Site Hudson's Detroit is located at 1208
Woodward Avenue in Downtown Detroit, on the block bounded by
Grand River Avenue to the north, Farmer Street to the east, and
Gratiot Avenue to the south. The block was previously the site of the flagship store of
The J. L. Hudson Company, a local chain of
department stores, for which Hudson's Detroit is named. Built in phases between 1911 and 1946, the Hudson's flagship store was the tallest department store in the world, at , and the second largest department store in the world by area, behind
Macy's Herald Square in
New York City. The store closed in 1983, and was imploded in 1998, making it the tallest building to ever be demolished by
controlled implosion.
Redevelopment planning Rock Ventures gained the rights to develop the site in 2007, initially considering it as a site for the headquarters of
Quicken Loans. In March 2013, after over a decade of little activity at the site, Quicken Loans founder
Dan Gilbert announced a competition seeking ideas for development of the site. The contest received 200 submissions, and was won by two architects from Italy. That November, Rock Ventures hired
SHoP Architects to lead the design of the development, with Detroit-based Hamilton Anderson Associates serving as a local partner. An initial design of the planned building was leaked in March 2015. Rock's real estate division, by then known as
Bedrock Detroit, purchased the city-owned parking garage in April 2016. Its final height of roughly was announced in March 2020.
Construction Ground was broken on December 14, 2017. Construction began with the removal of the underground parking garage that had been built in 2001. In March 2020, construction progress was halted due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, but resumed after 45 days. In December of the same year, construction reached above the ground for the first time.
Completion The high-rise tower was
topped out on April 10, 2024; two days later on April 12, the development's final name, Hudson's Detroit, was announced. On April 15,
General Motors announced that it would relocate its global headquarters from the Renaissance Center to the top two floors of the Block Building; in November, GM expanded its planned lease to four floors. The
pedestrian plaza between the buildings was dedicated Nick Gilbert Way on November 6, 2025, in honor of Dan Gilbert's late son. == Description ==