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$32 million construction project to begin on Detroit skyscraper

Posted at 6:58 AM, Aug 29, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-29 15:09:56-04

A skyscraper in downtown Detroit is getting a major upgrade after nearly 40 years of being abandoned.

The multi-million dollar construction project is set to start on Tuesday on the Metropolitan Building on John R. between Woodward and Broadway.

It was built in 1925 and was initially home to a jeweler and a watchmaker. But, in 1979, the doors of the building closed at Detroit's economy moved to the suburbs.

Now, after nearly 40 years, the $32 million project will bring a new Starwood Hotel to the Metropolitan Building, breathing life back into it after time stood still.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan will be at the ceremony marking the start of construction.

In another nod to the building's history, it has the last "rooftop" tree of any building in Detroit. That will be hoisted to the ground on Tuesday and replanted in a city park.

The hotel is set to open in 2018.