DETROIT—This city's downtown has seen a great deal of activity over the past couple of years. Companies have started resettling in the CBD, buying and then opening up many underused or even vacant properties, filling offices, and the streets, with thousands of workers. And Detroit-based Kraemer Design Group, PLC now says that it is on track to complete the architecture and interior design of the downtown's historic David Whitney Building. They plan to reopen it in December as a mixed-use facility which features the Aloft Detroit at the David Whitney hotel.

Similar projects are underway in the CBD. As reported in GlobeSt.com, Chicago-based Aparium Hotel Group recently launched a plan to renovate and redevelop the historic Detroit Fire Department Headquarters into a 100-room upscale independent hotel. Aparium officials said they, together with Detroit developer Walter Cohen, will spend $28 million to transform the 62,910-square-foot space at 234-250 W. Larned St., into a hotel that celebrates the city's past and its future. Named the Foundation Hotel, Aparium plans to open for business in late 2015.

The David Whitney Building, built in 1915 and designed by the architectural firm Daniel Burnham & Co., was once one of the city's most recognizable skyscrapers. The 19-story Neo-Renaissance building has undergone a two-year, $94.5 million historic renovation that has completely restored both interior and exterior architectural elements, including its four-story atrium.