Detroit-based Roxbury Group has unveiled the soon-to-open AC Hotel Detroit at the Bonstelle, a 154-room, 10-story hotel in the Brush Park neighborhood. Roxbury is developing the project in partnership with Atlanta-based Peachtree Group. When the AC Detroit opens later this month, it will be the first AC Hotel in southeast Michigan and third in the state.

The new-construction hotel will incorporate a rooftop venue and the restoration of the historic Bonstelle Playhouse, both of which are slated to open this spring. The Bonstelle is being restored to its original 1903 Albert Kahn-designed exterior and 1925 interior redesign by theater architect C. Howard Crane. The Bonstelle will be used for live performances, as well as civic, corporate and private events, and will be connected to the hotel via a glass-enclosed lobby bar called the Conservatory, the property’s version of the AC Lounge.

“We are very excited to bring the AC Hotels brand to Detroit, and to be doing so in such grand fashion with the connection to the Bonstelle,” said David Di Rita, principal, Roxbury Group. “We take a great deal of pride in pairing high-end hospitality with iconic historic properties, and we are honored to be restoring the beauty of the Bonstelle and seamlessly integrating it with the modern sensibility of AC Hotels.”

The hotel is located near Little Caesars Arena, Orchestra Hall, Wayne State University’s Mike Ilitch School of Business and the Detroit Medical Center.

“This project by the Roxbury Group is a wonderful mix of new construction and historic preservation, which is what great cities do,” said Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan. “Not only will it bring some much-needed hotel rooms to the growing midtown area, but it will also beautifully restore the Bonstelle theater, giving it a new life”

Financing is being provided by Flagstar Bank, Bank of Ann Arbor, Invest Detroit and Stonehill, a part of Peachtree Group. The AC Hotel Detroit at the Bonstelle will be Roxbury’s third hospitality project in Detroit. Azul Hospitality, which manages Roxbury’s Element Detroit at the Metropolitan and The Hotel David Whitney, Autograph Collection, will manage the AC Hotel at the Bonstelle. Design for the project was led by Stantec, interior design is by Patrick Thompson Design and construction is being managed by Sachse Construction.

The Bonstelle Theatre opened in 1903 as the Temple Beth El synagogue and was designed by Kahn, who belonged to the congregation. In 1925, the synagogue moved further north, and the building became home to a theater company and renamed the Bonstelle Playhouse. After the Depression, the theater was used as a movie house. In 1951, the theater was acquired by Wayne State University, which restored its name and function as a theater. In 2018, WSU announced that, following an expansion of the Hilberry Theatre, the Bonstelle would be decommissioned.

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