Another move downtown thanks to Dan Gilbert

[innercitydoc]

http://www.freep.com/article/2011082...text|FRONTPAGE

[brizee]

Some of those comments are absolutely delicious.

[313WX]

Ok, so when the suburbs "poached" from Detroit the past 40 years it was progress.

Now when the ctiy does the same thing in return it's robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Really, some people around here are something else.

[corktownyuppie]

Some of those comments are absolutely delicious.

Seriously. My favorite is the one talking about how he left and he knows other people who are leaving. WTF?

[[1) I get if you don't want to work downtown. But the seething anger behind the post indicates something bordering on the Tea Party.

[[2) These guys are starting to sound like grumpy old men. "Rar, rar, rar. I hate change. Rar. Rar Rar." Seriously?

[detroitsgwenivere]

Some of those comments are absolutely delicious.

Jealousy of the city you live in....... priceless.

[Scottathew]

Let's get this straight.

A Detroit based investment firm just bought a company, is moving it downtown, and expanding it by 350%?

Sounds great to me!


Once again, the morning commute is about to get a little worse, but just a byproduct of the steady stream of jobs that keep heading into the city.

[BrushStart]

Rock n Roll

[gthomas]

Keep it coming!

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

Planning to hire 200 people in the next year? Great!

[bailey]

Ok, so when the suburbs "poached" from Detroit the past 40 years it was progress.

Now when the ctiy does the same thing in return it's robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Really, some people around here are something else.

So two wrongs make a right? Turnabout is fairplay?

I'm all for Gilbert, Karmanos...etc moving back to downtown. But, no matter which direction they are heading when they cross 8 mile, the issue remains the same. nothing fills the hundreds of thousands of square feet left when these companies decamp.

[j to the jeremy]

True, but there is something to be said for restructuring your region to create a denser mass at its core. That will bring benefits for years to come, and might save a little CO2 as well.

[Dag]

So two wrongs make a right? Turnabout is fairplay?

I'm all for Gilbert, Karmanos...etc moving back to downtown. But, no matter which direction they are heading when they cross 8 mile, the issue remains the same. nothing fills the hundreds of thousands of square feet left when these companies decamp.

Bailey, while that has some degree of truth that is not the case here. We are seeing a company that will be adding an additional 200 employees to their payroll with the move. This likely means that they would have had to move locations and leave their existing location vacant.

So, we are not really seeing an equitable swamp in vacancies, rather a net decrease in vacancy percentage if you look at the region as a whole.

[bartock]

Seriously. My favorite is the one talking about how he left and he knows other people who are leaving. WTF?

[[1) I get if you don't want to work downtown. But the seething anger behind the post indicates something bordering on the Tea Party.

[[2) These guys are starting to sound like grumpy old men. "Rar, rar, rar. I hate change. Rar. Rar Rar." Seriously?

It is BS on both sides of any article over there. But lets be fair there were people on this board stating that they were turning down job opportunities in the suburbs because of personal preference. The poster on freep who tried to say a bunch of people like him left their job or were looking to leave their job because it was a safety issue downtown is obviously ignorant to what downtown is like and probably just making it up. Equally ignorant [[and probably making it up) was the guy who responded by saying that he works downtown and said "Whats wrong little biaaatch, scared? stay in taylor". It is the nature of that beast.

[bartock]

Bailey, while that has some degree of truth that is not the case here. We are seeing a company that will be adding an additional 200 employees to their payroll with the move. This likely means that they would have had to move locations and leave their existing location vacant.

So, we are not really seeing an equitable swamp in vacancies, rather a net decrease in vacancy percentage if you look at the region as a whole.

Good points.

[detroitsgwenivere]

"Whats wrong little biaaatch, scared? stay in taylor"

That was the funniest post I've ever read in the comment section, I was dyin!!!!!!!!

[cramerro]

Bailey, while that has some degree of truth that is not the case here. We are seeing a company that will be adding an additional 200 employees to their payroll with the move. This likely means that they would have had to move locations and leave their existing location vacant.

So, we are not really seeing an equitable swamp in vacancies, rather a net decrease in vacancy percentage if you look at the region as a whole.

I think this is a key point in this issue. There is a third scenario [[other than downtown or stay where they are) that would likely have occured if they didn't move downtown, which is that they move to a new, greener, cleaner, and distant suburb where they once again get cheap, virgin land to build an amazing corporate campus. The benefits of thier move downtown are multi-fold, including the re-use of buildings that otherwise would have stayed vacant, and the multiplier is that it will increase the momentum for other firms from everywhere to want to occupy space downtown. That's the synergy that Gilbert is striving for, and certainly has walked to walk thus far.

[Detroitej72]

So two wrongs make a right? Turnabout is fairplay?.

Call it correcting a wrong that was started about 40 years ago.

[ferntruth]

Call it correcting a wrong that was started about 40 years ago.

Yes, because businesses have no right to decide where to locate. We'll tell them where to locate instead.

[Detroitej72]

Yes, because businesses have no right to decide where to locate. We'll tell them where to locate instead.

So tell me, who is forcing Dan Gilbert and the others to move downtown?

[Scottathew]

So tell me, who is forcing Dan Gilbert and the others to move downtown?

HAHAHA.

Intellectual check-mate!


Some people can't stand that folks like Gilbert, Karmanos, BCSM, DTE, Galaxie, and a list the keeps growing want to come to Downtown Detroit.

Folks were free to move to the suburbs.

But guess what, they're free to move back into the city too, and that's what they want to do. Detroit is coming back, baby!

[erikd]

So two wrongs make a right? Turnabout is fairplay?

I'm all for Gilbert, Karmanos...etc moving back to downtown. But, no matter which direction they are heading when they cross 8 mile, the issue remains the same. nothing fills the hundreds of thousands of square feet left when these companies decamp.

As Dag pointed out, this specific example isn't about poaching or turnabout, but a simple matter of an expanding company that needs to find more space, and simply choosing downtown over the other options. There is nothing nefarious about this situation, and the same goes for most of the other corporate relocations into downtown in recent years.

IIRC, the Compuware move to downtown was the result of Compuware growing to a point where it made more sense to consolidate their employees into a single building that they owned outright, instead of continuing to rent. The Quicken move was the result of the same situation, as is the recent BCBS downtown consolidation.

On the other hand, after GM bought the RenCen, Ford took the opportunity to relocate and consolidate their downtown employees to Dearborn, and then a few years later, Ford essentially forced J. Walter Thompson to move out of downtown for a Dearborn location near the Glass House. As a Detroiter, I didn't want to see JWT leave downtown for Dearborn, but it wasn't a matter of suburban poaching or anti-Detroit scheming, but rather a common sense business consolidation.

Metro Detroiters need to become less obsessed with city/suburb bickering and infighting, and more focused on working together to create a better region for all.

[English]

Metro Detroiters need to become less obsessed with city/suburb bickering and infighting, and more focused on working together to create a better region for all.

And there it is.

[stromberg2]

Hear, hear, Ericd!

Stromberg2

[canuck]

I think that the kind of move Gilbert is playing is bound to be beneficial to the region if everybody recognizes that Southfield losing ground to Detroit is not better than the other way around. OK there is competition btwn burbs and centers everywhere, but the need to propel the metro to another level cannot be done without Detroit, not just the CBD but a healthy Detroit. This is where the what's in it for me? I was talking about in another post English, comes in. I mean if the burbs are hurting, they might just entertain the notion a proper medication will overcome the strokes that lead to partial paralysis or death.

His chess game includes the Somerset Collection CityLoft where he is trying to inject business into the core. He is an interesting guy to watch. I think that his actions are prompting Moroun to redo the MCS and other investors to walk the talk.

[esp1986]

His chess game includes the Somerset Collection CityLoft where he is trying to inject business into the core. He is an interesting guy to watch. I think that his actions are prompting Moroun to redo the MCS and other investors to walk the talk.

The CityLoft is another story entirely. A lot of parallels can be seen in the Apple Store rumors. He has been trying mightily to lure retail to Detroit, but to no avail. CityLoft is his effort to show the retailers that have spurned his inquiries, that there is retail demand in Detroit. It is all part, however, of his ongoing effort to rebuild the heart of the city to give not only his employees but many others a desirable place to live, work and play. CityLoft is about a lot more than just trying to 'inject' business into the core.