Already a new landmark on the downtown Detroit skyline, the University of Michigan Center for Innovation is now in its final stretch of construction and less than a year away from completion.
The architecturally distinct 200,000-square-foot building is situated at 2121 Cass Ave. and will be a graduate degree-conferring research campus for the university when it opens in August 2027.
U-M anticipates about 75 students will attend the UMCI in its first year, with the number doubling in subsequent years until enrollment stabilizes at 500 to 1,000 graduate students after three to five years, according to Scott Shireman, the center's executive director.
The U-M Center for Innovation was conceived by New York developer and U-M megadonor Stephen Ross as a way
to foster more economic growth and innovation in Detroit and across the state.
Ross is contributing $100 million toward the project's anticipated $250 million cost, with the state of Michigan pitching in $100 million and university fundraising filling in the balance.
The Ilitch organization previously owned the land the building is on and donated it for the project.
Chris Ilitch joined Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield and U-M President Domenico Grasso on Friday, Oct. 9, to celebrate the construction progress. The building's groundbreakingwas in December 2023.
The UMCI is neighbors with a future residence hall for its graduate students and faculty. Construction began in April on that 13-story and 313-unit building, known as Founders House, and which is scheduled to open by fall 2028.
“Today is an important milestone for Detroit," Ilitch said during Friday's event, which was held outside the nearby restaurant Lumen Detroit. "I spent four great years at the University of Michigan and I’ve spent 40 great years in the city of Detroit, so for me, the UMCI and Founders House are particularly special and very personal.
"It brings together two things that have been exceptionally important and a huge part of my life, and I’m enormously proud to be playing a role in what we are building here.”
Shireman told the Free Press that the university will help to connect UMCI students with nearby apartment buildings for housing during that initial school year before Founders House opens.
The UMCI will start off offering five graduate degrees that are entirely new to U-M, he said. Those degree will be in urban technology, product management, product management, sustainable energy analytics, sustainable energy leadership and a technology and innovation MBA.
The center is expected to expand its degree offerings as time goes on, Shireman said.
The architect for the U-M Center for Innovation is Kohn Pedersen Fox and Walbridge Aldinger is the general contractor.
Contact JC Reindl: 313-378-5460 or jcreindl@freepress.com. Follow him on X @jcreindl
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Opening set for Detroit's University of Michigan Center for Innovation
