Renaissance Center

Development and early years The idea was conceived by Henry Ford II, then-chairman of the Ford Motor Company. In 1970, to bring his idea to life, Ford teamed up with other business leaders to form the Detroit Renaissance. This was a private non-profit development organization which Ford headed in order to stimulate building activity and revitalize the economy of Detroit. Henry Ford II sold the concept of the RenCen to the City and community leaders. Detroit Mayor Roman Gribbs touted the project as the anchor of a bridge to bridge walkway, and a complete rebuilding from bridge to bridge, referring to the area between the Ambassador Bridge, that connects Detroit to Windsor, Ontario, and the MacArthur Bridge, which connects the city with Belle Isle Park. Other phases that included residences, additional office and retail space were never constructed. When the Renaissance Center opened, the cylindrical central tower was originally the flagship of Westin Hotels. The top three floors of the hotel hosted an upscale restaurant, The Summit, that rotated to allow a 360 degree view. On April 15, 1977, Henry Ford II and Detroit mayor Coleman Young unveiled a plaque commemorating the private investors whose funds made the project possible. Later that evening, 650 business and society leaders attended a benefit to celebrate the Renaissance Center's formal dedication. The money raised from the $300-per-couple tickets went to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. During the 1980 Republican National Convention, hosted at nearby Joe Louis Arena, presidential nominee Ronald Reagan and former President Gerald Ford both stayed at the Renaissance Center. In 1987, the elevated Detroit People Mover transit line began operation with a stop at the Renaissance Center. General Motors ownership In May 1996, General Motors purchased the complex. GM moved its world headquarters from what is now the historic Cadillac Place state office complex in the New Center district, to the Renaissance Center, in downtown Detroit. Meanwhile, Ford Motor Company maintained offices in one of the towers in the center. Before the acquisition, Sibley's Shoes had its headquarters in the center. In December 2001, General Motors unveiled the Wintergarden retail atrium. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, it rises tall at its highest point opening direct access to the International Riverfront. In addition, the atrium contains of retail space and of contiguous main floor exhibit space which was used by the media during Super Bowl XL. By 2004, GM completed an extensive $500 million renovation of the Renaissance Center. A pedestrian-friendly glass entryway has replaced the former concrete berms along Jefferson Avenue. The redevelopment provides the GM World display of vehicles, a restored hotel, a renovated rooftop restaurant, and the addition of GM's corporate logo to crown the top of the building. Construction of the lighted glass walkway facilitates ease of navigation encircling the interior mezzanine. Hines completed redevelopment of Towers 500 and 600 for GM in 2004. In 2011, the Detroit Wayne County Port Authority opened its new state of the art cruise ship dock and passenger terminal on Hart Plaza, adjacent to the Renaissance Center. Port authority bonds financed another 1,500 space parking garage adjacent to the Renaissance Center. Further upriver, the Roberts Riverwalk Hotel faces the east riverfront. In addition to the gradual continuation of the riverfront promenade, other planned projects complementing the Renaissance Center continue along the International Riverfont which include development of luxury condominiums, a cruise ship passenger terminal, retail, and entertainment venues. In 2011, the Renaissance Center added colored LED lighting on the top of its towers (Towers 500 and 600 utilize traditional blue floodlights to illuminate their top floors). General Motors added a large illuminated LED corporate logo which also displays GM divisions. The animated logo and illuminated LED color bands around the towers can be used to support special events and may be seen from Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers. The renovation of TCF Center convention and exhibit facility incorporates similar blue neon lighting along riverfront promenade. In July 2010, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan announced plans to lease of Tower 500 and Tower 600 and relocate 3,000 of its employees from its building in Southfield, Michigan. In January 2015, General Motors announced its intent to renovate much of the complex to make it more inviting as a destination for visitors to Detroit. That July, the complex was re-branded as "The GMRENCEN, and" Its logo was modernized and "Reflecting a New Detroit" was introduced as the new tagline. A photo-journalistic advertising campaign launched to "shine a spotlight on the people in Detroit who make remarkable contributions" to the city. The Renaissance Center is owned by General Motors. The hotel in the central tower is now managed by the Marriott hotel chain and is called the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center. The 1,298-room hotel is one of the largest operated by Marriott. The rooftop restaurant (which previously had revolved) received a $10 million renovation and was operated by The Epicurean Groups's Coach Insignia and closed in 2017.). It served Coach wines, a product of the Fisher family whose legacy includes Fisher Body, a name which is part of GM history. The Renaissance Center's renovation provides for the prospect of continued development and restorations throughout the city. Architectural critics have touted the city's architecture as among North America's finest. In its first year of operation it generated over $1 billion in economic growth for the downtown. GM publicly committed to redeveloping the RenCen, but their planned exit sparked public speculation that it could be demolished, a possibility which CEO Mary Barra declined to rule out. GM retained Bedrock Detroit, the real estate firm developing Hudson's Detroit, to consult on the redevelopment. GM and Bedrock revealed a conceptual plan for the RenCen's redevelopment in November 2024. Under this plan, one of the remaining office towers would be converted to rental apartments; the central tower would remain a hotel, but its upper floors would also be converted to rental apartments. The two companies stated that they planned to fund the majority of the $1.6 billion redevelopment, but they expect $250 million in subsidies from the state of Michigan, and $100 million in tax-increment financing from the Detroit Downtown Development Authority. The companies' demand for taxpayer funding of the project was met with public opposition by many state lawmakers, including Matt Hall, then speaker-elect of the Michigan House of Representatives. In 2025, GM began to buy out tenants' leases and empty the RenCen; by that November, only 18 office and retail tenants remained in the complex. Media likened the complex to a ghost town, and a GM executive compared it to a dead mall. Burger King, the last tenant in the RenCen's food court, closed November 26. The U.S. Post Office was reported to close on January 20, 2026. GM began to move its offices from the RenCen to Hudson's Detroit on January 12, 2026. At that time, GM closed the RenCen's public spaces, with no public announcement. As of March 2026, access to the building is restricted to office tenants, hotel and restaurant guests, and authorized visitors. Bedrock's CEO stated that demolition of the podium and towers 300 and 400, and subsequent construction on the redevelopment, is planned to begin in April 2027. ==Location==

from Belle Isle The Renaissance Center is a riverfront property located along the Detroit River. Approximately one-mile north of the center are Comerica Park and Ford Field, the respective venues for the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Lions. The US portal of the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel emerges adjacent to the western boundary of the Renaissance Center. The Renaissance Center is also a station on the Detroit People Mover. ==Architecture==

The centerpiece is the 73-story 727-foot (221.5 m) luxury hotel with 1,246 rooms and 52 suites (1298 total guest rooms). Its height is measured from its main Wintergarden entrance on Atwater Street which faces the International Riverfront where the complex measures taller. Entirely owned by General Motors, the complex has of space. The main Renaissance Center complex rises from a site. The hotel has no floors labeled 7, 8, or 13. The hotel features a major conference center with of meeting space including a Renaissance Ballroom for up to 2,200 guests with for events, one of the largest in the United States. Tower 600 has of office space and an additional of retail space. Towers 100 and 200 front Jefferson Avenue. Towers 300 and 400 are on the main Wintergarden/Atwater Street entrance facing the Riverfront. The GM Renaissance Conference Center is located on the second floor of tower 300. In July 2007 portions of Asian Village, a development of restaurants in Suite 2653 in the GM Center (200 Renaissance Center) with Asian cuisine offered, opened. The center was designed to evoke street food stalls within East and Southeast Asia. == Security ==

Until 2024, the Renaissance Center was patrolled by the Renaissance Center Security Police, a private police force granted limited police powers by state law. Most of its officers carried firearms and were empowered to make misdemeanor arrests on Renaissance Center property. Security Police officers were employed by Securitas from 2001 to 2011, when General Motors awarded a new contract to G4S for security services beginning in January 2012, and formed the Renaissance Center Management Company, a joint venture majority owned by G4S. Allied Universal assumed these services, and the majority stake in the subsidiary, with their acquisition of G4S in 2021. In November 2023, a report was published revealing multiple lawsuits, complaints, and a whistleblower report accusing Security Police officers of racially profiling, harassing, assaulting, and illegally detaining Black visitors, in numerous incidents dating back to 2011. Following these reports, the Michigan State Police opened an investigation into the officers' conduct. General Motors directed Allied Universal to remove the accused officers from its properties, mandated that all officers undergo racial sensitivity and de-escalation training, and stated that it would reconsider its relationship with the company. Renaissance Center Management Company surrendered its private policing license in March 2024, and the Security Police were replaced with standard Allied Universal security guards. In February 2025, General Motors hired Inter-Con Security to replace Allied as its security contractor for U.S. properties, including the RenCen. == Notable events ==

• For the 2005 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, which was played at Comerica Park in Detroit, the center tower of the Renaissance Center was wrapped with an image of a large baseball smashing into the tower, with "4,612 FT" written below it to indicate the distance from home plate at Comerica Park. • The Renaissance Center served as the media center for Super Bowl XL in 2006, with the Wintergarden used as a broadcast studio for ESPN's pre-game programming. The central tower was wrapped with a large logo promoting the event. • In 2008, GM hosted a centennial gala in the Wintergarden, which included the reveal of the production Chevrolet Volt. • From 2010 to 2022, the Renaissance Center hosted Youmacon, an annual anime convention. The event was hosted entirely at the RenCen in 2010 and 2011, and later shared with Cobo Center (now Huntington Place) beginning in 2012. In 2015, the convention featured a performance by the rock band Crush 40, and in 2018 it featured a performance from Capcom concert tour group Capcom Live!, both of which were held at the Renaissance Center. • A concert series, called ''Rockin' On the Riverfront'', was held in the riverfront plaza from 2011 to 2019. The concert series featured acts like Pat Benatar, Rick Derringer, The Guess Who, Blue Öyster Cult, Randy Bachman, Foreigner, Dave Mason, Starship, REO Speedwagon, Ace Frehley, Eddie Money, Loverboy, 38 Special, Steppenwolf, Vince Neil, Jon Anderson, and many more. • Since 2023, the annual Detroit Grand Prix has been hosted on the streets surrounding the RenCen, with the event offices and media center located inside, and public events held in the center and adjacent parking garages. • The Michigan Democratic Party hosted its 2025 annual convention in the RenCen. • The 2026 Motor City Furry Con was held in the RenCen. == In popular culture ==

Given the RenCen's prominent position in Detroit's skyline, it appears in a myriad of media depicting the city. The following is an incomplete list of notable appearances in popular media. • The opening scenes of Thunder in the Skies, the sixth episode of the BBC science-history documentary Connections (1978), were visibly filmed in the then-new Renaissance Center. • The Renaissance Center is featured in the film Action Jackson (1988). • In Collision Course (1989), Pat Morita's and Jay Leno's characters first meet in the Renaissance Center; Morita's character is considered a suspect and chased through the hotel. • A chase scene in Bird on a Wire (1990) was filmed inside the RenCen. • In the opening scene of Renaissance Man (1994), Danny DeVito's character drives down Jefferson Avenue, late for a business meeting at the Renaissance Center, when he receives the phone call that fires him from his job. • The Renaissance Center is featured in Grosse Pointe Blank (1997). • In Out of Sight (1998), the exterior is featured briefly and later the main characters meet in the revolving restaurant atop the Renaissance Center. • In The Upside of Anger (2005), Kevin Costner plays a DJ for WRIF, whose studio (as depicted in the film) is housed in the Renaissance Center. • Killshot (2008) features an opening scene in which Mickey Rourke's character, a hitman, drives a blue Cadillac along Jefferson Avenue, and enters the Marriott to assassinate a mafia leader. • The History Channel's Life After People: The Series "Roads to Nowhere" episode featured the Renaissance Center. • It was used as a primary filming location for Real Steel (2011). • In a book by Adrian Humphreys titled The Weasel: A Double Life in the Mob, the former driver of Jimmy Hoffa and a mob associate Marvin "The Weasel" Elkind stated that Hoffa is buried in the foundations of the Renaissance Center (2011). • The series finale of Motor City Masters was filmed in the GM World exhibit in the lower level of the Renaissance Center in 2014. • The Renaissance Center was prominently featured in Need for Speed (2014). • The RenCen is depicted in the album art of the Eminem albums Recovery (2010) and Curtain Call 2 (2022). His music video for "Lose Yourself" was filmed in Detroit, thus contains numerous shots of the city, including the building. • GM's 2022 Super Bowl commercial was set in the RenCen. The ad depicted Dr. Evil and other characters from the Austin Powers films seizing control of the company, and meeting in a fictional office on an upper floor of the central tower. As part of the promotion, Dr. Evil's face was displayed on the actual tower's screens, in place of the GM logo, in the weeks preceding the Super Bowl. ==Notes==