Today, this building is home to Comerica Bank's Michigan operations, but it was actually built for one of its rivals, the former Manufacturers National Bank of Detroit.
It opened on the southwest corner of First Street and West Lafayette Boulevard in Sept. 20, 1971, housing Manufacturers' banking center and business operations. It was designed by Louis G. Redstone Associates Inc. of suburban Detroit, and was erected by Detroit-based general contractor Barton Malow.
The most memorable aspect of the building are its 20 pre-cast concrete panels, which weigh 11 tons each. These panels adorn the lower floors of the building on three sides and feature abstract designs by sculptor Robert Youngman. They represent Detroit's history of manufacturing, given that it was Manufacturers Bank that built the structure. The building is nine stories tall with three below-ground floors. At one point, the building had a rooftop helipad, but it has since been removed.
Manufacturers National Bank of Detroit was founded in 1933, during the Great Depression, by the Ford family. It was bought out by Comerica Bank in 1992, a period that saw it acquire other smaller banks, such as Old Kent.
In 2009, Comerica announced it would invest $18 million in 411 W. Lafayette, and rename it the Comerica Bank Center. The move was part of Comerica's restructuring that saw it turn its back on 158 years of history in the city by relocating its corporate headquarters to Texas in 2007. (The bank said it left the city for where its business was growing and where it could attract better talent.) Comerica had been headquartered at what was then called Comerica Tower at One Detroit Center. But following the expiration of its lease there in 2012, the bank consolidated its smaller operations into 411 W. Lafayette.
"Comerica is proud of its 160-year history of serving the residents and businesses of Detroit and Michigan," Thomas D. Ogden, president of Comerica Bank-Michigan, said in a news release announcing the upgrades. "Our investment in our new Michigan headquarters reaffirms Comerica's long-standing commitment to this community and brings most of our downtown Detroit employees together in one location." Comerica joins others, including the hospitality, tourism and entertainment industries, in helping revitalize the West side of downtown Detroit.
On June 6, 2024, a time capsule that had been sealed in a wall of the building's lobby was opened. A label on the box had said it was to be opened Aug. 10, 2033, what would have been Manufacturers National Bank's 100th anniversary, had it survived. Comerica opened it early, however, because 2024 marked its own 175th anniversary. Comerica was founded in 1849 as the Detroit Savings Fund Institute.
The capsule contained newspaper clippings, postcards, photos, coins and pamphlets about the building, as well as a Detroit City Council resolution celebrating the bank's construction of the building.
As of summer 2024, Comerica said 800 to 900 of its 4,500 Michigan employees were based at the Comerica Bank Center.