Russell Industrial Center
The Russell Industrial Center is a complex of studios and shops is located at 1600 Clay Avenue in Milwaukee Junction Detroit, Michigan. The Russell Industrial Center is a 2,200,000-square-foot (200,000 m2), seven building complex, designed by Albert Kahn for John William Murray in 1915. The Russell Industrial Center, sometimes abbreviated as R.I.C. [or RIC], it contains studios and lofts and serves as a professional center for commercial and creative arts.
In 1925, Murray completed the factory to accommodate its growing auto-body manufacturing business (Murray Body Company); but before the plant was completed, business decreased. In an effort to stay afloat economically, Murray formed various mergers to expand his production. A series of difficulties led previous owners of the Russell to close.
The factory has become another of Detroit's renovated buildings. In 2003, Dennis Kefallinos purchased the building and converted it into more than one million square feet of studio space and lofts for various artists, creative professionals, and businesses. The Russell Industrial Center works with non profits, local colleges, and businesses. Kefallinos is owner to several Detroit businesses, such as Nikki's Pizza in Greektown.
John William Murray, born 1862, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, was known for his company, Coach Work by Murray. In 1913, he formed the J.W. Murray Mfg. Co. and supplied sheet metal parts for the automobile factories in the Detroit area. The first plant was located in Detroit, at 1975 Clay Street, which is next to the Grand Trunk Western Railroad line and borders Fordyce, Morrow, Marston and Clay Streets. Murray Manufacturing began manufacturing automobile bodies, stamped fenders, hoods, cowls and frames. The growing demands from customers, such as the Dodge brothers, Ford Lincoln, Crosley, Willys, Hudson, Hupmobile, King and Studebaker, led Murray to expand his operations.
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