Church of Scientology plans expansion in downtown Detroit

Church lists Detroit among cities as locations for new 'ideal buildings'

DETROIT – Whether you realize it or not, the Church of Scientology already has a presence here in metro Detroit on Middlebelt Road in Farmington Hills.

On the church's website, it lists a handful of cities as locations for new "ideal buildings" where planning or construction is underway.

Detroit is one of those cities, but it doesn't list an exact location.

Property assessment records show the church bought the old Standard Savings Building at the corner of Griswold and Jefferson for $3.5 million in 2007, but so far they've done nothing with it.

However, this week, there are reports that the church wants to add a new rooftop sign that reads "Scientology" to replace the old "Raymond James" sign that's currently there.

It remains to be seen if they will fix up the old 1930's building and make this their Michigan headquarters.

Local 4 News called the national headquarters in Los Angeles and the local office in Farmington Hills and they told us no one was available for comment.


About the Author:

You can watch Kimberly Gill weekdays anchoring Local 4 News at 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. and streaming live at 10 p.m. on Local 4+. She's an award-winning journalist who finally called Detroit home in 2014. Kim has won Regional Emmy Awards, and was part of the team that won the National Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Newscast in 2022.