Detroit — The University of Michigan is expanding its footprint in Detroit with a Friday groundbreaking for graduate and faculty housing to go along with the university’s Center for Innovation.
The 13-story residential tower, located at 2205 Cass Ave., was approved by the university’s Board of Regents in July 2025. The construction is expected to cost $186 million, board documents show. The tower, named Founders House, is being developed by UM alumnus and megadonor Stephen Ross’ New York-based Related Companies and the Ilitch family’s Olympia Development of Michigan.
The university will lease the nearly 235,000-square-foot building with 313 units for 40 years, board documents show. The construction is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2028.
UM Board Chair Mark Bernstein said the center’s construction and the university’s presence in the city were like “a homecoming.”
“Michigan social workers, Michigan public policy grads, Michigan urban planners, they don’t just study in Detroit. They live here,” Bernstein said. “They came here, they work here. They make an impact here, and we will continue to do that. So today is really a homecoming for the University of Michigan, and what better symbol of that return than this residence hall.”
The $250 million UM Center for Innovation is expected to open next year. UM officials have previously said it will provide educational programs for workforce development, with the goal of creating a talent pool to attract and sustain high-tech companies in the city, region and state.
The UMCI was funded with $100 million from Ross, $100 million in tax dollars through the state of Michigan and $50 million from donors.
“The University of Michigan Center for Innovation is a powerful $250 million commitment to building talent, expanding opportunity and strengthening Detroit’s position as a hub for innovation and high tech growth, preparing our residents, our students and our workforce for the jobs of today and tomorrow,” Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield said. “This residential development will ensure that students and faculty have the ability not only to learn and work here, but to live, to connect and to build their lives here right in the center of Detroit.”
The center was first conceptualized under former UM President Mark Schlissel, Ross said during the groundbreaking. Ross said he first approached Schlissel after seeing the success of Cornell’s similar center in New York.
“We started working together on this and the idea of what this can do,” Ross said. “It can bring back Detroit and bring back jobs. When you add (the residential tower) with the innovation center, they all really fit together and bring the nucleus of why you can bring bright people here.”
satwood@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: University of Michigan expands Detroit footprint with new housing
Reporting by Sarah Atwood, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
