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Wayne State University Buys Detroit Mansion For $2.3 Million

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - Wayne State University has bought the Hecker-Smiley Mansion in Detroit for $2.3 million after it was on the market for seven years.

Principal Associates real estate broker Levi Smith told the Detroit Free Press the university closed on the deal Wednesday.

The French Renaissance-style mansion, located on Woodward Avenue at the corner of East Ferry Avenue near the school's campus, had been listed for as much as $2.79 million.

Smith said the university plans to turn the 49-room mansion into an alumni relations center. The university bought the 21,000-square-foot building from Charfoos & Christensen law firm.

The mansion was built in 1891 and modeled after a chateau in western France. Charfoos & Christensen spent $1.2 million on restorations after the firm bought the mansion in 1991.

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