UM Credit Union plans new branch on Detroit property

Ecumenical Theological Seminary to remain as tenant

Listing attracted interest from 32 possible buyers

The historic former First Presbyterian Church at 2930 Woodward Ave. in Detroit has sold to the University of Michigan Credit Union, which will let its current occupant, the Ecumenical Theological Seminary, remain in the building.

The credit union plans to build a 4,000-square-foot branch employing 12 people full time on some of the 2-acre property's surface parking, President and CEO Tiffany Ford said. Development timelines are being determined, and Ford said additional details are expected in the first quarter of 2018.

The property, which was listed by Detroit-based Exclusive Realty in May, has about 150 parking spots, in addition to the church, a sanctuary and renaissance room. It was owned by the the seminary, which sold it for an undisclosed price last month. It was asking $4.85 million.

UM Credit Union was founded in 1954 and has $777.56 million in assets and more than 80,000 members, according to its June 30 financial statement. The credit union, which was represented in the deal by the Southfield office of Colliers International Inc., has branches in Ann Arbor, Flint, Dearborn and Ypsilanti.

"We have made the investment that we feel is worth building for our membership that we have there," Ford told Crain's Friday afternoon.

Ronald Wagner, chair of the seminary board and partner of the Detroit-based law firm Kitch Drutchas Wagner Valitutti & Sherbrook PC, said this spring that maintenance costs were becoming expensive and the seminary wants to direct its financial resources toward better uses, such as its endowment and faculty.

Friday afternoon, Wagner called the sale important for the seminary, which attracted interest from 32 possible buyers.

"They do a lot of community outreach programs where we'll be able to partner with them, so this is like a dream come true for us. This couldn't have worked out better," Wagner said.

First Presbyterian Church opened in 1891 at Woodward Avenue and Edmund Place in Detroit. According to Historic Detroit, which tracks Detroit buildings and architecture, the building was designed by the architecture firm Mason & Rice. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The website says the seminary was gifted the church in 2002, a decade after it leased the space from the First Presbyterian Church.

The property is one block north of Little Caesars Arena, which was built for the Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Pistons. The arena anchors the Ilitch family's $1 billion-plus, 50-block District Detroit development project, which is planned to include office, entertainment, retail and restaurant uses when fully built.

It also abuts the City Modern project by Dan Gilbert and other investors who plan 410 residences for sale and for rent on an 8.4-acre chunk of the Brush Park neighborhood immediately to the south.