Crain's Detroit: Mike Ilitch School of Business at halfway point in construction
The Wayne State University Mike Ilitch School of Business on Woodward Avenue is expected to be enclosed and heated in about a week. Construction is a little over halfway complete on the $59 million, 120,000-square-foot building at Woodward and Temple Street, just north of Little Caesars Arena. Work is on track to finish in the spring, with the business school taking students starting in May, said spokesman Steve Townsend and Isiah White, a project engineer for Detroit-based Christman-Brinker. Crews are working on the exterior glass facade and limestone, as well as installing mechanical, electrical and plumbing work within. Offices, balconies and meeting rooms on the building's highest floor — the fourth — offer expansive views of the neighboring arena as well as nearby Ford Field and down Woodward Avenue to the central business district. The views are ideal for hosting potential donors for events like the Thanksgiving parade, Townsend said. The Ilitch family in October 2015 donated $40 million to the new business school. Olympia Development of Michigan and Wayne State broke ground on the project in The District Detroit in July 2016.
