Park Shelton

03 / The story of this place

What was here?

Eureka Vacuum Cleaner Co. president Fred Wardell built this 12-story apartment hotel next to the Detroit Public Library and the Detroit Institute of Arts, and it formally opened on September 25, 1926. Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo lived here in 1932 while Rivera painted his Detroit Industry murals at the DIA. Sheraton bought it in 1943 as the Wardell Sheraton and renamed it the Park Sheraton in December 1951; the next owner couldn't keep the Sheraton name and went with the similar-sounding Park Shelton. It became apartments in the 1970s and reopened as condos in 2004, gilded columns and plaster ceilings intact.

• Opened September 25, 1926 as the Wardell
• Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo lived here
• Condominiums since 2004

Former names

Wardell Apartment Hotel (1926–1943) · Wardell Sheraton (1943–1951) · Park Sheraton (1951–1952) · Park Shelton (from 1952)

Architect

Weston & Ellington

What’s there now?

The Park Shelton condominiums (227 units), with the restored lobby and ground-floor restaurants.