FAQs

Planned improvements include campus-wide infrastructure and landscape enhancements designed to improve pedestrian access, connectivity, recreation and environmental sustainability. The plan features new gardens, lawns, groves, pathways and gathering spaces; a new campus quad for gathering and community events; a more welcoming entrance along McNichols Road; improved pedestrian connections to surrounding neighborhoods; stormwater management and climate-resilience features; and new recreational amenities, including a playground, basketball court and reconfigured athletic field.

In addition to campus landscape improvements, the project will incorporate stormwater management and retention features, climate-resilient landscaping, and expanded green spaces designed to improve environmental sustainability and strengthen the campus’s ability to manage the impacts of extreme weather.

Kresge and the Marygrove Conservancy are facilitating focused engagement with campus users on various components of the project. Elementary students have met with the landscape architect to co-design a new upper elementary playground. And feedback sessions have been hosted for high school students, campus partners and neighbors to collect input on proposed campus design and infrastructure improvements.

Yes. The facility is being designed as a community asset, with current plans for a public ground floor featuring reception space, community gathering areas, a café, a gallery and meeting rooms. As the design is refined, Kresge is working to ensure these spaces are welcoming, adaptable and practical for staff and community use.

• Design architect: Internationally acclaimed architecture studio Diller, Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) will design the Kresge facility. 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 with reimagining the campus and its coherence with the adjacent neighborhoods.
• Architect of Record: The strategic partnership, Hannah-Neumann/Smith, led by partner Beverly Hannah, will provide a comprehensive, Detroit-based design team to support the project.

Kresge will announce a construction manager prior to a planned spring 2027 groundbreaking.

The athletic field will be retained and reconfigured as part of campus landscape improvements to support recreational sports and informal play.

We are partnering closely with Marygrove campus leaders to ensure the project strengthens the experience of students and organizations already on site. More details about upcoming partnerships and learning opportunities among students and project partners will be shared in the coming months.

We will honor and respect the leadership of the residents who never left – specifically those who have raised families for generations in Fitzgerald, Bagley, Martin Park, University District and Pilgrim Village. We seek to earn resident trust by listening, by being good partners, and by delivering on our word. Early commitments and expectations include:

• Directing investments toward resident-defined priorities and resident-led initiatives, with an emphasis on helping long-time residents remain and thrive.
• Designing spaces within our building for community gatherings, events and programs. As plans develop, we will work with neighbors to understand how these spaces can best support community priorities.
• Encouraging our 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.

Over the past decade, residents have consistently identified several priorities for the Livernois-McNichols area including:

• Ensuring that development in the neighborhood provides opportunities for existing residents to beautify their homes and neighborhood.
• Ensuring that vacant land is beautified and supports the quality of life for all residents.
• Making 6 Mile/McNichols a vibrant, thriving commercial corridor that supports local businesses and residents to access basic needs and retail.
• Strengthening ways in which the neighborhoods are culturally vibrant and uplift the history and culture of families who have never left.
• Making the neighborhoods the best place to raise children through excellent schools, access to childcare, community safety, and public spaces and parks.

As Kresge prepares to become a neighbor, we’re building on those priorities through a long-term vision being developed with residents and partners. That vision focuses on growing and sustaining Detroit’s Black middle class by supporting families who want to stay, creating pathways to opportunity, building generational wealth, and strengthening the area’s rich arts and cultural heritage.

Kresge is committed to ensuring that longtime residents benefit from neighborhood investments and have the support they need to stay and thrive. While the surrounding neighborhoods have experienced growing property values and continued stability in homeownership, many residents continue to face affordability pressures, including rising housing costs and legal or financial barriers to maintaining their homes.

To help address these challenges, Kresge is making a series of investments focused on housing stability and neighborhood vitality, including:

• Supporting Live6 Alliance to provide one-time operating grants to 10 legacy neighborhood associations (launched spring 2026).
• Supporting the Resident Investment Opportunity Fund, which helps residents address costs and legal issues that can threaten housing stability (launched June 2026).
• Supporting priorities identified through the Livernois-McNichols Neighborhood Action Agenda (October 2026).

While several of these efforts are initially focused on neighborhoods closest to the Marygrove campus, Kresge will continue investing in communities across Detroit.

The Resident Investment Opportunity Fund, administered by the Live6 Alliance, is designed to help residents access resources that strengthen housing stability and support long-term neighborhood residency.

Through a single point of entry, residents can be connected to services such as property tax relief programs, heirs’ property assistance, side-lot acquisition opportunities, and climate-smart home repair resources.

The fund began operating in the College Core neighborhood in June 2026 and is expanding into Fitzgerald and other surrounding neighborhoods.

For more information visit https://www.live6detroit.org/resident-investment-opportunity-fund

Kresge and its partners have convened more than 125 residents, community organizations and stakeholders in the Livernois-McNichols Neighborhood Action Agenda process to identify priorities and opportunities for future investment in the five neighborhoods adjacent to the Marygrove campus. The Action Agenda priorities will be introduced in October 2026, and ongoing engagement will shape how the proposed strategies are refined and implemented.

We expect that Kresge’s staff and visitors will generate some new vehicle traffic to the campus. We are looking forward to speaking with residents about ways to mitigate traffic impacts, including minimizing pressure during school pickup and drop-off periods.

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, institutions and public spaces, and invest in systems that support all Detroit residents.

Our office consolidation is an opportunity for us to further live our values. Kresge is committed to helping neighborhoods become places where families want to raise their children and where longtime residents can 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.

Kresge’s relocation to Detroit does not change our commitment to the national and place-based work that defines our mission. We will continue to invest in Arts & Culture, Education, Environment, Health, and Human Services in communities across the country, including in our focus cities of Memphis, New Orleans, and Fresno. The move reflects where Kresge’s staff will be located, not a shift in our grantmaking priorities or geographic commitments. Rather, being based at Marygrove will strengthen our ability to learn, convene, and share insights that inform our work locally and in cities across the country.

As construction of the new facility moves forward, we will work with a listing agent to sell our Troy headquarters and will make arrangements to terminate the lease at our Midtown office.