Southgate's tallest building, a 14-story tower that sat empty for years after PNC Bank moved out, is about to become the city's largest residential development ever. The former Security Bank & Trust headquarters at 16333 Trenton Road will celebrate its grand opening on Tuesday, capping more than three years of construction on a $50 million apartment conversion.
The project, which broke ground on June 21, 2023, transformed the vacant office tower into 216 studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments, according to MLive.com. Some two-bedroom units span two stories. Southgate Mayor Joseph Kuspa told the outlet the redevelopment represents the single largest residential development in the city's 68-year history, calling it “truly transformational for the community and the Downriver area.” Kuspa announced the grand opening during an August 5 city council meeting, and the public is invited to a free open house from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, where visitors can tour the property.
Before it became an apartment tower, the building spent more than seven years standing empty after PNC Bank vacated it, the end result of a string of bank mergers that folded Security Bank & Trust into First of America, then National City, then PNC, per Sunday Times Newspapers. Opened in 1973 on the former site of Wonderland Amusement Park, the tower is the tallest structure between Detroit and Toledo, according to ABC Southeastern Michigan. For decades before its vacancy, Southgate residents knew the building for lighting its office windows each winter to form a massive green-and-gold Christmas tree visible across Downriver, a tradition tied to the tower's status as an iconic landmark in a city incorporated in 1958 from Ecorse Township, per Historical Downriver Locations.
From Drive-Through Lanes to EV Chargers
The redevelopment leaned into the building's banking history rather than erasing it. The old drive-through teller lane is now an EV charging station, per MLive.com, and the former lower-level safe-deposit vault has been converted into a meeting room. The Sunday Times Newspapers report also notes the developers restored a pneumatic tube system, originally used for teller transactions, so tenants can submit rent payments through it.
The Southgate Historical Foundation plans to install historical displays and artifacts from Security Bank & Trust inside the building and will accept donations, according to the same MLive.com report. Amenities throughout the tower include a fitness center, a yoga center, community plaza and lounge areas, and an outdoor pool on the southern plaza. Upper floors offer unobstructed views of downtown Detroit, the international bridges and southeast Michigan.
A Developer With a Track Record
Leading the development team is Alex Begin, who previously converted the 1970-built Madison Office Center in Madison Heights into Tremont Apartments in 2016, a project that leased to full capacity within months, the outlet's reporting on the project's origins shows. Begin has said the 216 units at Bank Tower will be offered strictly at market rates rather than as subsidized housing or ultra-luxury penthouses, a positioning aimed at attracting young professionals and downsizing retirees, according to Southgate Today via Facebook.
Construction and environmental remediation were handled by Independence Commercial Construction, while Beztak Properties has been contracted to manage the completed complex, per ABC Southeastern Michigan. Active site work began June 26, 2023, when environmental abatement crews started asbestos removal five days after the ceremonial groundbreaking, the same outlet reports. The project ultimately received more than a year of site plan, brownfield plan and zoning approvals and exceeded $50 million in total development costs before its completion this month.
Public Park and a Bridge to Kiwanis Park
Alongside the apartments, the project includes a new public park funded in part by a $5 million American Rescue Plan Act grant from Wayne County. That grant covers a pedestrian bridge over Trenton Road connecting the park directly to Kiwanis Park, according to MLive.com. The new green space is set to include a pavilion, outdoor exercise stations, a putting green, pickleball courts, a tennis court and a pathway.
Kiwanis Park is already a recreation hub for Southgate, known for hosting monthly free rideable miniature train rides run by the volunteer Great Lakes Live Steamers club, per LittleGuide Detroit. The new bridge is designed to give Bank Tower residents and park visitors a direct, safe walking connection between the two spaces.
Southgate is a city of about 29,366 residents with a median household income of $66,118 and a poverty rate of 9.4%, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. Kuspa said the redevelopment brought new life to the iconic Southgate structure, a sentiment that will be tested starting Tuesday, when the public gets its first full look inside the tower that once stood dark over Trenton Road.
