By: E&P Staff Owners of the former Detroit Free Press building may convert the long-empty offices into a film production studio, according to a report today in The Detroit News, which directs readers to the Motor City Film Works Web site -- where the new company shows the old Free Press building.
Richard Gerber, owner of technology firm Intelegen, told the Detroit News, "We intend to turn the former printing press area into a sound stage. That's 80,000-square-feet of space." Eventually, he added, the entire building may be offered for production purposes.
Gerber said he is in partnership with a Florida real estate company that bought the building two months ago. He said the partnership seeks to qualify for state tax incentives that have increased film, video and television production in Michigan. The incentives include production-cost, training and location rebates and a new-studio investment tax credit.
Described now as a 13-story tower with six-story wings, the original portion of the building was designed by Albert Kahn. It opened in 1917 and featured a rooftop tennis court.
The News reports that since passage of the tax incentives, 32 films have been produced in Michigan, with 40 more "in the works," while only six were made in the year before the incentives.
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