History of Hotel Yorba

Hotel Yorba is one of many hotels and apartments built by the architecture firm Pollmar & Ropes in Detroit during the 1920s, the Roosevelt Hotel (1923), Chatsworth Apartments (1928) Sherbrooke Apartments (1914), and more were built by the firm in this era of Detroit history. Hotel Yorba was a later project opening in 1926, with 300 rooms. Many design elements define Yorba such as the stained leaded milk glass, set into a three part wooden frame above the entrance ways, allowing diffused light to enter the front lobby. The name of building is etched in various spots, most notably on the roof were passersby can see the large sign from the I-75 freeway nearby the Clark St. exit (47A). The name "Yorba" is of Spanish and Basque origin, deriving from the Basque word Iurbe or Ibarra, which translates to "settlement," "riverbank," or "valley". The name was carried to the Americas by Catalan born soldiers during the Spanish colonization of the New World. When Hotel Yorba opened it was classified as a residential hotel, meaning it was meant for longer stays of up to a week or more. With a day rate going for $1.50, or $7 a week in 1927 dollars. Throughout 1927, advertisements ran almost daily in the Detroit Free Press, marketing the property as Detroit's newest and finest residential hotel, aggressively promoting its high quality mattresses, fine furniture, and reliable hot water. During this initial boom period, lasting into the 40s, the hotel served as a highly convenient "home sweet temporary home" for the laborers constructing the nearby Ambassador Bridge, that opened in 1929. Into the 1940s the idea of residential hotels began to fade, as more and more people moving into single family homes being built around the city. This was further cemented in the aftermath of WWII, with many families moving into new housing via their GI Bill’s. By the 1980s the hotels built in the 1920s became some of the few options for affordable housing, mostly for people living on welfare. In 2001 the Hotel gained popularity when it became a hit song of the band “The White Stripes”, with the song sharing the same name of “Hotel Yorba”. The band member Jack White grew up a short walk from Hotel Yorba. Reportedly, ownership didn’t allow the band to record a video inside the building, but the exterior is prevalent in the music video. Into the 2000s about 250 residents lived in the hotel, however shrunk to 70% of that by 2010. With such a small resident pool, it became less and less meaningful to conduct repairs on the building leading the building to fall into disrepair. By 2020 the building was listed for sale, with no buyers. In September 2025, the building was closed after the city conducted a inspection finding serve disrepair and unsafe living conditions. City inspectors cited a leaking roof, collapsing ceilings, and major fire safety violations, as major reasons to closed the building. Just under a year later the building has decayed so far, that it seems as almost a pipe dream that people could have actually lived like this just a year ago.