The Dan Gilbert game of downtown Detroit Monopoly is not showing any signs of slowing down these days. The chairman of Quicken Loans acquired five more buildings just before the end of last year and now there is a
report from Crain's Detroit Business that he has his sights set on more.
What we know is that Gilbert's real-estate company, Rock Ventures, recently acquired five buildings on Woodward Avenue and Broadway Street. These largely vacant buildings include the addresss 1201, 1217 and 1412 Woodward, along with 1301 and 1521 Broadway.
"We didn't want to see these buildings just sit there and have no activity in them," says Jim Ketai, managing partner of
Bedrock Management, Gilbert's real-estate management firm. "We want to bring some more activity to them."
Gilbert now owns 15 buildings with 2.6 million square feet of commercial space and another three parking garages with 3,500 spaces. His firms are also building a new parking garage/retail space on Broadway and are leasing space in the Compuware Building.
The latest additions include a former Kresge department store at Woodward Avenue and State Street and the building that houses
Small Plates next to the
Detroit Beer Company. All of the buildings will be renovated to accommodate ground floor retail space and either residential or office space above.
"It will take a lot of time," Ketai says. "They have had a lot of neglect."
Source: Jim Ketai, managing partner of Bedrock Management
Writer: Jon Zemke
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