The Packard Plant became one of the most tired images of Detroit’s decline, but long before that, it was a trailblazer that changed the way auto plants were built and produced more than 1.6 million cars.

The first Packard was completed Nov. 6, 1899, in Warren, Ohio. A group of investors convinced James Ward Packard to move his fledgling car company to Detroit. In early 1903, architect Albert Kahn was hired to design a factory on 40 acres along Grand Boulevard. For his 10th building in the complex, Kahn employed reinforced concrete. This was a game-changing first for plant construction and made him the auto industry’s go-to guy for factories.

The Packard Plant eventually grew to 80 some buildings spread across 80 acres. It continued making quality cars for decades, as well as engines for World War II, but ran into trouble when it bought the Studebaker Corp. in 1954. The merged company never turned a profit. The Detroit plant closed when the last true Packard was produced in 1956. The name itself was discontinued two years later.

Parts of the complex were later turned into the Motor City Industrial Park, but it was closed by the City in 1999. Scrappers then set to work, literally ripping the place apart, turning it into 3.5 million square feet of rubble and ruin.

Peruvian developer Fernando Palazuelo bought the majority of the plant plant in 2013 in a county tax auction with intention to redevelop the plant as a mixed-use site of offices, events space, and art-themed attractions.

These plans however never came to fruition and instead, he rebranded it as an industrial distribution center. Eventually, the city sued Palazuelo and his company in March 2021 to have the dilapidated plant declared a public nuisance.

The massive structure on the 38-acre site has been demolished in multiple phases over the past few years, with the latest phase starting in March 2024. Although the project began in 2017, significant progress started in 2022 after the abandoned structure was deemed a safety hazard for nearby residents and businesses.

The most recent phase, which began on March 4, 2024, is expected to take at least five months to complete. Following this, three additional parcels are slated for demolition.

“For 68 years, the ruins of this building have been a weight around the neck of Detroit’s recovery,” Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said in March 2024. “We are going to convert this from an abandoned building to a vibrant employment center over the next two years.”