The structures included are all located in Midtown, near Woodward Avenue and Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.

[2] At the same time, the former residents of the upper-class, turn-of-the-century homes moved farther out into new neighborhoods such as Boston-Edison, Arden Park-East Boston, or Virginia Park.

[2] At the same time, Wayne State University, then housed in the former Central High School, began offering four-year degrees.

[2] Further increases in enrollment and the availability of Federal funds in the 1960s allowed the university to extend its campus south and west.

[2] Because of its history, the structures within the University–Cultural Center come in four distinct types: the public-oriented buildings, commercial and industrial establishments, single-family homes, and large multi-unit apartment complexes.

Wayne State University also sports a swath of public buildings on the west side of the area, many built in the 1950s and 1960s.

[3] Later large apartment buildings, typically nine to thirteen stories in height, were built during the housing boom of the 1920s; this typology includes The Wardell (now The Park Shelton) and the Belcrest.

[2] Many of the structures within the University–Cultural Center area were designed by well-known architects, including Albert Kahn, Cass Gilbert, Louis Kamper, Gordon W. Lloyd, Donaldson and Meier, and Ralph Adams Cram.

[2] Great public buildings such as the DIA and the library were built in the Italian Renaissance with Beaux-Arts influences.

These included structures built as private homes (the David Mackenzie House, Col. Frank J. Hecker House, and David Whitney House),[2] public-oriented structures (the Hilberry Theatre, Scarab Club, Orchestra Hall, Detroit Institute of Arts, Rackham Building, Detroit Public Library, and Old Main),[2] large apartment and commercial buildings (the Belcrest and Maccabees Building)[2] and two historic districts (the East Ferry Avenue Historic District and the West Canfield Historic District).

[2] For Phase II, the area on the campus of Wayne State University and bounded by Second avenue on the east and the Lodge Freeway on the west was targeted.