DTE Energy Completes Renovation Of Art Deco Building Downtown

It may be one of the smaller buildings, but downtown Detroit has yet another renovation success story.

DTE Energy has completed renovating the long-vacant Art Deco building across the street from its downtown Detroit headquarters as part of its investment in the neighborhood that the company has called home for more than a century. It will be named the Navitas House, and the structure had been vacant since 2004. Navitas is Latin for “energy.”

The 32,000 square-foot, three-story building will be home to about 140 employees from DTE’s information technology department. The architecture firm was Detroit-based Hamilton Anderson Associates and the general contractor was L.S. Brinker, a certified Minority firm headquartered in Detroit.

“One of the keys to urban revitalization is to bring vacant buildings back to life, which helps a street feel more alive, makes it safer and improves the overall stability of the neighborhood. This beautiful building stands now as a symbol of our work to help energize Detroit.” – Ron May, DTE Energy executive vice president, Major Enterprise Projects.

DTE is also expected to break ground on a new green space just to the east of its headquarters in the spring. Plans call for the now-empty lot, which is across the street from the almost-complete renovation of the G.A.R historic building, to become a public gathering place for downtown employees, residents and visitors.

DTE preserved much of the Art Deco interior elements during the Navitas House reconstruction, including the historic attributes of the main lobby, as well as terrazzo floors and marble walls in the bathrooms. A rain garden, which will filter runoff and provide an urban habitat for birds and butterflies, has been added behind the building.