DETROIT — Rock Ventures, along with Bedrock Real Estate Services, announced that Rossetti, an award-winning international architectural planning and design firm, will move its headquarters to the historic Federal Reserve building located at Fort and Shelby Streets in the heart of downtown Detroit.
Beginning this July, Rossetti’s team of 60 architects, planners, and designers will occupy the fourth floor, or 13,000 square feet of space, in the Federal Reserve building, 160 Fort St., which has been vacant since 2004.
Rossetti has also been hired by Bedrock to redesign the entire building, breathing life into the celebrated bank building by developing state-of-the-art, unique and creative offices and ground floor retail spaces.
Matt Rossetti, president of Rossetti, said the firm, currently based in Southfield is looking forward to moving back to the city, where it was initially founded in 1969.
“Our team is thrilled about working in downtown Detroit, given the urban nature of our designs and our business,” said Rossetti. “The city is becoming a creative center attracting some of this country’s most innovative and inspiring artists, designers and new economy business. There is so much energy in the city that it made perfect sense to return to our roots and come back home and seize the opportunity in Detroit.
“The redesign will pay homage to the architectural significance of the past and respect its ancestral bones,” Rossetti added. “At the same time, we plan to incorporate new workplace design concepts, such as an open floor plan, collaborative team spaces and use of natural materials.”
Rossetti has designed high-profile projects worldwide. In the city, the architectural firm is known for the new Cobo Hall & Convention Center, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Headquarters, Ford Field, Compuware World Headquarters, Greektown Casino-Hotel, and recently, Chase Tower at Campus Martius Park.
Rock Ventures purchased the 176,000 square foot Federal Reserve building last year. The original structure was built in 1927. In 1951, an eight-story glass and marble annex designed by Minoru Yamasaki (the renowned architect who designed the World Trade Center) was added and connected to the 1927 structure.
“Downtown Detroit continues its rapid ascent to greatness, said Dan Gilbert, chairman of Rock Ventures. ” If you were still skeptical, the announcement of a world-class architectural and design firm like ROSSETTI locating its headquarters to the urban core should remove any lingering doubts. ‘Opportunity Detroit’ is real and it’s where the new entrepreneurial companies and creative class will be doing their thing for years to come.”
