DETROIT — If you’d like to spend a night (or more) at the historic Michigan Central station, the opportunity is coming.
Michigan Central, the Ford affiliate that redeveloped the long-derelict landmark structure that reopened last year, announced today (June 2, 2025) that NoMad Hotels will open a hotel with about 180 rooms within the building. The hotel, expected to open in 2027, will feature rooms including 30 suites on the top five floors, making the first time in the building’s history that floors 14 through 18 will be occupied. The hotel will also anchor the building’s west side; NoMad will also develop the station’s historic restaurant space and its carriage house with restaurant and bar offerings.
“A year after we opened Michigan Central Station to the world, our vision to create a global innovation hub and a destination symbolizing Detroit’s future is well underway,” Bill Ford, executive chair of Ford Motor Co., said in a press release. “Together with NoMad and Hilton, we are now announcing the next phase of our ambitious vision offering visitors and the community a unique hotel destination and memorable food and beverage experiences in this iconic landmark.”
NoMad, which has a hotel in London and is developing another in Singapore, is part of Hilton’s portfolio of luxury hotels. “This project champions Detroit, rejuvenates a historic landmark, and marks Hilton’s luxury debut in Michigan, part of Hilton’s aim to serve every stay occasion in every location,” said Kara Randall, Hilton vice president, luxury and mixed-use development.
Michigan Central Station reopened in June 2024 after a six-year renovation [see “Michigan Central Station opens its doors,” Trains News Wire, June 7, 2024]. The massive Beaux Arts structure, built in 1913, is now the center of a 30-acre innovation campus.
“Luxury” and “Detroit…” I’m just going to leave that right there.
Let’s recall that the last train left Michigan Central Station on Jan. 5, 1988, bound for Chicago. This closure came after the once bustling train depot struggled for years.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
It will be a majestic railroad hotel with no passenger trains around…
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
If the renewed Michigan Central station could be made a stop on a new Chicago – Detroit -Toronto – Montreal train, that would be ideal. Even if it weren’t “High Speed Rail” (>150 MPH).
NYC seems to have done this in more than one location. I read recently that Buffalo Central Station was also never fully occupied. It’s a beautiful, derelict Art Deco building. I’m sure they were planning for future expansion that never came, but it seems very odd in today’s reality.
I had an appointment in Michigan Central in the late 1970’s. The man I spoke to at that meeting said the building was way too big, that Conrail only needed a few floors.
In the late 1970’s, Conrail moved into a small building in Dearborn and had no further use for Michigan Central at all. Then, Amtrak moved out, first to a temporary structure nearby, then after that to a permanent station miles away in the New Center.
In the 20th century, Detroit didn’t need three major business districts. It had downtown and it had the New Center. NYC’s hoped-for development in Corktown around Michigan Central (sited to be alongside the tracks leading to the tunnel to Canada) was simply the wrong place.
According to what I read, Corktown is now developing and gentrifying around the Ford development. A century too late.
Yes, Buffalo Central and Detroit MC share the fate of being located for the convenience of the railroad rather than the passenger. The mighty New York Central assumed that the center of the city would follow its station in the way Midtown Manhattan developed around Grand Central. Many NYC stations in towns large and small built during the first third of the twentieth century had space that was never used. The Great Depression, highways, and airplanes stifled the demand for the capacity designed in those grand terminals.
All the more reason to try to get Amtrak into the Michigan Central complex (footprint)–even allowing for the unavoidable directional reverse that would require to reach the stops northwest of Detroit enroute to Pontiac.
I was a little skeptical of trying to change the Wolverine’s routing to service Michigan Central until I noticed it’s only about a mile off the current route, where the Wolverine turns north toward the current station. The directional reverse would take some time, but if boardings at MC are high enough that’ll partly cover the extra time. Having a dedicated station track to sit on would help (to avoid blocking CPKC’s mainline).
If Michigan Central was added, would you want to then remove the current Detroit station? At least initially I would say no, simply because it still services what looks like a busy area AND has a direct streetcar connection into downtown Detroit. Even if MC gets better transit connections in the future, I’d tie closing the current station to a major drop in boardings rather than a guarantee.
DANIEL — I’d keep both stations. New Center is in a great location for many riders. The streetcar is irrelevant. What matters is that New Center is in the center of the city and is served by three freeways, Edsel B. Ford, John C. Lodge, and Walter P. Chrysler.
Add Michigan Central to the current lineup of Amtrak stations in SE Michigan (Pontiac, Troy/Birmingham, Royal Oak, Detroit New Center, Dearborn and Ann Arbor), it can’t be beat. Compare it to Wisconsin, where there is no station in the west suburbs of Milwaukee (where I live) and none being discussed.