Microsoft to move downtown

**ParisianLesion** · January-08-17, 06:03 PM

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article..._medium=social

**ParisianLesion** · January-08-17, 06:04 PM

January 08, 2017 5:00 p.m.
Sources: Microsoft expected to move downtown from Southfield
Landing spot isn't known, but Gilbert teases new tenant to national media

KIRK PINHO
Staff Blog: Real estate, city of Detroit

Microsoft Corp. is expected to move its local offices from Southfield to downtown Detroit in a Dan Gilbert-owned building, according to multiple real estate sources.

It's not known where specifically downtown Microsoft will move, but an announcement is imminent.

Some have said Gilbert plans on making space in the former Compuware Corp. headquarters that he owns along with Detroit-based Meridian Health.

The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant currently has about 53,000 square feet in the Southfield Town Center, a 2.2-million-square-foot office complex north of 10 Mile Road between M-10 and Evergreen Road, according to CoStar Group Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based real estate information service.

It's also not known whether Microsoft will retain any space in the Southfield Town Center, which New York City-based 601W Cos. purchased in 2014 for $177.5 million.

Gilbert, speaking with Bloomberg TV anchor Betty Liu Sunday afternoon at the North American International Auto Show, said he plans to announce a new 50,000-square-foot tenant for downtown in about a week.

It's widely expected that tenant is Microsoft.

"We cannot comment on rumors and speculation," Whitney Eichinger, director of communications for Gilbert's Detroit-based real estate company Bedrock LLC, said in a Sunday afternoon email.

In a November interview with Crain's, Gilbert said Microsoft "could be" exploring a move downtown.

A year ago, Gilbert's Quicken Loans Inc. hired John Fikany, formerly Microsoft's local sales chief as its vice president of the Enterprise Sales and Partner Group, as Quicken's vice president of strategy development.

Gilbert's 45-minute conversation with Liu also touched on Detroit development, President-elect Donald Trump — whom Gilbert said should "stop the Twitter thing" — and employment in the city, among other issues. He also said he expected multiple large buildings to start construction in the next 18 months.

Microsoft would be the latest major company to establish a presence in downtown Detroit, with Fifth Third Bank and auto supplier Adient taking space in the city's central core recently. Ally Financial also took a large amount of space in the former One Detroit Center skyscraper when Gilbert purchased it.

The founder and chairman of Quicken Loans and Rock Ventures LLC, Gilbert has purchased more than 95 properties — buildings and parking decks, primarily — in and around downtown Detroit totaling more than 15 million square feet.

Copyright © 2017 Crain Communications, Inc.

**EGrant** · January-08-17, 06:18 PM

Great news!

**Hypestyles** · January-08-17, 07:58 PM

Take it to another level, M-Soft, announce some more job openings.

Calltoaction · January-08-17, 08:01 PM

Originally Posted by Hypestyles

Take it to another level, M-Soft, announce some more job openings.

Perhaps that's what will happen when they officially announce it, seems pointless to uproot and move to a new location if they don't plan on expanding at all.

**313WX** · January-08-17, 08:17 PM

Originally Posted by Calltoaction

Perhaps that's what will happen when they officially announce it, seems pointless to uproot and move to a new location if they don't plan on expanding at all.

50,000 sq. ft. isn't an awful lot of space though.

Bear in mind, they lease just over 57,000 sq. ft. right now.

**Zads07** · January-08-17, 09:03 PM

Originally Posted by ParisianLesion

January 08, 2017 5:00 p.m.
Sources: Microsoft expected to move downtown from Southfield

Copyright © 2017 Crain Communications, Inc.

Please don't copy and paste articles from news websites and post them on a blog, it takes away from the revenue that the news outlet can generate.

Related to the thread, this is excellent news.

**Danny** · January-08-17, 09:58 PM

Yay Gilbert!! That will show ole Patterson! Detroit is where the action is.

**wazootyman** · January-09-17, 08:00 AM

Originally Posted by Zads07

Please don't copy and paste articles from news websites and post them on a blog, it takes away from the revenue that the news outlet can generate.

Related to the thread, this is excellent news.

Agreed on both points.

A digital subscription to Crain's is only $36 per year. I pay $59 for the print and digital editions because I like to grab the printed copies to catch-up on when I travel.

For a resource as great as Crain's, I think any Detroit enthusiast could justify $3 per month.

No, I have no affiliation with Crain's. I've just been a loyal subscriber for 10+ years.

**MikeyinBrooklyn** · January-09-17, 09:28 PM

I agree, wazootyman. I too have subscribed for years. Once upon a time, Crain's was the only online place for substantial Detroit business news. Forget about the News & Free Press. Business coverage at those outlets is sparse, and seldom more than a regurgitation of business & civic press releases. In addition to Crain's, though, dbusiness.com, mlive.com and even occasionally motorcitymuckraker.com have a lot of different news and opinions on the Detroit [[and metro Detroit, and Michigan) business scenes. Plus, sometimes, people at a site called detroityes.com post interesting information, too. Sometimes.

Oh, and a more Kosher way to share content from another site is to simply tease the topic and embed a link. Also note: Crain's offers limited article access per month for free if you register your email. Or you can pay your dime a day and have full access.

**Scottathew** · January-10-17, 10:15 AM

Originally Posted by MikeyinBrooklyn

Oh, and a more Kosher way to share content from another site is to simply tease the topic and embed a link.

This is the method I prefer, it drives traffic to the source.

**clubboss** · February-03-17, 06:12 AM

Drum Roll Please

http://www.wxyz.com/news/big-announc...an-dan-gilbert

As nothing is official yet, my vote and hope is the announcement that Microsoft is relocating downtown.

**313WX** · February-03-17, 06:55 AM

http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthr...st-Possibility

**Scottathew** · February-03-17, 07:01 AM

This will probably be "announced" at least five more times before it actually happens.

**Hypestyles** · February-03-17, 09:24 AM

Well, kudos, Microsoft folks. Now they need to take it to another level: bring on groups of city of Detroit teens to work each season [[summer, fall, winter/spring) as interns, grooming them for computer-technology careers.

**Jason** · February-03-17, 03:18 PM

So, obviously that's great. A different article estimated 200-250 employees based on the square footage. Even though it's just shifting from Southfield, having those people and the Microsoft sign right downtown will be better in the longterm.

Also, I like how the "renderings" of this are just photographs of the building with the microsoft logo and a bunch of stock people photoshoped in.

**Danny** · February-05-17, 06:35 AM

YAY! Thank you Gilbert! Next stop Apple Store in 2020.

**stasu1213** · February-05-17, 01:09 PM

Didn't Google have an office on Woodward?

**gameguy56** · February-05-17, 02:42 PM

Originally Posted by stasu1213

Didn't Google have an office on Woodward?

Yes, in Birmingham

Would be nice to get Google and Oracle's suburban offices to come downtown too. Also some less sexy but large companies like CA Technologies and ADP have suburban offices just waiting to be plucked into space in the CBD.

**313WX** · February-05-17, 03:24 PM

Originally Posted by gameguy56

Yes, in Birmingham

Would be nice to get Google and Oracle's suburban offices to come downtown too. Also some less sexy but large companies like CA Technologies and ADP have suburban offices just waiting to be plucked into space in the CBD.

Part of the issue we're running into now is the lack of space downtown, as we're seeing with Quicken workers being displaced by Microsoft.

At the same time, we're at a point in the economic cycle [[combined with the erratic administration in the White House) that no one's comfortable building additional space just yet either.

**stasu1213** · February-05-17, 03:46 PM

Originally Posted by gameguy56

Yes, in Birmingham

Would be nice to get Google and Oracle's suburban offices to come downtown too. Also some less sexy but large companies like CA Technologies and ADP have suburban offices just waiting to be plucked into space in the CBD.

I had thought that Google had some event in one of the buildings on Merchants Row a couple of years ago

**SammyS** · February-05-17, 04:25 PM

Originally Posted by Hypestyles

Well, kudos, Microsoft folks. Now they need to take it to another level: bring on groups of city of Detroit teens to work each season [[summer, fall, winter/spring) as interns, grooming them for computer-technology careers.

Very strange arrangement but I see that DG is now a direct competitor to MS for talent in his own city. Hope there are enough young techies to meet demand. If it works out well, which I'm sure it will, may drive more west coast and NE dudes, currently living in incubators, towards Detroit to live in decent conditions. DG has it all worked out