Gilbert SELLS building in capitol park

[SpartanDawg]

surprised no thread on this yet... good to see diversifying owners. Lear Corp will bring 150 more employees downtown and renovate this building at 119 State St.

[emu steve]

surprised no thread on this yet... good to see diversifying owners. Lear Corp will bring 150 more employees downtown and renovate this building at 119 State St.

I presume it is a good thing for him to divest of some buildings and continue to buy more buildings.

I know Gilbert is rich, but still don't want him to buy, buy, buy and have too much invested in buildings.

Some rich people [[Trump?) are rich but not liquid.

I'm sure the Gilbert folks look at his portfolio and decide how much to have invested in buildings and if he has too much invested, he can unload some..

[dtowncitylover]

http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthread.php?20723-Lear-Corp-to-set-up-design-studio-in-Capitol-Park

[Danny]

He sold it that building so he can buy another. That's his business. Gilberttown Detroit is still growing.

[mikeg19]

I'm pretty sure that this is his end game. The guy is basically flipping houses, just using skyscrapers. And I'm sure he's going to make a lot of money doing it while also looking like a savior, which IMO, he basically is.

[Scottathew]

I'm pretty sure that this is his end game. The guy is basically flipping houses, just using skyscrapers. And I'm sure he's going to make a lot of money doing it while also looking like a savior, which IMO, he basically is.

Yup. He bought the building, fixed it up, and according to him he's going to about break-even on it, but I'd imagine he's raking in the dough on a lot of other buildings he owns.

People too often demonize making money. Yes, Gilbert is making money, but at the same time he's creating jobs and relocating jobs to a place that needs them.

I imagine that Lear wanted to own the building, so he sold it to him because it was very compatible with what he's trying to do downtown.

[mikeg19]

Yup. He bought the building, fixed it up, and according to him he's going to about break-even on it, but I'd imagine he's raking in the dough on a lot of other buildings he owns.

People too often demonize making money. Yes, Gilbert is making money, but at the same time he's creating jobs and relocating jobs to a place that needs them.

I imagine that Lear wanted to own the building, so he sold it to him because it was very compatible with what he's trying to do downtown.

Hey, don't get me wrong, I'm perfectly fine with what he's doing. I'm a huge proponent of his work thus far and it's nice to see him selling assets to other stable companies looking to expand downtown.

[EL Jimbo]

Yup. He bought the building, fixed it up, and according to him he's going to about break-even on it, but I'd imagine he's raking in the dough on a lot of other buildings he owns.

People too often demonize making money. Yes, Gilbert is making money, but at the same time he's creating jobs and relocating jobs to a place that needs them.

I imagine that Lear wanted to own the building, so he sold it to him because it was very compatible with what he's trying to do downtown.

Gilbert didn't create any jobs. Increased demand for the services Lear provides is what created those jobs.

All Gilbert did was purchase and upgrade the space that those jobs will now be housed in. Still a good thing, but I hate when CEOs are falsely credited with job creation.

[downtownguy]

Now Gilbert's going to start getting flack for flipping properties.

[Hypestyles]

Is the building that's just been sold already fully renovated? Lear will only occupy one floor? What other groups can occupy the upper floors?

[mwilbert]

Is the building that's just been sold already fully renovated? Lear will only occupy one floor? What other groups can occupy the upper floors?

I didn't see anything that indicated that Lear would only occupy one floor. It would be a little unusual for them to buy the building if they only planned to use one floor, and the other things I read about it sounded like they had plans for the whole building--it isn't that big in the first place.

From Crain's:

Lear plans to make the nearly 130-year-old building its Innovation and Design Center, where there would be facilities for automotive innovation, a nonautomotive business incubator, think tank, creative design studio, an art gallery, Lear executive satellite offices, conference and meeting space and a rooftop garden, according to Bedrock and Lear.

In addition, Lear will open its space to College for Creative Studies students to work with Lear employees on fabric, leather and sewing projects for car seating and interiors, plus some nonautomotive uses; and to Wayne State University students working on electrical distribution systems and capabilities, including connected cars and alternative energy, Matt Simoncini, president and CEO of Lear, said in a statement.

Elsewhere they said they would be doing extensive renovation, and that the ability to do that was one of the main reasons they bought the building instead of leasing it.

[EastsideAl]

Apropos to another thread running here, that building was originally built in 1887 by Brown Brothers Tobacco as a factory to manufacture their "Newsboy" cigars [[probably not a name that would be viewed favorably for a cigar brand today).

[jmarie]

Gilbert didn't create any jobs. Increased demand for the services Lear provides is what created those jobs.

He created jobs with whatever renovations he had to do. Temporary jobs, perhaps, but still jobs.

[old guy]

He created jobs with whatever renovations he had to do. Temporary jobs, perhaps, but still jobs.

I have to agree with jmarie El Jimbo. I'm sure there are more than a few construction workers, designers, etc. that are enjoying the building boom other than, or because of Gilbert.

The Nicole Curtis project has to be employing a massive amount of extremely talented people that can do that type of restoration. That's good to see and I'm sure that aside from her, they're knocking down some big bucks.

Renovation work on historic properties requires the knowledge of tradespeople that are dwindling. If they're teaching other younger craftspeople the trade, to me that's an extremely positive outcome.

[old guy]

Great pictures Eastside Al.
It probably wouldn't be very PC these days, but it's amazing that an advertisement actually depicts what's probably an actually honest historical situation.
That's the real stuff that should be in history books. Hey, that was reality.

[ABetterDetroit]

http://www.zoominfo.com/c/Bedrock-Re...ices/345544039

This is permanent job growth that does not consist of temporary contractors.

[Richard]

He paid 8.1 mil for the first national and used that to leverage a loan of 70 million,that is a hell of a return.See it is easy to make money when you have it.

[Dbest]

Gilbert didn't create any jobs. Increased demand for the services Lear provides is what created those jobs.

All Gilbert did was purchase and upgrade the space that those jobs will now be housed in. Still a good thing, but I hate when CEOs are falsely credited with job creation.

That's a pretty narrow minded perspective. Who says Lear even bothers without having a building all ready to suit their needs. Are the additional jobs to come in the building already in Detroit? The building is probably a major reason they came.

Also consider this:

How much easier is it for prospective businesses to inquire/acquire buildings that are owned by Gilbert? He's not looking for huge payouts like some of the former owners of these properties would have. It's a streamlined system with lots of properties with easily transferable deeds.

I'm not saying he wouldn't stand to make out fat in the long run, but I love the way he is going about it. Sell some property and begin to increase demand/value for the others he owns. `

This city needed Gilbert so bad, just look how him and Duggan run around hand in hand. It's way better then just Illitch running around with his hands out.

I wonder if Gilbert has ever inquired into any Olympia owned buildings in GCP? I can't imagine he is real happy about the Olympia blight.

[davewindsor]

He paid 8.1 mil for the first national and used that to leverage a loan of 70 million,that is a hell of a return.See it is easy to make money when you have it.

You mean it's easy to make money from depositors and government funds when you own the bank. If there's a $70m loan, it means he's saying an $8.1m building is worth $100m [[@ 30% downpayment). The owners of the Penobscott would never be able to pull off anywhere near that size of mortgage approaching an independent bank. It just amazes me how some of these non-arms length transactions passes federal regulators.

[Richard]

You mean it's easy to make money from depositors and government funds when you own the bank. If there's a $70m loan, it means he's saying an $8.1m building is worth $100m [[@ 30% downpayment). The owners of the Penobscott would never be able to pull off anywhere near that size of mortgage approaching an independent bank. It just amazes me how some of these non-arms length transactions passes federal regulators.

They should have started with the whole Intuit-Quicken deal back then,people woke up the next morning and found out they lost millions overnight.

Go back 5 years,he would have never moved to downtown with the path it was on.So it was already decided all the way up to Lansing how everything was going to unfold.

With the 200 million sign on bonus he was basically hired to handle the private aspect in return he gets a locked down city for outside investment and his choice of properties in the CBC.

If the plan had been known the city would have been a totally different landscape because there were others with 100s of millions from cashing out at the peak ready to invest.Detroit was prime because it was already at the bottom of the curve.

At that time it was the Governors stalling of the tax credits buying time to implement,while his friends were also buying up real estate along Woodward.

They knew 5 years ago exactly where the city was going to be today and how to get it there.

So buy a building with 30% down,receive the credits that exceed the down and give additional to buy the next one,and on and on .

Give 200 million to half of those on this site to invest with a non compete with prices as they were 5 years ago and they would have had the same result,it was the engineering and implementing of the plan that was the beauty of it all.

Was it bad for the city? We will never know,but we do know it is possible for a corporation to buy a city and have the taxpayers fund it and love it.

But maybe it really does not matter how everything went down because at the end of the day the city is in a better place today.

[Towne Cluber]

Give 200 million to half of those on this site to invest...

Yikesssss!

[ABetterDetroit]

They should have started with the whole Intuit-Quicken deal back then,people woke up the next morning and found out they lost millions overnight.

Go back 5 years,he would have never moved to downtown with the path it was on.So it was already decided all the way up to Lansing how everything was going to unfold.

With the 200 million sign on bonus he was basically hired to handle the private aspect in return he gets a locked down city for outside investment and his choice of properties in the CBC.

If the plan had been known the city would have been a totally different landscape because there were others with 100s of millions from cashing out at the peak ready to invest.Detroit was prime because it was already at the bottom of the curve.

At that time it was the Governors stalling of the tax credits buying time to implement,while his friends were also buying up real estate along Woodward.

They knew 5 years ago exactly where the city was going to be today and how to get it there.

So buy a building with 30% down,receive the credits that exceed the down and give additional to buy the next one,and on and on .

Give 200 million to half of those on this site to invest with a non compete with prices as they were 5 years ago and they would have had the same result,it was the engineering and implementing of the plan that was the beauty of it all.

Was it bad for the city? We will never know,but we do know it is possible for a corporation to buy a city and have the taxpayers fund it and love it.

But maybe it really does not matter how everything went down because at the end of the day the city is in a better place today.

This is just hysterical!

Conspiracy theorists always seem to omit the basic truths. To execute "the plan" you would need power, collusion, and complete agreement that would garner total secrecy. The chance of Lansing having any of these traits? Zero. Those people couldn't collectively blow out a match. Hell at this point we have a lame duck Governor when his own party has a clear majority in both houses. You can see his total frustration at not even being able to get the roads fixed all over his face but we are supposed to believe the above happened? Thanks for my best laugh of the week for sure.

[DetroitBoy]

This is just hysterical!

Conspiracy theorists always seem to omit the basic truths. To execute "the plan" you would need power, collusion, and complete agreement that would garner total secrecy. The chance of Lansing having any of these traits? Zero. Those people couldn't collectively blow out a match. Hell at this point we have a lame duck Governor when his own party has a clear majority in both houses. You can see his total frustration at not even being able to get the roads fixed all over his face but we are supposed to believe the above happened? Thanks for my best laugh of the week for sure.

I agree. Detroit was basically shutting down when Gilbert came to town. He saw the huge opportunity and took the risk. He's an astute business person. The political hacks in Lansing could learn a lot from him. I love the conspiracy theorists on the board. If there were that many brilliant people in Detroit concocting these elaborate schemes, I doubt it would have ended up in bankruptcy!

[mikeg19]

I agree. Detroit was basically shutting down when Gilbert came to town. He saw the huge opportunity and took the risk. He's an astute business person. The political hacks in Lansing could learn a lot from him. I love the conspiracy theorists on the board. If there were that many brilliant people in Detroit concocting these elaborate schemes, I doubt it would have ended up in bankruptcy!

There will always be people who just can't believe/comprehend that something happened on chance or through careful analysis. To them, there's always a smoking gun or major conspiracy at work.

[Richard]

This is just hysterical!

Conspiracy theorists always seem to omit the basic truths. To execute "the plan" you would need power, collusion, and complete agreement that would garner total secrecy. The chance of Lansing having any of these traits? Zero. Those people couldn't collectively blow out a match. Hell at this point we have a lame duck Governor when his own party has a clear majority in both houses. You can see his total frustration at not even being able to get the roads fixed all over his face but we are supposed to believe the above happened? Thanks for my best laugh of the week for sure.

I am glad to be able to be a source of amusement for you everybody needs a good laugh once in awhile.

It is common to place labels on somebody when we do not understand something or disagree with them be cause it makes it easier.

No where have I ever posted that the end game has been bad for the city.

Go back 5 or 6 years Mr Snyder is CEO of Ann Arbor SPARK,he goes from there to the Governors office bringing other top officers with him.

As this is happening companies with ties and relations to the same officers began buying property along the Woodward corridor.

Simple enough to figure out,pull the property records.

When has SPARK ever cared about the city of Detroit? It was never in their realm of interest.
Especially at that time when the turmoil going on in the city was at its peak.

Private corporations band together and fund the leaving of the currant mayor at that time,when in the history of the country has private enterprise ever funded the removable of of a public official or paid them to leave.

The writing was already on the wall,he was already out,deputy mayor would have stepped in and taken control and elections would have taken place to replace.

Not saying it was good or bad.

At the same time in Lansing all tax credits for property purchases were put on hold.

There was no way at that time for somebody outside to purchase a property in the city that needed work,would receive funding without the tax credits unless they had the cash to purchase and hold until they were released.

Mr Gilbert may be a billionaire and own the bank but he still could have not purchased any properties through his company,unless the numbers made sense,without ramifications.

But he does have the $200 million given to him by the exiting mayor,that is his working capital.

So the perfect storm,now you have the city at the bottom in regards to funding,you have a guarantee that others can receive no funding through the elimination of the tax credits.

And a bankroll of $200 million.

If they can get the funding without the tax credits they still have to deal with the city red tape,at that time everybody in the city and county Gov was so scared to make a move,nothing would have happened anyways.

So you buy and you buy cheap because the owners are willing to sell because all is lost and you sit on it,why? because you paid cash and are not out of pocket or have to make that monthly carrying note.

But it still makes no financial sense because the whole goal is to make money and the sooner the turmoil is over the sooner you can start,buying spree of the low hanging fruit is finished,and the tax credits reappear.Which in turn opens up the door for additional cash funding through the sale of the tax credits.

Light rail is announced on Woodward increasing values of those adjoining properties and bankruptcy is declared because it was the best thing or maybe only option for the city to do.

It is not about city verses state or city verses burbs it was the basic situation of you could not purchase a stand alone property in the city as it was without changing an entire city.

That is also why all of the reports of grandiose plans bit the dust,because you could not just purchase a singular property and fix it up and make a difference it had to be a situation of high impact.

It was not a conspiracy,it was a master plan to change a major US city,did it not work?

Where have I omitted the truth? Please enlighten me on that.