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Credit: Jason Keen/Michigan Central
Michigan Central Station in Corktown is getting a roughly 180-room NoMad hotel in 2027.
A luxury NoMad hotel is slated to take over the top five floors of the redeveloped Michigan Central Station — and could put Detroit on pace to have two five-star hotels open at roughly the same time.
Josh Sirefman, CEO of the Michigan Central nonprofit that oversees the 30-acre campus by Ford Motor Co. in Corktown, said the hotel flag, a recently acquired brand of McLean, Va.-based Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc., is expected to open in 2027 with nearly 180 guest rooms.
Credit: Stephanie Rhoades Hume/Michigan Central
The luxury NoMad hotel brand will take over the 14th through 18th floors of the Michigan Central Station building in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood. Seen here is the 17th floor.
In addition to the rooms, NoMad — which has a flagship location in London and is also opening a location in 2027 in Singapore — has at least two restaurant spaces envisioned, including one on the depot’s western side, where a carriage house is located to be enclosed in glass.
The anticipated room rates are not yet known, Sirefman said, adding that although specific employment figures are not yet known, there could be a few hundred people working for the hotel and its restaurants.
“We really thought the NoMad brand really spoke to what’s happening at Michigan Central and this nexus of innovation and culture and technology and forward-thinking, while also celebrating the past. It just felt like a perfect fit,” Sirefman said. “People sometimes ask, ‘Will this be the highest and most luxurious hotel?’ The intent was we felt that could happen here. The intent was actually to make it luxury that embraces everybody and is truly accessible.”
Credit: Stephanie Rhoades Hume/Michigan Central
The NoMad hotel opening will mark the first time the top five floors of the Michigan Central Station building have been finished. Seen here is the 18th floor.
Michigan Central Station reopened in June 2024 and has since drawn some 300,000 visitors, Sirefman said. Ford, through an affiliate, paid $90 million for the former train station in 2018 and spent the next six years or so rehabbing it as an anchor for its autonomous and electric vehicle campus. A satellite building, a former Detroit Public Schools book depository, was also rehabbed and reopened as Newlab.
In 2024, Hilton paid what hotel industry publication Skift reported was $56 million for a majority interest in Sydell Hotels & Resorts LLC and Sydell Holding Company IUK Ltd. with plans to scale up the NoMad brand from just one currently operating hotel to up to 50 worldwide.
Skift reported that over time, NoMad could ultimately rival competitor Marriott International Inc.’s Edition hotel brand, which is also coming to Detroit — in Dan Gilbert’s Hudson’s Detroit development downtown.
When Hilton announced the Sydell deal in April 2024, it said there were 10 or so NoMad hotels “already in advanced stages of discussion.”
It would also be one of the rare Hilton hotels in Detroit, and add another 180 or so rooms to a market that the region’s tourism and convention industry has argued for years has been undersupplied. Although Hilton recently opened the Godfrey Hotel in Corktown, the hospitality giant has been outpaced by rival Marriott in opening new properties in the city’s rapidly changing downtown. Other Hilton hotels in downtown include a Hilton Garden Inn on Gratiot Avenue and a DoubleTree Suites on Fort Street.
NoMad was founded in 2011 and takes its name from the New York City neighborhood Madison Square North in Manhattan.
“NoMad has built a reputation for developing hotels that take inspiration from the history, art, design and culture that make a place unique, and NoMad Detroit is poised to be no exception,” Andrew Zobler, founder and CEO of Sydell Group, said in a statement.
“A city steeped in history with an incredibly bright future, NoMad Detroit is part of an ambitious project that is transforming The Station at Michigan Central into a center for commerce, innovation, community and culture. As we continue the international expansion of NoMad from the iconic London location, with plans to launch in Detroit and Singapore and more in the works, we look forward to giving travelers a chance to experience our unparalleled luxury in the most vibrant destinations.”
Sirefman noted that NoMad’s opening will mark the first time the top five floors of the depot have been finished. They have never previously been occupied.
Since opening last year, Michigan Central has been slowly filling the station’s 18 stories with daytime tenants, including Google Code Next and Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan on the fifth floor and Ford employees on floors eight through 10.
Light retail has added as well on the main floor: Detroit-based InLaws Hospitality opened a Yellow Light Coffee & Donuts location in November. Neighbor X Folk, a retail shop featuring small food items, local gifts and housewares from the owners of Corktown restaurant Folk, opened soon afterwards.
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