Session Abstract
2015 MSHDA Conference – Vibrant Communities Track
Title:
“Downtown Jewels have their Historic Luster Restored: The Renovation of Detroit’s David
Whitney Building (1915) and Lansing’s J.W. Knapp Company Department Store (1937-39)”
Description:
(500 characters and spaces; 500 limit)
Historic downtowns boast “jewels,” those buildings whose loss would be a blow. Here are
two such gems. Detroit’s famed David Whitney Building reflects grand Neo-Renaissance
styling; a Mid-Century cornice adds a visual twist. The Knapp’s Department Store is one of
Michigan’s best Streamline Moderne commercial buildings. Both are creatively renovated
“placemakers” that provide retail, residential, and office space; the Whitney also houses a
hotel while Knapp’s includes a fashion industry incubator.
Three Learner Outcomes:
Participants will:

Consider how developers in two Michigan communities created distinctive solutions
for saving very different historic resources, mixing downtown housing with other
uses, while assuring that work was in keeping with the U.S. Secretary of the
Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation, the nationally-accepted design review
guidelines for successful preservation projects.

While this is not a workshop on financial packaging for the redevelopment of historic
properties, touch briefly upon why – in a general sense – such incentives are
important to allowing historic preservation projects to meet the Secretary of the
Interior’s Standards and be successful while remaining competitive with those
projects that simply reuse old buildings or focus on new construction.

Study the spin-off effects to the surrounding downtown when an historic building
important to the community is reclaimed and returned to service.
Bibliography:
The following are among the standard texts on the panel’s topic to be found on historic
preservation bookshelves:
Booz, Allen & Hamilton. The Contribution of Historic Preservation to Urban Revitalization.
Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, 1979.
Boyle, Jayne, Stuart Ginsburg, and Sally Oldham. Guide to Tax-Advantaged Rehabilitation.
National Trust for Historic Preservation, 2002.
Fitch, James Marston Fitch. Historic Preservation: Curatorial Management of the Built
World. University Press of Virginia, 1990.
Loomis, Ormond. Cultural Conservation: The Protection of Cultural Heritage in the United
States. Washington DC: Library of Congress, 1983.
Markusen, Ann, and Anne Gadwa. Creative Placemaking. A white paper for The Mayors'
Institute on City Design, a leadership initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in
partnership with the United States Conference of Mayors and American Architectural
Foundation. Economic Research Services, Metris Arts Consulting, 2010.
Reynolds, Judith, and Elizabeth Byrd Woods. Appraising Historic Properties. National
Trust for Historic Preservation, 2002.
Rypkema, Donovan. Feasibility Assessment Manual for Reusing Historic Buildings.
National Trust for Historic Preservation, 2007.
Rypkema, Donovan, and Caroline Cheong. Public-Private Partnerships and Heritage: A
Practitioner’s Guide. National Trust for Historic Preservation, 2012.
Rypkema, Donovan, and Bryd Woods. The Economics of Rehabilitation. National Trust for
Historic Preservation, 1997.
Winter, Nore V. Developing Sustainability Guidelines for Historic Buildings. National Trust
for Historic Preservation, 2011.
Ziegler, Arthur P. Historic Preservation in Inner City Areas: A Manual of Practice. Ober
Park Associates, 1974.
Speakers:
David Di Rita
President
The Roxbury Group
2650 Buhl Building
535 Griswold Street
Detroit, MI 48226
PHONE:
313-418-1206
FAX:
CELL:
EMAIL:
ddirita@roxburygroup.com
(150 words; 150 word limit)
David Di Rita has 21 years’ experience as a transactional attorney and real estate
professional. He is actively involved in real estate advisory work with the corporate,
governmental, and non-profit clients of The Roxbury Group, a Detroit-based real estate
development and consulting firm he founded in 2005. David also is engaged in numerous
complex development projects, utilizing public-private partnerships. After earning business
and law degrees from the University of Michigan, David began a career that included senior
legal positions at Tower Automotive, Visteon, and Johnson Controls. At Visteon he was key
to the development of Visteon Village as well as the Kennedy Square office building in
Campus Martius, Detroit. While with Johnson Controls, David oversaw several real estate
projects involving site acquisition and facility construction around the world. David serves
on the Board of Trustees of the Downtown Detroit Partnership and the Loan Committee of
the Lower Woodward Housing Fund.
Mark K. Clouse
Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel
Eyde Company
4660 South Hagadorn Road – Suite 660
East Lansing, Michigan 48823
PHONE:
517-351-2480
FAX:
CELL:
EMAIL:
clouse@eyde.com
(150 words; 150 word limit)
Mark Clouse is CEO and General Counsel for the Eyde Company, a longtime East Lansing
business. George and Louis Eyde founded the company in 1958 and serve as general
partners. They have been active in land development, construction, real estate sales, and
management since establishing their partnership. Today the company is one of the most
respected and largest of such companies in Michigan having built more than 4 million
square feet of total space. A conservation-oriented philosophy and commitment to
environmental responsibility have guided the Eyde Company’s development, improvement,
and use of its properties. It is no surprise that it is behind the $36 million renovation and
adaptive re-use of the Knapp’s Building that houses retail, offices, residential space, and a
business incubator focused on the fashion industry. The Lansing Regional Chamber of
Commerce recognized the Eyde Company for its work on the Knapp’s Building – the
company’s own new headquarters!
Moderator:
Janet L. Kreger
1050 Wall Street – No. 4F
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105
PHONE:
734-222-9310
FAX:
734-222-9310
CELL:
734-546-9991
EMAIL:
kregerj1981@att.net
(150 words; 150 word limit)
Janet Kreger has her BA'72 in American History from the University of Michigan and an
MS'76 in Historic Preservation from Columbia University. Janet retired after 24 years as
executive manager for major and planned gift fundraising at both the University of Michigan
and Michigan State University, a second career that followed 12 years with Michigan’s State
Historic Preservation Office as an architectural historian and preservationist. She now
volunteers full-time with the Michigan Historic Preservation Network, a non-profit she helped
found in 1981. She also continues fundraising, contracting with cultural organizations such
as the Society of Architectural Historians, Cranbrook Educational Community, and the State
Historic Preservation Office; pro bono services are provided to other cultural groups. She is
an Honorary Affiliate Member of the American Institute of Architects/Michigan Chapter
(1999), is the recipient of the MHPN’s “Lifetime Achievement Award” (2005), and was
named the Historical Society of Michigan's "2012 Distinguished Volunteer."