What Happened to Kmart's Headquarters?
Kmart's predecessor, the S.S. Kresge Company, left its 1927 headquarters building in the Cass Park area of Midtown Detroit for modern offices in the northern suburbs. Kresge began construction on the new offices in the late 1960s. The company was fully relocated to the new headquarters by 1972. It was located in the city of Troy about 16 miles north of Downtown Detroit at the northwest corner of W Big Beaver Rd and Coolidge Hwy. Construction of this facility was the birth of modern Troy and the impetus of Troy's Big Beaver Road becoming a corridor of upscale high rises and corporate offices for companies from all over the world. That includes banks, automakers, automotive suppliers, staffing services and marketing agencies.
Under the direction of lead designer Sigmund F Blum (FAIA) the Detroit firm of Smith, Hinchman & Grylls (now SmithGroup) designed the 1.2 million square-foot headquarters to accommodate 5500 Kresge employees. The massive building was enclosed by nine towers. The tallest tower offered a panoramic views of the Big Beaver Road Corridor. Aside from its modern styling the facility was known for its extensive collection of fine art. Including a tapestry by Pablo Picasso and a signed Andy Warhol poster.
S.S. Kresge was renamed Kmart Corporation in 1977. Kmart purchased Sears in 2005. The two entities based their newly consolidated headquarters in the suburban Chicago city of Hoffman Estates. The Troy headquarters remained vacant from 2006 until its demolition in 2023. A 28-acre redevelopment of the property begins in 2025. The University of Michigan Health System will occupy 7-acres with a specialty care facility intended to focus on patients in Detroit's northern suburbs (Oakland Co and Macomb Co).
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