Little Caesars Reveals Updated Detroit HQ Designs

By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

Little Caesars Headquarters, Detroit

Detroit—It’s not on the menu but Little Caesars is planning to serve up something new, and everyone in Detroit will have access to more than a few slices. The world’s largest carryout-only pizza chain recently unveiled the revised design of its Little Caesars Global Resource Center headquarters campus, and the 234,000-square-foot building will be covered in, yes, pizza slice-shaped glass.

Established in Detroit in 1959, Little Caesars has been experiencing rapid growth since setting up shop at its current headquarters in the Fox Office Center in 1989. Architectural firm SmithGroupJJR is behind the design of the company’s new nine-story nod to the pizza pie. The building’s formed-glass façade will feature 14-foot tall “slices” that not only mimic the silhouette of the company’s signature item, but also allow for a workspace with more natural light than planned in the previous design, which was roughly 30,000 square feet smaller.

This is not your father’s office building. The property will also encompass a host of features intended to provide flexible work accommodations and encourage collaboration, including a work café, a glass-covered open-air terrace, screening room, and retail and dining options.

And the project will be a family affair. Little Caesars’ new headquarters will be built within The District Detroit, a community that will be created by linking sports and entertainment venues—including the new Little Caesars Arena—with office, retail and residential offerings to create a multi-section community between Midtown and Downtown. Olympia Development of Michigan, which, like Little Caesars, is part of Ilitch Cos., is spearheading The District Detroit endeavor and it’s helming the development of Little Caesars’ corporate hub as well.

“The Little Caesars Global Resource Center is an important anchor for The District Detroit and will appeal to national and local retailers who want proximity to a global brand with Detroit roots,” Steve Marquardt, vice president of Olympia Development of Michigan, said in a prepared statement.

All eyes will be on Little Caesars’ new home base not just for of its distinctive architecture, but also because it will be the first corporate headquarters to sprout up in Detroit in more than 10 years and only the seventh since 1950.

Olympia Development of Michigan has brought Brinker-Christman aboard to serve as construction manager on the Little Caesars project, which is on track to get underway later this summer.