Is ePrize ever going to move downtown?

**gameguy56** · December-29-14, 07:37 AM

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...gain-funds-for

Last thing I heard was almost 3 years ago and essentially nothing since. I guess now with gilbert and josh linkner both out it seems like it won't happen?

That's too bad. There are known benefits to concentrating tech firms all in one place.

EDIT: I guess they are now Hello World

**tkelly1986** · December-29-14, 10:00 AM

Here is another question; which building downtown could they go in? I honestly have no idea where 50/60,0000 square feet of Class A office space is at the moment.

**Mackinaw** · December-29-14, 10:09 AM

This requires some followup by the press [[Crain's, etc.)

**gameguy56** · December-29-14, 10:21 AM

Originally Posted by tkelly1986

Here is another question; which building downtown could they go in? I honestly have no idea where 50/60,0000 square feet of Class A office space is at the moment.

Didn't gilbert just buy 4 more buildings. He could probably find space.

**Mind field** · December-29-14, 10:59 AM

I agree a follow up story from Crains is in order. I think there is enough space in One Detroit Center for them, whether they would want to pay those lease rates? not sure.

**tkelly1986** · December-29-14, 11:00 AM

I work in One Detroit Center and from what I understand, it is nearly full [[which begs the questions, why are they still advertising on I-94).

**401don** · December-29-14, 01:13 PM

Originally Posted by tkelly1986

Here is another question; which building downtown could they go in? I honestly have no idea where 50/60,0000 square feet of Class A office space is at the moment.

There's probably that much space left at the Ford Field warehouse for build-out.

**Cliffy** · December-29-14, 03:16 PM

Do they own their building right now... Nobody wants to pay rent if you don't have too.

**gameguy56** · January-08-15, 08:14 PM

They keep mentioning this in articles like it's bait. This from a few months ago

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...enunzio-as-ceo

Quicken Loans Inc. founder and Detroit real estate investor Dan Gilbert invested $32 million in the company, which has considered a move to downtown Detroit for several years. It remains headquartered in a 46,000-square-foot former brewery east of Woodward Avenue near I-696.

**Hypestyles** · January-08-15, 10:15 PM

just what is EPrize, what do they do?

**Mind field** · January-08-15, 10:45 PM

Originally Posted by tkelly1986

I work in One Detroit Center and from what I understand, it is nearly full [[which begs the questions, why are they still advertising on I-94).

A simple check of One Detroit Center's website reveals they have a little over 250,000 square feet of vacant space. That is hardly "nearly full" for a 957,000 square foot building. Plenty of space for a company like Hello World to move into. However, i'm not sure if they would even want to be in a trophy tower like this one.

**gameguy56** · January-09-15, 07:16 AM

Originally Posted by Hypestyles

just what is EPrize, what do they do?

EPrize/Hello World is a digital marketing company.

**313WX** · January-09-15, 09:49 AM

Originally Posted by Hypestyles

just what is EPrize, what do they do?

More specifically, they're sort of like subcontractors, as they're paid to administer a lot of the contests held by Fortune 500 companies...

**Spartan** · January-09-15, 10:40 AM

Originally Posted by 313WX

More specifically, they're sort of like subcontractors, as they're paid to administer a lot of the contests held by Fortune 500 companies...

Also, loyalty programs [[e.g., MyCokeRewards)

**ABetterDetroit** · January-09-15, 07:54 PM

Originally Posted by Spartan

Also, loyalty programs [[e.g., MyCokeRewards)

Did someone say free U of M football tickets? Couldn't resist.

**Mind field** · March-14-15, 11:01 PM

Well, we have an answer, and it's NOT Detroit. Southfield strikes again. What young, creative talent wants to work in Southfield? http://www.freep.com/story/money/bus...ield/70248788/

**DetroiterOnTheWestCoast** · March-14-15, 11:25 PM

Originally Posted by Mind field

Well, we have an answer, and it's NOT Detroit. Southfield strikes again. What young, creative talent wants to work in Southfield? http://www.freep.com/story/money/bus...ield/70248788/

Most likely not too many.

**animatedmartian** · March-14-15, 11:39 PM

I'm confused by this statement.

While searching for a new office space, HelloWorld considered not only space requirements but how a new location would influence current staffers' daily commutes. The Southfield office space is within 25 miles of 80% of HelloWorld's metro Detroit-based employees.

I mean, 25 miles of within Downtown Detroit is pretty much most of the metro area already. The only additional areas that a Southfield-centered location would include is anywhere past Pontiac, Canton, or Macomb Township but not by much. Does 20% of HelloWorld's employees live in the boonies??? Maybe they live in Ann Arbor, but I'm pretty sure it's actually an easier to go directly downtown than it is to Southfield from Ann Arbor. Google maps actually puts the commute time at only less than a 5 minute difference. Either way, that seems like an odd statement since 25 miles is basically the whole tri-county area.

**Mind field** · March-15-15, 12:14 AM

Here is something that annoys me too. Most of their other satellite offices are in a very urban city, usually the central city of the region they're in, with the exception of the Seattle office [[located in Bellevue, WA) and the Phoenix office. Bellevue has many redeeming qualities that Southfield doesn't have, a dense walkable downtown, desire for light rail connections with Seattle, etc. The New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles offices are all in the downtowns of their respective cities. Even the Nashville office is in the city of Nashville. For their HQ location they have Detroit, MI listed. Great to use Detroit for it's trendiness and name recognition and then cheap out and actually lease office space in Southfield.

**313WX** · March-15-15, 09:32 AM

Originally Posted by Mind field

Well, we have an answer, and it's NOT Detroit. Southfield strikes again. What young, creative talent wants to work in Southfield? http://www.freep.com/story/money/bus...ield/70248788/

See the responses in the "city living" thread.

Detroit is not every other city. It has a long ways to go before being an attractive place to live/work for anyone besides the hardcore pioneers.

EDIT: Other costs such a rent and taxes for ePrize could have been a factor too. The original owner who expressed interest about moving downtown in the past is no longer involved with the company. The people running the show now could have completely different interests in mind.

**313WX** · March-15-15, 09:37 AM

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

Does 20% of HelloWorld's employees live in the boonies???

The "boonies," as you call them, have boomed and developed quite a bit in the last 25 years. Chrysler is now based in the "boonies," many of the Tier 1/2 Suppliers are now based in the "boonies," the better retail options are now in the "boonies," the "Detroit" Pistons are now based in the "boonies," etc.

As a lot of the black middle class fled Detroit in the 90s and early 2000s for the inner ring suburbs, the "boonies" is where the white middle class fled to. That's why traffic these days is so god awful along the M-59 corridor or around the Ford Road/I-275 interchange, while streets in parts of Detroit proper are ghost towns during rush hour.

**Mind field** · March-15-15, 10:47 AM

Originally Posted by 313WX

See the responses in the "city living" thread.

Detroit is not every other city. It has a long ways to go before being an attractive place to live/work for anyone besides the hardcore pioneers.

EDIT: Other costs such a rent and taxes for ePrize could have been a factor too. The original owner who expressed interest about moving downtown in the past is no longer involved with the company. The people running the show now could have completely different interests in mind.

It's that sort of mentality that makes this region a continual joke. Our roads are falling apart, and now raising taxes are being pitched to fix them. If companies flocked to the core, we could begin to concentrate on building quality infrastructure, and get a meaningful mass transit system implemented for our region of over 4 million. Instead companies continue to chose office parks outside the core where you have to drive everywhere, where the architecture is meaningless, uninspiring crap. When you chose the cheapest option, it really shows and you have a cheap region. Pay more for quality, get quality results. Then we wonder why there is a brain drain?

**animatedmartian** · March-15-15, 10:56 AM

Originally Posted by 313WX

The "boonies," as you call them, have boomed and developed quite a bit in the last 25 years. Chrysler is now based in the "boonies," many of the Tier 1/2 Suppliers are now based in the "boonies," the better retail options are now in the "boonies," the "Detroit" Pistons are now based in the "boonies," etc.

As a lot of the black middle class fled Detroit in the 90s and early 2000s for the inner ring suburbs, the "boonies" is where the white middle class fled to. That's why traffic these days is so god awful along the M-59 corridor or around the Ford Road/I-275 interchange, while streets in parts of Detroit proper are ghost towns during rush hour.

When I meant boonies, I meant places farther north than Macomb Township, Lake Orion, Commerce Township, etc. A lot of the places farther out than that are still pretty rural.

The other places you mention are still within 25 miles of downtown Detroit, at least by bird path.

**Jason** · March-15-15, 10:58 AM

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

I'm confused by this statement.

I mean, 25 miles of within Downtown Detroit is pretty much most of the metro area already. The only additional areas that a Southfield-centered location would include is anywhere past Pontiac, Canton, or Macomb Township but not by much. Does 20% of HelloWorld's employees live in the boonies??? Maybe they live in Ann Arbor, but I'm pretty sure it's actually an easier to go directly downtown than it is to Southfield from Ann Arbor. Google maps actually puts the commute time at only less than a 5 minute difference. Either way, that seems like an odd statement since 25 miles is basically the whole tri-county area.

I agree that's a really weird statistic. 25 miles from Southfield is a lot. Even Ypsilanti is right on the edge of the radius. Brighton is just outside of that radius. How on earth do you get 20% of your employees to live outside of that radius? I agree that they're probably in Ann Arbor, but like you said Southfield vs. downtown isn't much of a difference from Ann Arbor. That's a suspicious stat.

But aside from the 25 mile radius, it is true that if most of the employees live in southern Oakland County, then their commutes would get longer if the offices were moved to Detroit.

I think it's also worth pointing out, that despite all the attention urban tech companies get, in my experience most tech people are not "affluent urban liberal" types but are more often "suburban libertarian" types. I don't think most of them are people who identify with downtown Detroit.

**Cliffy** · March-15-15, 11:05 AM

Originally Posted by Mind field

Well, we have an answer, and it's NOT Detroit. Southfield strikes again. What young, creative talent wants to work in Southfield? http://www.freep.com/story/money/bus...ield/70248788/

The paycheck is the bottom line. I don't know anyone that wants to work downtown for less money than Southfield no matter what people say in here.