Gilbert buys Greektown Casino

**downtownguy** · January-16-13, 07:40 PM

Originally Posted by iheartthed

I don't know why people think it's such a good idea for one guy to own most of downtown Detroit.

Someone said to me a few weeks ago regarding Gilbert that they didn't like to see so many eggs in one basket. To which I replied, at least we've got some eggs now.

**downtownguy** · January-16-13, 07:44 PM

Originally Posted by Bham1982

What has Gilbert done to "bail out" Detroit?

He bought a bunch of properties on the cheap, and financed with taxpayer dollars.

Now you have to pray that his companies never decline, because he's the only major landowner downtown.

Thanks for the buzz kill. However, no one else was buying this bunch of properties. Furthermore, he's not speculating as other are, he's putting new businesses and people in the buildings. He is no small player and it's just a matter of time before others will rush to get in on the action and Gilbert's portion will be diluted. Heck, he might even flip a few properties, and what would be so bad about that if it gets others in the game?

**downtownguy** · January-16-13, 07:46 PM

Originally Posted by Gannon

This is huge news and does bode well for that portion of town.

J, you almost sound accepting of the guy.

**Scottathew** · January-16-13, 07:51 PM

Originally Posted by Bham1982

What has Gilbert done to "bail out" Detroit?

He bought a bunch of properties on the cheap, and financed with taxpayer dollars.

Now you have to pray that his companies never decline, because he's the only major landowner downtown.

What's the number of jobs he's brought downtown? I think it's near 7,000 now.

He's buying the buildings, fixings them up, and putting jobs in them.

I'm not quite sure what more you want him to do.

**Wheels** · January-16-13, 08:11 PM

Originally Posted by Shollin

I'm thinking none since he owns the Cleveland casino and the Cavaliers. I'm sure he could do some maneuvering like Illitch did to own the casino and an NBA team.

Illitch doesn't own a casino or a NBA team!

**Hypestyles** · January-16-13, 08:13 PM

I wonder will the GTown casino/hotel will be expanded at all, with any other entertainment amenities.

**AGinthe313** · January-16-13, 08:23 PM

Based on comments in the press release, I would not be surprised if the empty parking structure at Randolph and Monroe is the next big Gilbert announcement. I was talking to a guy from the DEGC a few months ago and he said that plans are in motion for that location, but he would not give any details.

**Gistok** · January-16-13, 08:56 PM

Originally Posted by Wheels

Illitch doesn't own a casino or a NBA team!

What are you talking about?? What is MotorCity Casino? Do you think that because only his wife's name is on the paperwork... that he doesn't reap the benefits??

**esp1986** · January-16-13, 09:03 PM

Originally Posted by Hypestyles

I wonder will the GTown casino/hotel will be expanded at all, with any other entertainment amenities.

Does anyone know how many slot machines the Greektown license is for? Hell, does anyone know how many slot machines any of the casino licenses are for? I know the Horseshoe in Cleveland is at about half of it's allotment. If there is room to grow that number, certainly he will.

**mwilbert** · January-16-13, 09:55 PM

I don't know why people think it's such a good idea for one guy to own most of downtown Detroit.

I don't know if it is a good idea, but it does have some advantages. If one player has a big enough stake in an area, it starts to make sense for him to do things that benefit the whole area, like doing security patrols, or moving employees in, or incubating businesses, or doing beautification, or doing infill, that wouldn't make sense if he were a smaller player and couldn't capture as high a percentage of the benefits of the improvement.

In some sense, it is like turning downtown into a private development, with the property manager having an incentive to keep the whole development attractive and occupied.

**Wheels** · January-16-13, 09:56 PM

Originally Posted by Gistok

What are you talking about?? What is MotorCity Casino? Do you think that because only his wife's name is on the paperwork... that he doesn't reap the benefits??

What does reaping benefits have to do with legal ownership? He is not held to any casino ownership rules for the NHL or MLB.

**agirlintheD** · January-16-13, 10:12 PM

Good for him. He's trying to breathe some much needed life into Detroit. He must have been one helluva Monopoly player as a kid.

**raptor56** · January-16-13, 10:23 PM

Originally Posted by stasu1213

I wonder if he will use some of the profits to hire police patrol for the entire downtown area

If you're walking around the Campus Martius area, you'll probably see the fairly new Rock Ventures security guards in their blue and black uniforms riding around on bikes and small vehicles. They also have a central security office [[I believe in the basement of the Chase building) that is wired into all of the downtown cameras you see perched atop the various office buildings.

**MikeyinBrooklyn** · January-16-13, 10:48 PM

Originally Posted by iheartthed

I don't know why people think it's such a good idea for one guy to own most of downtown Detroit.

I am reminded of one of my favorite Broadway shows, The Music Man. Disgruntled River City residents are complaining about the deceased "Old Miser Madison." Professor Hill inquires if it the same old miser who left behind Madison Library, Madison Park, Madison Pool, etc.

All I can say is hell yeah to anyone who moves his businesses downtown. And I think it is ASTOUNDINGLY SPLENDID that he is doing it to make money. Self interest might save Detroit yet.

Honestly, I think of some people in this city like heart patients. If Detroit received a life-saving heart transplant, there would be some who complain about the scar... I'm just glad to be alive.

**ElbertHanks** · January-17-13, 12:21 AM

Originally Posted by Genesyxx

I can understand people's enthusiasm for any Dan Gilbert news, but I think this is just another case of "buying it cheap". Greektown hasn't been able to fully recover since its legal battles, and it just seemed like a good opportunity to buy. Don't look for any type of renovations or overhaul here. Maybe if he bought 1300 Beaubien, it'd be some news.

I realize taking someone at their word is risky but the press release says they envision significant investment in the casino. Not to mention Gilbert's track record to date of investing in his properties is pretty solid.

That's why people are excited.

**Gistok** · January-17-13, 02:04 AM

Originally Posted by Wheels

What does reaping benefits have to do with legal ownership? He is not held to any casino ownership rules for the NHL or MLB.

lol... I didn't read Shollin's comment before yours... the "last read" feature on this forum doesn't work quite as intended... never mind...

**Gistok** · January-17-13, 02:14 AM

I think the apprehension of worry about having too many proverbial eggs in the "Gilbert" basket may stem from what happened with Bill Davidson. When he was alive his wife and son were not involved in any of his business affairs. So when he died... his empire fragmented.

In the case of the Ilitch clan... there is already a contingency plan for the next generation [[although not without its' ups and downs).

So should anything happen to Gilbert [[hit by a bus... plane crash, illness)... whatever would happen with his empire would have a major impact on Detroit.

However, the fact that he has his business empire spread between sports, gaming, mortgages and real estate... helps him by being diversified.

I am very pleased with his majority takeover of Greektown Casino... because I don't think things were going as well for the area around the casino as had been promised when gaming was first proposed there. If anything, I hope that he takes over the International Marketplace Building [[400 Monroe, former Ferry-Morse seed warehouse) next door. That building, although it has a Fishbones and a soaring atrium waterfall... it has never really lived up to its' potential as an entertainment/retail building.

**Gannon** · January-17-13, 04:09 AM

Originally Posted by downtownguy

J, you almost sound accepting of the guy.

You know me, ever the eternal optimist.

But karmically, this guy has profited off of one of the oldest scams in the book...to me mortgages are only basically indentured servitude contracts which lock people into a usually postage stamp-sized relatively-useless parcel of land, in a marketplace propped up by the tax code...from 15 to 30 years, or less with good behavior. It was the banker's coup, the ability to skim profits off the majority of the population's accumulation of wealth for a guaranteed l-o-n-g time...insuring that indeed the bankers always 'stayed ahead' in the aggregate of wealth creation.

So yeah, he can only really jump in stature to me if he suddenly becomes the mortgage angel...and finds some way to right the wrongs wrought by his industry over the past five years. IF he is doing that in our downtown, so be it.

I am open to the possibility, and from the way he's been going about it...other than the whole architectural design snafus and fubars...it seems to be the case. I am aware of the startups he's helped fund and found along the corridor.

But I WAS right about one thing. He has been out for a monopoly on parking, and his hedging spaces has brought about a 25% increase in monthly rates in at least one structure not owned by him. So, he is doing his share of FILLING these spaces and increasing demand, while purchasing the buildings which have their own internal parking [[most of the ones he bought do, right?! further I get from Jefferson, less accurate my memory) and decreasing the apparent supply. I say apparent because we DON'T know how many of those parking spaces are being used.

So yeah, I want this fellow to be the real deal...but I've got that damn gut check about him that won't go away. Almost got a twitch seein' his face on the telly news last night...he's GOT to get his PR people to provide Channel 4 a better still image. They make him look like a volunteer at Chernobyl after transferring to Japan to help with their troubles...red and blotchy. And it sounds like Devan is also not quite taken by our new savior.

Cheers!

**Gannon** · January-17-13, 04:14 AM

Originally Posted by 48091

What's the number of jobs he's brought downtown? I think it's near 7,000 now.

Gotta watch that jobs figure. Need to have it morph into jobs of his that STAY downtown, it seems for at least one level of employee...the HR door is revolving. They hire like the old-school used car emporiums...find twenty to fill four positions and let them kill themselves and each other and the integrity of the business to meet the cut. It is Lord-of-the-Flies-style hiring and ultimately employee abuse...but it DOES yield the successful sharks-of-sharks in the end...a refining process that produces producers, those who do so by any means necessary. Not unlike the gang at Enron and such, I'd guess...and the WORLD knows what happened to them.

So yeah, until he provides the actual number of seats filled by warm bodies NOT under some 90-day evaluation limit...I don't trust his employment figures. Having falsely-inflated large figures benefits ONLY him, so I'd expect him to fudge 'em!

Cheers

**Gannon** · January-17-13, 04:26 AM

Thanks, Mikey-in-Brooklyn, at least for using the term ASTOUNDINGLY SPLENDID...and for the refreshing shake and gentle verbal slaps.

In your analogy, is Dan Gilbert the surgeon...or the donor?! Because it would be really cool to discover that he actually has a heart. Ain't seen that yet.

Cheers!

**detroitbob** · January-17-13, 05:34 AM

Originally Posted by Gistok

I agree... I think that Greektown will become less of a fortress... good for the rest of Greektown and good for the areas around it, such as Campus Martius...

...with the replacement of the "Bates" garage, the potential rehab/restoration of the National Theatre, something to fill in the remainder of the old Monroe Block which is now parking, brings the direct connection with Greektown into perspective. As a youngster I remember walking the north side of Monroe [[the south side was far to seedy---burlesque and bars) from Crowley Milner to Greektown. I even remember the old Sam's Cut Rate at the Opera House and the other Sam's block long store at the SE corner of Randolph and Monroe. I mention these long gone buildings to show that there was activity between the Woodward strip and Greektown when retail was present in the area. So, the potential excites me...wonder what is next...keep it up, Mr. Gilbert.

**detroitbob** · January-17-13, 05:43 AM

Originally Posted by Gistok

I hope that he takes over the International Marketplace Building [[400 Monroe, former Ferry-Morse seed warehouse) next door. That building, although it has a Fishbones and a soaring atrium waterfall... it has never really lived up to its' potential as an entertainment/retail building.

Agreed and with the death of Ted Gatzaros that just might happen...

**Artistic** · January-17-13, 07:59 AM

Originally Posted by Bham1982

What has Gilbert done to "bail out" Detroit?

He bought a bunch of properties on the cheap, and financed with taxpayer dollars.

Now you have to pray that his companies never decline, because he's the only major landowner downtown.

Peppering everything with negativity speaks volume of you. Very disappointing!

**Honky Tonk** · January-17-13, 08:33 AM

Originally Posted by Artistic

Peppering everything with negativity speaks volume of you. Very disappointing!

"When Life gives you lemons, make lemonade!!!"

**canuck** · January-17-13, 10:19 AM

Well he is buying a lot of property on the cheap but wants to do something with these properties. He wouldnt be able to buy as many as he does if the market were healthier and the competition ready to move on Detroit at the same pace he is. He is inevitably forcing the big players to take notice and move on the city core. He knows he cant be the only player to achieve success for Detroit.

I am pretty confident he can attract investment in the city. The test will be not only in the number of workers he brings in, but how he can implant small businesses on street level, and retain them. But it is a patience game.

The casino will definitely be used as an anchor for business strips to develop from Greektown outwardly.