Billionaire businessman Dan Gilbert has plans for a development in downtown Detroit. His Bedrock Real Estate Services is proposing a new development to be located at Eight Mile Road and Woodward Avenue.
In the past few years everyone has been talking about Detroit as a failed city. It recently declared bankruptcy, its neighborhoods are crumbling and its middle class has all but vanished. Its sports franchises may be based in the city in new stadiums, but their fans come in from far away for their home games.
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All that being said some people are still banking on a brighter future for the city. It’s like that old saying, “Once you’ve hit bottom there’s nowhere to go but up.”
So can Gilbert be the white knight that the city needs?
Gilbert, who already has $1.6 billion invested in the city, is reportedly interested in building 200 multifamily residential units at the 157 acre development site.
The Detroit News has reported that the site of a former local strip club and a historic building at 1416 Griswold in Detroit’s Capitol Park are being torn down to make way for a new 100 story building.
“This would be our first construction of residential downtown, ” Steve Ogden, Bedrock’s director of real estate development, told the Detroit News.
Gilbert is also getting in on plans to redevelop the former Michigan State Fairgrounds in Detroit. And he recently acquired the Compuware Building for between as much as $150 million.
Meanwhile many new businesses are moving into downtown Detroit. “Companies of all sizes representing many different sectors clearly see the advantages and great benefits of locating in Detroit’s dynamic urban core, ” Dan Mullen, vice president of leasing and development with Bedrock Real Estate Services, said. “Downtown Detroit has become a collaborative environment, with an energy and entrepreneurial spirit that cannot be found anywhere else. We welcome other businesses to join us and experience it for themselves.”
