Abandoned Lee Plaza Hotel
The Lee Plaza Hotel was built in 1928 for Detroit developer Ralph T. Lee. The structure was created by renowned residential architect Charles Noble. It was built as an upstairs apartment with hotel services. In the 1920s, carvings and Statler hotels and books adorned the exterior of the Cadillac and Statler hotels to receive architectural advertisements in Detroit. The building opened in 1929, but Lee soon sold it to the Detroit Investment Company. Until 1943, ownership of the building was vested in the courts. By that time, however, the luxury apartments had lost their occupants and the hotel began to rent rooms for temporary guests. In 1968, the city of Detroit converted the building into a Senior Citizens Complex. However, Lee began to lose tenants in the 1980s, when the building was finally closed in 1997.
