[DetroitSky]

Ex-Catholic school in Detroit gets $7.2M renovation, transformed into affordable housing

A $7.2 million renovation has turned a former Catholic school in Detroit's Banglatown neighborhood into housing.

City officials and developers marked the opening Monday of the Transfiguration Place Apartments, where the 19 units are for individuals making $28,000 or less, and who will not pay more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities.

The 21,500-square-foot building at 13300 Syracuse near East McNichols includes 17 one-bedroom apartments and two two-bedroom units. Built in 1926, the former school also served as a church until 1950. It's been vacant since 2014. It is the only surviving part of a complex added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2019.

"No longer an educational fixture in the community, Transfiguration is an adaptive reuse at its best. Its scale fits the surrounding landscape, and its use as housing for families fits well in the neighborhood," said Sandra Henriquez, CEO of the Detroit Housing Commission during the Monday ribbon cutting. "Much as the former school was an anchor in this community, this housing can now serve that same purpose."