Health Alliance Plan of Michigan offices
Address: 2850 W. Grand Blvd., Detroit
Architecture: Midcentury modern
History: Unknown date of construction and designer for this office built for Burroughs Corp. Sold to McCord Corp. in 1967. Set to be demolished in 2024.
Show and tell: What building in Detroit has special significance to you and why? Email aaron@outliermedia.org with your favorite, and we’ll dig into its history.
Henry Ford Health’s massive $3 billion planned development should overhaul a huge slice of New Center and adjacent areas by the time it’s finished in 2029. The nonprofit health care provider, in partnership with Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores and Michigan State University, is looking to build a 1.1 million-square-foot expansion to its main hospital and a new medical research facility, alongside several ( highly controversial ) residential buildings as part of the Future of Health project .
The health nonprofit will demolish three buildings it owns to make room for its new medical center. One is the main hospital’s parking structure at Pallister Street and the service drive for the M-10 John C. Lodge Freeway. Another is the White Construction building on West Baltimore Street, a two-story brick office building of around 9,000 square feet.
The most notable building being torn down is the Health Alliance Plan of Michigan office at West Grand Boulevard and the Lodge freeway. The United Auto Workers sponsored the creation of the insurance company, better known as HAP, in 1960 to provide affordable health care for union members in Detroit. HAP eventually merged with Henry Ford Hospital in 1979, now Henry Ford Health.
The nearly triangular lot gives the building an interesting shape, but it has a fairly “by the numbers” midcentury design: boxy with a mostly glass facade on the upper floors.
The building doesn’t seem to have much historical significance. It’s not clear exactly when it was built or who designed it. An ad in the Detroit Free Press from 1966 featuring the building shows a largely similar facade to the one today and is really the only trace of the building in print throughout the decades. In 1967, the Burroughs Corp. — once famous for its adding machines — sold the building to the McCord Corp.
Lauren Zakalik, spokesperson for Henry Ford Health, told Outlier it would be demolished in the next few months and that all workers were relocated to different offices last summer.
Henry Ford Health will likely demolish more buildings as the Future of Health proceeds. “At some point, we will demolish additional buildings along Baltimore Street between the Lodge Service Drive and Lincoln Street,” Henry Ford Health representatives wrote in response to questions submitted by the Future of Health’s Neighborhood Advisory Council as part of the community benefits process.
There are only a few buildings owned by Henry Ford Health on that block. All are vacant.
Coming down: Out with the old and in with the new for Future of Health development · Outlier Media
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