Belcrest Apartments

The Belcrest Apartments is an apartment building located at 5440 Cass Avenue in Midtown Detroit, Michigan. It was built in 1926 as the Belcrest Hotel, designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1983, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. It is significant as an early example of the apartment hotel development concept in Detroit, and a major early work of architect Charles N. Agree.The Belcrest Apartment Hotel was built in 1926 as a residential hotel, catering to wealthy tenants. The building exemplified what was, at the time, a novel style of living arrangement: an apartment building that offered amenities normally associated with a hotel. Daily maid service and a restaurant on the premises set this apart from a conventional apartment building. The building was developed by Jacob Singer and Max Hamburger, who hired Charles N. Agree as both architect and general contractor for the building. In 1929, Singer and Hamburger signed an agreement to make the Belcrest a part of the Albert Pick hotel chain. The property was purchased by Detroit-based developer, Holcomb Development Company, in Fall of 2022 and a full renovation of all 140 units has been completed .The Belcrest The Belcrest is a twelve-story, T-shaped apartment building, constructed of concrete and steel and sheathed with brick and terra cotta. Three projecting bays surround the base of the T, emphasizing the vertical, and extend up through the cornice to end in an ornamented gable. The three bays have elaborate detail on the twelfth floor, containing alternating bands of brick and terra cotta, round-arched masonry window openings, and terra cotta diaperwork.Terra cotta cornices on the third, eleventh, and top floors emphasize the horizontal. The grey and cream second-floor cornice is further embellished with dentils, rope molding, and acanthus leaf molding. The tan and dark brown eleventh-floor corniceline has green highlights, and breaks at terra cotta balconets beneath the twelfth-floor windows. The tan twelfth floor cornice is molded into the form of a series of arches and acanthus leaf brackets, topped with an acanthus leaf molding.A gabled single story entry foyer echoes the form of the twelfth floor gables. The entryway is reached through original wrought iron entry gates.Wikimedia Commons has media related to Belcrest Apartments (Detroit, Michigan).• Belcrest ApartmentsHospitals • Detroit Medical Center Children's Hospital of Michigan• Detroit Receiving Hospital• Harper University Hospital• Hutzel Women's HospitalMuseums • Detroit Historical Museum• Detroit Institute of Arts• Michigan Science Center• Charles H. Wright Museum of African American HistoryClubs • Detroit Masonic Temple• Scarab ClubResidencesReligion • Cass Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church• Cathedral Church of St. Paul• Chapel of St. Theresa-the Little Flower• First Congregational Church• First Presbyterian Church• First Unitarian Church of Detroit• Saint Andrew's Memorial Episcopal Church• Temple Beth-ElUtility buildings • Willis Avenue StationCommercial buildings • Architects Building• Cass Motor Sales• Detroit-Columbia Central Office Building• Graybar Electric Company Building• Russell Industrial CenterPublic facilities • Dunbar Hospital• Majestic Theater• Garden Bowl• Orchestra Hall• Little Caesars ArenaThis list is incomplete. Low rise under 10 stories selectedParks and gardens • Belle Isle• Cranbrook• Campus Martius• Grand Circus• Metroparks• Matthaei Botanical Gardens• Riverfront parks• Detroit ZooMuseums and libraries • Cranbrook Educational Community• Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History• Detroit Historical Museum• Detroit Institute of Arts• Detroit Public Library• Detroit Science Center• Edsel and Eleanor Ford House• Fair Lane• Ford Piquette Avenue Plant• The Henry Ford• Meadowbrook Hall• Pewabic Pottery• Southfield Public Library• University of Michigan Museum of ArtReligious landmarks • Religious landmarksPerformance centers • Theatres and performing arts venuesNeighborhood Historic DistrictsSee also: List of tallest buildings in Detroit