2012.
It sold for $750,000, according to CoStar.
