The Millender Center is a mixed-use complex in downtown Detroit, Michigan. The complex spans two city blocks, containing a retail atrium, Detroit People Mover station, and parking garage on its first seven floors, plus the 33-floor Renaissance City Club Apartments and a 20-floor Courtyard by Marriott hotel. Developed by Forest City Enterprises and completed in 1985, the Millender Center is now owned by General Motors, and integrated with GM's Renaissance Center complex across the street. History Development and construction First proposed by Mayor Coleman Young as the Jefferson-Randolph Project in 1978, the Center was renamed for Robert L. Millender, an activist and lawyer, shortly after his death in November of that year. The plans originally included a bus station on the ground floor, but these were quickly dropped. The city's Downtown Development Authority initially secured $96 million in funding, including $29 million from public sources, and signed Cleveland-based Forest City Dillon as a developer in 1981. Economic concerns stalled the project until 1983, when the State of Michigan invested $35 million in the project from its pension fund. Omni Hotels signed on to manage the hotel, and ground was broken on the complex on March 1, 1984, at a ceremony attended by Governor James Blanchard. The complex was built rapidly using prefabricated components, an innovative technique pioneered by Forest City Dillon, allowing the addition of a new floor every two days. Ron Ratner, the company's executive vice president, claimed that it would be the tallest pre-cast concrete structure in the United States upon completion. During construction, artifacts over a century old, left by a previous owner, Jean Baptiste Ballenger, were discovered on the Millender Center grounds. Gun flints, bones, pots, and tax documents were excavated from the site. Opening and early years The Omni Hotel held its grand opening on October 20, 1985, and the Millender Center was formally dedicated the next day. Mayor Young and Governor Blanchard heralded the Center as a turning point in the city's redevelopment, and Ratner teased possible future Detroit development by Forest City Enterprises. The opening of the Detroit People Mover in July 1987 included a station at the Millender Center, integrated into the atrium and façade on the fifth floor. The station includes a pottery mural by local African-American artist Alvin Loving Jr. On April 1, 1996, the Omni Hotel was taken over and reflagged by DoubleTree Hotels. General Motors ownership Facing foreclosure,