Michigan Inn / Plaza Hotel & Conference Center

03 / The story of this place

What was here?

The 14-story, 410-room Michigan Inn opened beside Northland Center in 1974 as a convention hotel with meeting rooms, a bar, a pool and a restaurant, and it was a busy spot in the 1970s. It later became a Sheraton and then the Plaza Hotel & Conference Center. Shefa LLC bought it during the late-2000s downturn, but it was shut over unpaid taxes and a water bill of more than $100,000, went into bankruptcy and sat empty for years. After a $3.1 million bankruptcy sale, the city rezoned the site so the tower can become housing and support services for young people leaving foster care.

• 14 stories, 410 rooms by Northland
• Michigan Inn, Sheraton, Plaza Hotel
• Planned: 275 apartments for young adults

Former names

Michigan Inn (from 1974) · Sheraton-branded hotel (after the Michigan Inn years (dates not published)) · Plaza Hotel & Conference Center (until its closure around the late-2000s downturn)

What’s there now?

Sold in a bankruptcy sale; Southfield approved a plan to convert the empty tower into 275 apartments for young adults aging out of foster care (The New Foster Care).