Demolition appears imminent for the Old Wayne County Jail in downtown Detroit that is now owned by Dan Gilbert’s organization.
The city of Detroit issued a demolition permit this month for the vacant multistory jail at 525 Clinton St., also known as the county’s former Division II jail. The original structure dates to the late 1920s.
A small work crew was at the site on Thursday morning, Oct. 23, and loud banging could be heard emanating from the jail’s 1960s Annex cell block side, where a portion of the metallic facade was already removed.
One worker said the full demo could commence soon and that minor work was happening now.
A represenative for Gilbert’s real estate firm, Bedrock, didn’t respond to an inquiry about the demolition and its future plans for the site.
Recent paperwork filed with the state says the demo will be performed by Detroit-based contractor Farrow Group using excavators or other heavy equipment and was to start Oct. 13 and end by Jan. 16.
The Division II jail was one of four buildings that Wayne County agreed in 2018 to give to Gilbert’s organization as part of a deal that also involved a $21.3 million payment to the county, the county’s transfer of a half-built jail site along Gratiot, and Gilbert’s commitment to build for the county the now-open Wayne County Criminal Justice Center off Interstate 75 near East Ferry Street.
The other three county buildings in the deal — all located nearby — were the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice, the Division I jail built in the mid-1980s and the former juvenile jail. The juvenile jail, located at 1326 St. Antoine St. next to Hollywood Casino at Greektown, was demolished in late 2024 and early 2025 and the site remains vacant.
The county moved from the old buildings to the new Criminal Justice Center in late summer 2024.
“The old jail will always be a part of this agency’s heritage,” Wayne County Sheriff Raphael Washington said in a statement Thursday. “It holds countless memories, but we outgrew the space decades ago. Our new home at the Criminal Justice Center finally provides us with the technology and environment to better serve Wayne County.”
Gilbert’s organization also owns the former Detroit Police Department headquarters building at 1300 Beaubien, which is directly across from the Old Wayne County Jail and has been vacant since 2013.
Bedrock recently downsized its plans to construct a Life Science Innovation Building on the former site of the half-built jail along Gratiot, often called the “fail jail” site, following the pullout of an anticipated tenant. The future building is to now be two stories instead of five.
This story was updated to add new information.
Contact JC Reindl: 313-378-5460 or jcreindl@freepress.com. Follow him on X @jcreindl
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Gilbert poised to demolish Old Wayne County Jail in downtown Detroit
Reporting by JC Reindl, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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