WSU Breaks Ground on Mike Ilitch School of Business

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Wayne State University broke ground today on the future site of its Mike Ilitch School of Business. The project is being funded by a $40 million gift from Mike and Marian Ilitch, the largest donation in the university’s history.

The site will feature a new state-of-the-art building with a glass façade, a café, indoor-outdoor spaces, lab spaces, student support facilities, classrooms, faculty offices, a business incubator pop-up, and more. Construction is expected to start later this year, and classes will start being held in the building in 2018.

“This new home for our business school will create a beautiful and accessible gateway connecting Midtown and downtown Detroit for students, faculty, and the community alike,” says M. Roy Wilson, president of WSU. “It’s a fitting and elegant design for a world-class business school made possible by entrepreneurs who throughout their career have been dedicated to opening up a world of opportunities for the people of Detroit.”

Detroit-based Christman-Brinker has been selected to be the construction manager for the new business school building, while Detroit-based architectural firm Smith Group JJR led the development of the updated design for the structure.

The future site of the Mike Ilitch School of Business is located on the southwest corner of Woodward Avenue and Temple in The District Detroit, which will be made up of a mix of sports and entertainment venues, including six theatres and three multiuse sports venues.

Data from the University of Michigan says that the district will ultimately account for an impact of more than $2 billion by 2020, and create 12,500 construction and construction-related jobs and 1,100 permanent jobs.

Established in 1946, the business school was renamed in 2015 in recognition of the gift from the Ilitches. When complete, the Mike Ilitch School of Business will serve more than 3,000 undergraduate and graduate students.