[2] The American Institute of Architects describes Detroit's Financial District as "one of the city's highest concentrations of quality commercial architecture".

[5] In the new millennium, the 47-story Penobscot Building stands at the center of the district as a state of the art class-A office tower and serves as a hub for the city's wireless Internet zone and fiber-optic communication network.

Other major class-A office renovations include the Chrysler House and the Guardian Building, a National Historic Landmark.

Anne's stood at the southern edge of the district, just west of the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Griswold Streets,[7] where the Standard Savings & Loan Building is today.

Some residents were awarded lots south of Fort Shelby and north of Jefferson in what is now financial district, and built homes there.

[11] Other commercial establishments, including the offices of the Detroit Free Press, occupied the area along Jefferson near Griswold and the lots immediately north thereof.

[2] The Financial District underwent a dramatic transformation at the beginning of the twentieth century, heralded by the arrival of Detroit's first skyscraper, the Hammond Building in 1889; Chase Tower now stands on this site.

The buildings within the district were designed by a suite of notable architects and architectural firms, including D. H. Burnham & Company; Donaldson and Meier; Albert Kahn Associates; McKim, Mead, and White; Smith, Hinchman, and Grylls (and Wirt C. Rowland); and Minoru Yamasaki.

The buildings below are listed in rough geographic order beginning from the southeast corner of the district (the intersection of Woodward and Jefferson) and proceeding northwest.

[20] The building rests on a platform, approached via entrance staircases, with a reflecting pool and tall glass-enclosed lobby emphasizing the airy lightness.

The Griswold entrance of the building is flanked by black granite columns and features an original decorative metal gate.

[2] The Union Trust Company was founded in Detroit in 1890 by Senator James McMillan, and Dexter M. Ferry, along with investments from Russell A. Alger, Col. Frank J. Hecker, and Christian H.

[23] Union Trust developed a reputation for catering to common laborers, and attracted numerous customers by offering mortgages and land contracts.

The entrance is sheltered under an arch covered with Pewabic tile; two figures by sculptor Corrado Parducci flank the door.

On the interior, the lobby contains stained glass windows, and the vault is covered with brightly colored Rookwood tile, coordinated by Mary Chase Perry Stratton; the structure is modelled after Beauvais Cathedral.

[23] In 1989, the Guardian was named a National Historic Landmark, and renovations in 1988 and 2003 restored much of the original Art Deco decoration in the building.

[27] The renovation added a rounded arch on the second floor, filled with paned windows and surrounded by terra cotta detailing with the company's logo.

The first-floor storefront has been substantially renovated, but the upper stories still have original stone lintels and sills.

[2] Mabley purchased several adjoining lots and there built a series of buildings along both sides of Woodward[29] to house his department store.

[28] Much of the detailing on these buildings, including roof line ornamentation, and window trim, is now missing, possibly due to major alterations in 1918.

Contemporaneous histories label the five buildings at 620 and 630 Woodward as the "clothing, hat, cap, and furnishing stores of Mabley & Company.

The building is constructed of dark red brick trimmed with terra cotta, sitting on a grey granite bulkhead.

The upper three floors are finished with reddish brick, and have three bays of windows with stone lintels separated by pier capitals.

The cruciform shape allowed the building to take advantage of natural light and ventilation, as well as providing a larger number of desirable corner offices.

[2] In the new millennium, the Penobscot stands as a state of the art class-A office building and serves as a hub for the city's wireless Internet zone and fiber-optic communication network.

Corinthian column piers front the eleventh and twelfth stories, and the original building cornice is still in place.

The interior includes finely crafted Roman arched colonnades with bronze grill work as well as gold-leaf detail on the ceiling in the main room.

[2] At some point in the middle 20th century, a pedestrian bridge was built connecting the building to the State Savings Bank across the street.

Venture X Detroit - Financial District, a private office, flex space, coworking business, leases three of the five floors with its Class A build out.

[2] Security Trust was established in 1906, and two years later moved to the corner of Griswold and Fort Streets, just south of where this building was constructed.