The Assembly Apartments
The Assembly (aka Corktown Lofts), previously known as the Edson, Moore and Company Building, is a former warehouse building, constructed for Edson, Moore & Company in 1913. It is located at 1700 West Fort Street in Detroit, Michigan, and has been redeveloped into a mixed use space. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017. History Edson, Moore & Company was founded in 1872 and quickly became one of the largest dry goods wholesale businesses in Michigan. The firm employed a number of travelling salesmen, and by the turn of the century it was one of the largest wholesale jobbers in the Midwest. The increase in sales necessitated new headquarters: the company's first location was at the southwest corner of Bates Street and East Jefferson Avenue, but in 1882 the company moved to the newly constructed Palms Building across the street. A disastrous fire in 1893 leveled the building, but the firm rebuilt at the same location. By the early 1910s, Edson, Moore and Company desperately needed more warehouse space, but there was no room remaining in the built-up downtown wholesale district. They turned to the western riverfront district, at that time being newly developed.