J. Frederick Hartz, the namesake of this building, was Chairman of the board of the J.F. Hartz Company, suppliers of medical supplies and surgical instruments for physicians, nurses, hospitals and sick rooms.

Malcomson and Higginson, architects, were issued the building permit for the construction of the building for Hartz. It was to cost an estimated $15,000. Also located in the Hartz Building in 1907 were Silverman Bernd, cigar manufacturer; the Detroit Medical Journal Company; E.C. Moore & son Company, dental specialties; Ideal Belt Company, Illustrated medical Journal Company, and J.H. Bishop Company, clothing manufacturers.

The Hartz Building was originally built as a four-story brick building articulated as a single bay. A fifth floor was added in 1926/27 (Alt. permit 7433-A, 11/30/1926) at a cost of $25,000. Stone quoins frame its front facade and bands of seven windows with transoms fill the single horizontal opening per floor above the store level.

Three condos were built in the historic Hartz Building above the Detroit Beer Company downtown. Each condo has three bedrooms and takes up a single floor of the six-story building at 1529 Broadway Street. The Detroit Beer Company opened in the building in 2003.