Now, the Woodward Avenue Action Association is attempting to buy both the 40,000-square-foot admin building, which is located off the historic Woodward Avenue, and an 8,000-square-foot garage.

Around 1.5 million people show up on a Saturday each August and line both sides of a seven-mile stretch of historic Woodward Avenue in the outskirts of Detroit. They come to watch some 40,000 ...