Archdiocese of Detroit completes move to new Chancery building in Capitol Park

The Archdiocese of Detroit has completed the move of its headquarters to its new Chancery building at 12 State Street in Capitol Park. All central offices and 183 employees of the Archdiocese of Detroit — positions which support the 228 parishes and 95 schools in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Monroe, St. Clair and Lapeer counties — now operate out of the new location. The archdiocese is leasing the lower level and first five floors of 12 State Street from Capitol Park Partnership LLC. The move makes the Archdiocese of Detroit one of the first major new tenants in Detroit’s Capitol Park district.

“The move into our new chancery building makes tremendous financial sense to us and also helps us by having everyone together in one building, working cooperatively and creating possibilities for a more direct collaboration. For the right use of the money that the people of God give us, this makes all the sense in the world,” says Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron, the bishop for the metro area’s 1.3 million Catholics, who adds that it is important for the archdiocese to keep its central operations in the city. “Remaining downtown and coming into the Capitol Park district allows the Church to continue to be a part of the rebirth of the City of Detroit.”

The Archdiocese of Detroit announced its move in April 2013, disclosing at the time that it was selling its three nearby buildings — the former chancery at 1234 Washington Boulevard, the Gabriel Richard Building at 305 Michigan Avenue, and a printing and mailing facility in Corktown — to consolidate under a single roof. The announcement followed a significant restructuring of the Archdiocese of Detroit’s central operations in 2009, during which time Archbishop Vigneron announced various properties would be put up for sale.

The consolidation into the new chancery, which also included personnel that had been stationed at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, is a cost-cutting move intended to eliminate expenses for repairs and maintenance on former headquarter buildings. The move reduced Archdiocese of Detroit office space from approximately 150,000 square feet to approximately 44,000 square feet.

The building housing the Archdiocese of Detroit’s new chancery is better known by its address of 1212 Griswold Street. Formerly known as the Chamber of Commerce Building, Detroit Savings Bank Building, and the headquarters for United Way of Southeast Michigan, the 14-story building was Detroit’s tallest when construction was completed in 1895. It is still the oldest standing steel-framed building in Detroit. It was listed as part of the Capitol Park Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. Owned by Capitol Park Partnership LLC, the upper floors of the building are residential.