Hudson Editorial moves into Wright Kay building downtown

Hudson Editorial is making a splash with its move to downtown Detroit, taking space in one of the Central Business District's iconic structures, the Wright Kay Building.

The creative agency, which specializes in everything from graphics to audio finishing for films, is bringing seven people from its temporary office in Troy this spring. It plans to expand its staff to 16 shortly after the move. The firm will take up 6,400 square feet of post-production studio space on the 5th and 6th floors of the Wright Kay Building.

"We feel that once we're downtown then that is the time to grow," says Kristin Redman, executive producer at Hudson Editorial. "We have had to turn down work because we are in such a small space. We feel being downtown will attract more work."

Hudson Editorial was launched in January and is a sister company of Royal Oak-based Avalon Films, which will also open an office in the Wright Kay Building. Hudson Editorial handles post-production work for a number of advertising agencies, including Campbell-Ewald, Team Detroit, and Leo Burnett. The young company jumped at the chance to take up space in one of downtown Detroit's most striking historic buildings.

The Wright Kay Building is one of the oldest buildings in downtown Detroit, opening in 1891. The 6-story office building is made of brick and brownstone trim with a large turret overlooking the corner of Woodward Avenue and John R Street. It originally served as the home of Schwankovsky Temple of Music and then became the home of Wright Kay Jewelry (for which it is named) for most of the 20th Century.

Rock Ventures, the real-estate umbrella company for Quicken Loans, acquired the building last year and began renovations to turn it into a home for creatively inclined firms. The building's grand architecture was a big selling point in Hudson Editorial's decision to set up shop there.

"That building is so beautiful," Redman says. "Every time I describe that building everybody knows exactly what we're talking about."

Source: Kristin Redman, executive producer at Hudson Editorial
Writer: Jon Zemke

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