HISTORY
Welcome to the Murray!
The Murray is very special to everyone who worked on it. It is a gem that is over 100 years old. Prior to the summer of 2020, the building sat abandoned and crumbling for well over a decade.
The restored Murray is an apartment community that has a very long history in one of Detroit’s oldest and best neighborhoods.
In order to help bring The Murray back to life, development participated in the Federal Historic Tax Credit (HTC) program. You can read more about the program here, but in essence, the program provides partial financing to restore buildings like The Murray, in exchange for honoring and restoring the building’s historic look and feel. Learn more about the neighborhood.
For many projects, the HTC does not make sense. It requires very detailed documentation of every element of the building prior to starting construction. Once underway, the program must have a detailed renovation plan that follows the exacting rules established by the U.S. Department of the Interior. Finally, the tax credits are not awarded unless and until the project provides equally detailed documentation demonstrating that the development executed the plan precisely as described. Needless to say, not every developer has the experience -- or patience -- to pull this off.
But REI did.
The Murray is a product of a very special process that aimed to create living space that honored the history of the building, without feeling as though the point was to create a museum. Each apartment should feel like a home, not an exhibit.
But the key is that they must “feel” like something. Something unique and special, because of course they are. To be judged a success, The Murray must have an emotional impact. Anyone who lives there, visits or even walks by, can confirm that this goal has been met.
When it happens, as it has with The Murray, the emotional impact of a property flows from two things: the context & history of the property (or, the “Story”) and the usefulness & function of the property (the “Use”). When done well, the Story and the Use help to transform a house into a home
The Murray’s story is about tradition, optimism, and family. But the great thing is that if you rent at The Murray, you become part of that Story too – and you get to help to write it.
The Use is what one makes of a property designed to honor history (as evidenced by the deep, rich paint colors, the use of patterns, the restored 1917 porches, even the kitchen drawer knobs!) while still providing all of the modern conveniences of the best apartments ( each unit has its own washer and dryer, microwave, ice maker, sprinklers, air conditioning, etc). The Use is intended to make sure residents have what each needs to feel that their home is their own.