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We aim to open and move in by late 2028.
For the past decade, Kresge has been honored to engage and partner in the neighborhoods surrounding Livernois and McNichols. We’re grateful to have partnered with residents on the Ella Fitzgerald Park, Neighborhood HomeBase, the Fitzgerald greenway and alley projects, the launch of Rehabbed and Ready in Fitzgerald, and the relaunch of the Marygrove campus as the Marygrove Learning Community.
We believe that relocating our offices to Detroit, specifically to a neighborhood where we have been partnering for some time, is an essential part of Kresge living out our values. We believe in the power of cities. We believe in the role of neighborhoods, and specifically, Detroit’s neighborhoods, to power the next generation of cities. We believe in being in community with those we work with, and we believe in being a good neighbor. That’s why we want to locate our offices and our staff in this community – we want to be a neighbor, we want to be in community, we want to live out our values and our fundamental belief in Detroit’s neighborhoods.
And yet we know that we have not yet had the opportunity to partner with everyone in this neighborhood. We are here to learn to be a good neighbor and be respectful of how the community has operated for generations. We are here to honor and respect the leadership of the residents who never left – those who have raised families for generations in Fitzgerald, Bagley, Martin Park, University District and beyond. And we are here to earn your trust – we don’t take that for granted, and we know we must earn it by listening, by being good partners, and by delivering on our word.
We look forward to our building serving as a community asset and providing amenities that meet community needs and priorities. Over the next year or so, we’ll attend existing community meetings, talk with neighbors one-on-one, and hear our neighbors’ hopes and dreams for the neighborhood to inform how Kresge’s HQ might best serve those priorities. We expect that, at the very least, there will be spaces in and around our HQ space for the community to gather for connection, fellowship and community-building.
Over the next few months, we will share opportunities with our neighbors to provide input and feedback, as well as co-design community-facing aspects of our HQ. While most of the interior space within the HQ will be used for the foundation offices, it is Kresge’s commitment to offer interior and exterior spaces for community gathering. We are working with the Detroit Collaborative Design Center and other partners to join upcoming community meetings and to host special sessions to hear resident voices, gather feedback, and invite ideas for what these spaces might look and feel like.
When we have a sense of a project completion date, we anticipate that we will put our Troy headquarters up for sale and will make arrangements to terminate our lease and occupancy of the Midtown office space.
Design architect: Internationally acclaimed architecture studio Diller, Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) will design the headquarters. With a focus on cultural and civic projects, DS+R’s work addresses the changing role of institutions and the future of cities. One of the firm’s signature projects is the High Line, an adaptive reuse of an abandoned elevated railway into an urban park in New York City.
Landscape Architect: Often described as a “cultural practice,” Hood Design Studio blends everyday life into spaces that feel personal, historical and alive. Led by landscape architect Walter Hood, the firm has been charged to both reimagine the immediate headquarters site and ensure its coherence within the campus and with the adjacent neighborhood.
Architect of Record: The strategic partnership, Hannah-Neumann/Smith, led by partner Beverly Hannah Jones, will provide a comprehensive, Detroit-based design team to support the design concept.
The foundation is actively engaged in a search for a Detroit-based construction partner.
We are excited to hear from our neighbors and play a part in realizing their collective vision through the Livernois + McNichols Neighborhoods Action Agenda process that Kresge is co-convening with the Live6 Alliance and the Marygrove Conservancy. Through this Action Agenda, we and our partners are looking forward to building on what we’ve heard from community members in and beyond over the years, and bringing to realization the hopes and dreams that they have shared through engagements past and present.
We initiated the first phase of the Neighborhoods Action Agenda by convening Action Working Groups consisting primarily of residents of the surrounding neighborhoods that focused on four issue areas: Youth and Education; Housing, Land Use and Development; Arts, Culture and Public Realm; and Health, Wellbeing and Sustainability. Over the next year, we’ll be at community meetings, neighborhood association meetings throughout the neighborhoods, at District 2 meetings, at public events, and more to hear from neighbors and to co-develop an action plan to make those collective priorities a reality.
So far, themes emerging from the Livernois + McNichols Neighborhoods Action Agenda highlight opportunities to:
To sign up for updates to engage with the Livernois-McNichols Neighborhoods Action Agenda, sign up for the Marygrove Conservancy newsletter here.
Over the past ten years of working in this community, we’ve heard residents share a wide range of priorities. We’ve heard that residents prioritize:
As we prepare to become neighbors, we’re committed to moving from listening to action. We’ll start by delivering on what residents have consistently asked for and turning those priorities into reality through a set of anchor investments. Kresge’s commitment builds on nearly a decade of investments targeted toward Detroit neighborhoods – particularly in communities adjacent to the Livernois-McNichols corridors and on the Marygrove Conservancy Campus. It furthers those existing efforts by committing to realize a vision being co-developed with residents centered on growing and sustaining Detroit’s Black middle class: supporting residents and families who plan to stay, ensuring that the neighborhoods can be a place where families can thrive, build generational wealth, experience enhanced opportunity from cradle to career, and uplift its history of Black arts and culture.
Our initial commitments include supporting residents and families who plan to stay through a Resident Investment and Opportunity Fund, in partnership with the Live6 Alliance. The Fund will initially prioritize the stewardship and beautification of vacant land, supporting residents in activating side lots, providing property tax relief and home repair assistance to homeowners, and offering support to renters to remain in place. In addition, Kresge will invest in enhancing existing public spaces, including Ella Fitzgerald Park, completing the Ella Fitzgerald Greenway, and strengthening the McNichols commercial corridor through interior and façade improvements and and marketing support.
We know that a lot of promises have been made to residents of Fitzgerald and the surrounding neighborhoods. In partnership with the Live6 Alliance and others, we are committed to fulfilling those promises. Our initial commitments include supporting residents and families who plan to stay through a Resident Investment and Opportunity Fund, in partnership with the Live6 Alliance.
The Fund will initially prioritize the stewardship and beautification of vacant land, supporting residents in activating side lots, providing property tax relief and home repair assistance to homeowners, and offering support to renters to remain in place.
We expect the fund to begin deploying resources in 2026. Sign up for the Live6 Alliance’s newsletter and website for more information.
Kresge is deeply committed to longtime residents in the surrounding neighborhoods — ensuring they benefit from ongoing investments and have the support they need to stay and thrive. Over the past decade, we’ve seen stability in homeownership and population levels in these areas, along with rising property values. Yet, we also recognize that rents have outpaced incomes, prices have climbed, and affordability remains a challenge for many. As development continues, we are mindful of its potential to drive costs even higher—and we remain firmly committed to making sure that residents who want to stay in these neighborhoods can do so.
Kresge and the Live6 Alliance are partnering to launch a Resident Investment & Opportunity Fund that will provide one-stop intake and resources for existing, longtime residents in Fitzgerald. This program will launch in early 2026 and will initially prioritize stewardship and beautification of vacant land, supporting residents to activate side lots, supports for homeowners through property tax relief and home repair, and supports for renters to remain in place.
While many of these interventions are targeted to the Fitzgerald neighborhood, we acknowledge and recognize that households in other neighborhoods also need support to remain and thrive. We know that Fitzgerald residents, in particular, have been promised many investments over the years, and we are committed to ensuring that those most proximate to the new developments on the Marygrove campus are protected from its impacts. While the focus of these new investments is to ensure residents closest to the campus can stay and thrive, Kresge will also continue to invest in neighborhoods across the city.
We expect that Kresge’s staff commuting to the headquarters, as well as visitors attending events, will generate both new visitors and, with that, some new vehicle traffic. We are looking forward to hearing from residents about how we can mitigate the impact of traffic in residential areas and along commercial corridors, including ways to ensure that additional traffic during commute hours and school pickup/drop-offs do not create additional backups along Greenlawn and Marygrove Drive.
Kresge is committed to being a good neighbor and ensuring that our relocation is a positive experience.
Our first priority is to learn from longtime residents about how Kresge can be a respectful and supportive neighbor. Families have remained in this area of the city through good times and challenging times—continuing to invest in their communities even when others did not. These residents, especially the elders, hold deep knowledge and lived experience that we must honor. We are committed to listening first, valuing their expertise, and following through on our promises with integrity.
We are committed to ensuring that our presence as a neighbor brings meaningful benefits to neighborhood residents and business owners.
First, we look forward to opening spaces within our building that are a shared community asset—welcoming residents for gatherings, events, programs, and more. We’re eager to engage with neighbors to explore how these opportunities can reflect their hopes and priorities.
Second, we expect our 130 staff members to actively participate in the local economy—supporting small businesses, dining at restaurants and coffee shops along McNichols and Livernois, and volunteering with community organizations. We’re committed to being respectful neighbors who contribute to the vitality of resident-owned enterprises.
Third, we will bring additional financial resources to support resident-led initiatives through the Neighborhoods Action Agenda. Beyond the commitments outlined in this initial announcement, we pledge to help realize the community’s vision and strategies—and we invite our future neighbors to hold us accountable for delivering on these promises.
Marygrove will continue to have a multi-purpose recreational field on campus, although it may move from its current location.
New investments will reinvigorate the campus through thoughtful landscape design, pedestrian pathways and sustainable infrastructure while honoring the site’s heritage and addressing modern environmental challenges. All of these updates will be designed and completed in partnership with the Marygrove Conservancy.
We are partnering closely with the leaders of the Marygrove Conservancy, The School at Marygrove and the Detroit Public Schools Community District, Starfish Family Services (which operates the Marygrove Early Education Center), and the Marsal Family School of Education at the University of Michigan (which operates the on-site LEAPS undergraduate program), to ensure that our move to campus bolsters and improves the experience of the students and organizations already on site. We envision that there will be opportunities for students to participate in the design and engagement process alongside community residents in a meaningful and inclusive manner.
Over the past century, Kresge has invested more than $1 billion in Detroit, and those investments will continue across the city. We will continue to invest in community development organizations, support schools, institutions and public spaces in all neighborhoods, and invest in systems that support residents across the city.
Our headquarters move is an opportunity for us to further live our values – values that we have long held in our work in Detroit. Kresge is committed to helping neighborhoods become places where families want to raise their children—and where longtime residents have the opportunity to stay, thrive, and grow together.
Detroit would not be the city it is today without residents who stayed and invested in their neighborhoods, even when outside investment was scarce. Our commitment to those longtime residents is part of a commitment to repairing those harms and honoring their contribution to our city and their neighborhoods.
We will continue our work in our national programs (Arts & Culture, Education, Environment, Health, and Human Services) and in our other three focus cities—Memphis, New Orleans, and Fresno — through our American Cities Program.