It is the oldest continuously operating hotel in downtown Detroit,[2] and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

[5] In the early 1920s, Edward A. Loveley and Harry A. Stormfeltz formed the Detroit Properties Corporation, with the purpose of developing Bagley Street outward from Grand Circus Park.

[2] The Detroit-Leland Hotel (named for Cadillac founder Henry M. Leland) opened its doors in April, 1927.

The Leland Hotel would notably be the hosting site of what would be considered the first NBA draft in history with the 1947 BAA draft (the BAA (Basketball Association of America) being the predecessor of the modern-day NBA via merger with the NBL) taking place there on June 2, 1947.

[2] The hotel changed hands again in the 1970s, with Mayer Morganroth and John R. Ferris as owners, and in the 1980s when the Leland House Limited Partnership Company, headed by Michael W. Higgins, was formed.

[2] The Detroit-Leland Hotel is a 22-story building faced with brick, granite, and terra cotta with a flat roof.

[2] Vertically, the plan of the building divides into three parts: a four-story base, the main central section, and two-story attic.

The third and fourth floors both contain pairs of double-hung windows separated by decorative terra cotta details.

A set of six stairs leads into a wide turned staircase, which still has original wrought iron banisters and railings.