When I first heard we were going to open a LinkedIn office in Detroit, I paused. I thought about how Dan Gilbert, one of the city’s biggest real estate developers and fans, described the challenge to the city he loves: “We are dealing with the unique radioactive-like reputational fallout of 50-60 years of economic decline, disinvestment, municipal bankruptcy, and all of the other associated negative consequences of that extraordinarily long period of time.” It was my job to find our new office space for LinkedIn in this city.

LinkedIn had conducted a 10-city search for a new office, and the team decided on Detroit, in part because it directly aligned with our vision - creating economic opportunity. Mike Gamson, who led the initiative had said “We made a conscious decision to invest in Detroit because we believe we can have a meaningful impact on the local economy and put our money to work in a community that is rebuilding. This is an important step to help level the playing field and further democratize access to jobs.”

As I flew to Detroit in December 2017, I was not sure what to expect. What I found when I toured, was a vibrant city bustling with construction workers, security guards, and busy professionals in fashionable clothing at trendy coffee shops. There was scaffolding on every corner.

I learned that Nike, Lululemon and Google were moving in. I felt a thumping pulse of possibility. Then, my spirits sank. Many of the buildings my team and I saw as we were searching for office space were straight out of the 70s: cube farms, threadbare carpet, low ceilings, florescent lights.

Then, our real estate team said they had one last option, but warned it would take a lot of work. We walked into the Sanders Building in the Lower Woodward Corridor Community. It literally had dirt floors. Smelled dank. It was creepy and dark. The building was forlorn – much of it had been vacant for decades.

But there was a bright architectural upside: the 100-year-old brick building hadn’t been significantly touched in half a century. Many of its graceful bones and wonderfully ornate masonry details on the façade were intact from when it was the Sanders Candy shop. The developer, Dan Gilbert’s Bedrock Detroit, preserved much of the original leaded glass storefront and completely restored and reattached the steel entry canopies which had been removed a few decades ago. I saw a structure that could help connect employees to the community and vice-versa.

The building had soul.

But the Sanders building wasn’t perfect. Sure, it was much more affordable than traditional Class A offices in big cities, but it didn’t have enough space or the right configuration. Jim Ketai, the chairman of developer Bedrock Detroit and his team, were in the process of connecting the Sanders building and the adjacent former Grinnell Brother Music House into one larger building, which would be more space than we needed. So, we proposed and made a deal to stagger our occupancy. I was thrilled to get into this downtown revitalization early.

The more I got to know Detroit, the more I saw its beauty. We chose a Detroit design team, the SmithGroup, to put their local knowledge to work restoring and renovating the interior. Through the building, our implicit message to Detroit was “we respect your history, we’re here to celebrate your energy and your unique culture, not to change it.”

LaRon Johnson, who heads our Detroit office began staffing up. He and his team are executing on our commitment to hire locally and benefit from Detroit’s edgy creativity and can-do spirit. By now, more than 80% of our hires are locals and we’ve got more roles to fill. The Detroit team also began investing in the future talent pool. They partnered up with Midnight Golf and The Future Project, local programs that help train young workers for professional careers. LaRon says, “Now that we’ve put down roots, we’ve got community and private organizations reaching out to us non-stop about professional branding, workshops, and career opportunities. People say we’re more accessible, more approachable because we’re local. It’s truly rewarding."

On Monday, LinkedIn employees walked beneath the wrought iron canopy into one of the most stunning projects my Global Workplace Services team has delivered, and now a personal favorite of my 30-year career. The attention to detail and flood of natural light in every space is mesmerizing. The design team successfully tied the new to the old -- enabling people to feel a tangible connection to the transformation of Detroit. I hope everyone who visits us has the same sense of pride and promise, that I do.

The future of Detroit is going to be amazing, and it is so very clear why we’re here. We’re here to partner with this city and live our shared vision of creating economic opportunity. We’re here to contribute to the next chapter in Detroit’s remarkable comeback story.

What’s your favorite revitalized building?

What do you love about Detroit?

Thanks to Jim Ketai, chairman of Bedrock, Mike Gamson and Brian Frank for the concept; Architects and Designers Marta Gazda-Auskalnis, Andrew Mannion, Lori James, and Amanda Curtis at SmithGroup; our environmental graphics team and artists, Evan La Ruffa at IPaintMyMind, Pat Perry, and Gensler (Detroit); Project Managers Karina Forberger and Greg Worthington at JLL; General Contractors Heidi Schmidt and David Kukla at Brinker Group; reclaimed wood fabricators Woodward Throwbacks; furniture suppliers Sandy Olsen at KBM-Houge and Lisa Philko at AIREA; and the LinkedIn team, especially Greg Morrison, Cherish Rosas, Mikhael Banut, Brett Hautop, Richard Webeling, Paul Moritz, and Chris Butterick. Special thanks to Francesca Segrè for editorial support and photographer Justin Maconochie and of course, to LaRon Johnson for making the vision a reality with the Detroit team.