Ho-hum Gilbert has 4 more buildings on Woodward.

[Lowell]

Seriously, when does this guy sleep. Kirk Pinho of Crain's reports that Gilbert bought the buildings at 1416, 1420, 1449 and 1456 Woodward earlier this year for about $6 million but it flew under the radar as it was acquired in a joint venture with Bloomfield Hills-based Princeton Enterprises LLC.

Full article on Crains >>

Walking by 1456 [the former Oslo] last week I noticed that a new bar, the Cornerstone Barrel, has opened its doors. [click image for full screen view] The decorative construction walls of the soon to come lJohn Varvatos shop can be seen in the background around the Wright Kay.

[Hypestyles]

convert them to something useful and bring in the tax money.

[warsaw7]

Seriously, when does this guy sleep. Kirk Pinho of Crain's reports that Gilbert bought the buildings at 1416, 1420, 1449 and 1456 Woodward earlier this year for about $6 million but it flew under the radar as it was acquired in a joint venture with Bloomfield Hills-based Princeton Enterprises LLC.

Full article on Crains >>

Walking by 1456 [the former Oslo] last week I noticed that a new bar, the Cornerstone Barrel, has opened its doors. [click image for full screen view] The decorative construction walls of the soon to come lJohn Varvatos shop can be seen in the background around the Wright Kay.

Bad link kind sir.

[ABetterDetroit]

Question: Are we better off that Gilbert was out bid on Free Press building and David Stott building? Competition is good, but it sucks when the new owners are, well, not competing just owning.

[Lowell]

Bad link kind sir.

Thanks. Corrected above and here.
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/mobile/...ts-real-estate

[mikeg19]

Great to see things happening quickly. Although it does bring a question to my mind regarding Gilbert's empire that maybe some of you who are in tune with real estate can elaborate on:

At what point, if any, does Gilbert get out of the game and start selling off properties to new owners for a tidy profit? Is it in his best interest to continue to own all of these buildings and collect rent, or to start piecing them out to new owners in a couple years? I'd image renovated buildings with at or near capacity occupancy would be very attractive to others. Any thoughts on that?

[Novack]

Great to see things happening quickly. Although it does bring a question to my mind regarding Gilbert's empire that maybe some of you who are in tune with real estate can elaborate on:

At what point, if any, does Gilbert get out of the game and start selling off properties to new owners for a tidy profit? Is it in his best interest to continue to own all of these buildings and collect rent, or to start piecing them out to new owners in a couple years? I'd image renovated buildings with at or near capacity occupancy would be very attractive to others. Any thoughts on that?

At the prices he purchased most the real estate it is most likely that he will sit on the properties and have....hopefully good performing assets.

[swingline]

Question: Are we better off that Gilbert was out bid on Free Press building and David Stott building? Competition is good, but it sucks when the new owners are, well, not competing just owning.

Yes, unfortunately many questions are beginning to pile up regarding the DDI Group which now owns the Free Press, Clark Lofts and David Stott buildings. This entity obviously has access to capital - they paid more than $12 million cash for these buildings many months ago. This amount is well in excess of what any speculator would have paid. Yet, no renovation has begun and the buildings won't be generating any revenue any soon. Carrying costs are probably approaching $100K/month. Doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to just let the buildings sit. The buildings seem to be secure but eventually Detroit's relentless scrappers will devastate these buildings if they remain unoccupied.

This China-based entity operates in an exceptionally opaque manner relative to North American development practices. Their English website is undecipherable. Lots of pretty words but impossible to actually learn anything about their business model. The group has also invested in Nova Scotia [[unimproved land and a one small building) and signed an MOU with economic development groups there. The primary activity in Nova Scotia, though, seems to be the issuance of press releases.

DDI has actually built projects in China. It has no track record in North America. Does it intend to execute adaptive reuse efforts as have been accomplished at the David Whitney and Broderick Tower [[$75 million minimum will be needed) or is it just parking money offshore as many Chinese investors are doing these days? This is a very strange situation with lots of red flags.