Community Development Finance Institution relocates its Detroit office to the Palms Building on Woodward Ave., across from Comerica Park
Today, Cinnaire relocates its Detroit office from 25th Avenue in Southwest Detroit to 2111 Woodward Avenue, Suite 600, in the historic Palms Office Building, above the Fillmore Theatre.
The move puts Cinnaire (Cinnaire), a full-service community development finance institution, in the heart of downtown’s revitalization efforts, with the M1 RAIL public transit under construction only a few steps away from the Palms building entrance.
Cinnaire employees enjoy almost 3,000 square feet office space and the employees have a clear view of Comerica Park from their offices.
“We are thrilled to have front row seats for the transformative development efforts happening in the greater downtown area of Detroit,” said Senior Vice President for Cinnaire, Dennis Quinn. “We are proud to have been strong investors in the City for over twenty-three years, bringing over $500 million in real-estate and economic development investments.”
The M1 RAIL, once complete, will run 3.3-miles (6.6 miles round-trip) along Woodward Avenue between Larned Street and West Grand Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan. Construction is expected to be complete late 2016. Cinnaire affiliate, CapFund New Markets, LLC, contributed $8 million in New Markets Tax Credit financing to the $140 million light-rail development.
According to a recent press release, between 2010 and 2014 there were 1,258 new housing units and 1,754 renovated housing units in the greater downtown Detroit area. The report also found that there was near full-occupancy in Downtown and Midtown (98 and 97 percent respectively).
Downtown also accounts for 40 percent of the employment in the city, with 60 percent of the jobs in the area paying wages greater than $40,000 annually. This is a 14 percent increase since 2002. This growth in jobs has led to a drop commercial vacancy. It fell from 27.3 percent in 2010 to 16 percent in 2014.
The Palms building is named after real estate and banking mogul Francis Palms, who hired C. Howard Crane to design and build the structure. Crane had studied for many years with the City’s leading architects: Albert Kahn, Fred Smith, Theodore Hinchman and Maxwell Gyllis. He began specializing in movie theaters and designed about 250 of them. Crane designed the Palms Building and its impressive Fillmore (formerly known as State) Theater.
Fun Facts about Detroit Palms Building:
Architect and builder: C. Howard Crane
Style: Beaux Arts
Date of Completion: 1925
Use in 2002: It is the same as in 1925: a theater and an office building.
State Historical Register: P25196
National Historical Register: Listed October 25, 1984
