Abandoned Detroit high rise: Lee Plaza

In addition to being the Tire Dumping Capital of the World, Detroit is also the Vacant High Rise Capital of the World.

Here's one of them: The Lee Plaza at 2240 W. Grand Boulevard in the NW Goldberg neighborhood--which opened in 1929. Like many empty Motor City empty skyscrapers, it's in the Art Deco style.

Originally a luxury apartment with hotel amenities, the Lee was later converted to senior housing. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981, but the structure has been vacant for over twenty years.

Unlike many abandoned Detroit buildings, the Lee is bricked off and fenced off--making vandalism a much tougher task. But not an impossible one.

UPDATE November 19: A developer is proposing a $200 million project to restore this building.