Gilbert thinks Detroit-Windsor deserved HQ2

**313WX** · December-17-18, 09:42 AM

"The billionaire founder and chairman of Quicken Loans Inc. and Rock Ventures LLC implied that brass from the Seattle-based company that, as of Thursday, had a market capitalization of $806 billion, didn't visit the city as it was mulling responses from more than 200 in North America late last year and early this year.

"We tell everybody, you just can't understand what's going on here unless you're on the ground," Gilbert said last week in an interview. "It doesn't matter what you say, or the videos you send."

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/real-estate/gilbert-thinks-detroit-windsor-deserved-hq2

**SammyS** · December-17-18, 10:41 AM

How can you not agree with him. Detroit offers talent, affordable housing, available office space and a city Amazon can be part of growing just like they did in Seattle. The public transportation factor should never have been the disqualifier.

**313WX** · December-17-18, 10:50 AM

Originally Posted by SammyS

How can you not agree with him. Detroit offers talent, affordable housing, available office space and a city Amazon can be part of growing just like they did in Seattle. The public transportation factor should never have been the disqualifier.

The fact that Nashville is getting a 5K employee operations centers means transit was never a honest disqualifier.

**DeLemur** · December-17-18, 11:10 AM

Gilbert is saying what he has to say. The fact is we don't have enough assets to warrant it. No economic or political center [[NYC/D.C.) no qualified labor pool [[S.F./Austin/Pittsburgh) not sure on the incentives. Yes on fascinating story, cheap land and ability to wield significant local power. Of these three only one is unique to Detroit.

Detroit is rising, but its not there yet. We have to get education right.

**Lowell** · December-17-18, 12:10 PM

One could argue that Gilbert was lucky we didn't get it. Amazon would have poached Gilbert's talent and the competition would surely have driven up wage costs.

**DetroiterOnTheWestCoast** · December-17-18, 12:48 PM

Dodged a bullet by not getting HQ2

**313WX** · December-17-18, 01:13 PM

Originally Posted by DetroiterOnTheWestCoast

Dodged a bullet by not getting HQ2

Yeah, fuck high paying jobs!

**SammyS** · December-17-18, 01:15 PM

Originally Posted by DetroiterOnTheWestCoast

Dodged a bullet by not getting HQ2

Yeah, fuck the population boost

**DeLemur** · December-17-18, 01:15 PM

Originally Posted by Lowell

One could argue that Gilbert was lucky we didn't get it. Amazon would have poached Gilbert's talent and the competition would surely have driven up wage costs.

Very true, though it may have been a temporary problem for him. It would no longer be Gilbertville either which he could welcome. It would have automatically brought tremendous value to his real estate holdings and allowed him to shy away from being Detroit's biggest private industry champion.

**DeLemur** · December-17-18, 01:17 PM

Has anyone heard Bezos talk? I'm surprised by his relatively quiet approach. More akin to the Waltons than Zuckerberg, Buffet and Jamie Dimon.

**SammyS** · December-17-18, 01:27 PM

Originally Posted by DeLemur

Very true, though it may have been a temporary problem for him. It would no longer be Gilbertville either which he could welcome. It would have automatically brought tremendous value to his real estate holdings and allowed him to shy away from being Detroit's biggest private industry champion.

And perfect timing to take advantage of the Auto downturn and layoffs.

**313WX** · December-17-18, 01:32 PM

Originally Posted by DeLemur

Has anyone heard Bezos talk? I'm surprised by his relatively quiet approach. More akin to the Waltons than Zuckerberg, Buffet and Jamie Dimon.

I've seen Bezos in a total of one Amazom commercial [[the Super Bowl one from earlier this year), and he said maybe 3 words total.

Also, his speech at the DC Chamber of Commerce can be found on the internet.

That said, I will admit [[to my surprise) his voice does NOT align with his alpha-male look/mindset.

**Richard** · December-17-18, 01:38 PM

I am thinking to much,to fast.

The downside would have been skyrocketing real estate,good for those wanting to cash out,but not so much for those coming in and the amount of displacement would have been hard to absorb.

Gilberts rise has been slow and steady and still drew resentment from displacement,now imagine doing the same thing in 1 year?

**poobert** · December-17-18, 02:28 PM

Okay, the fact of the matter is that Metro Detroit didn't get it because it didn't deserve it. Otherwise it would have, yes? In terms of overall quality of life and education, Metro Detroit is not stellar by any metric.

If you cannot discern why New York and northern Virginia are more desirable locations for virtually every reason for a technology company or someone wishing to work for a technology company, then you likely have never left metro Detroit or have little awareness of those locations.

Gilbert also hires many relatively unskilled positions. Yes, there is definitely a solid technology side to his businesses but the core of it - mortgage banking - is sales, and they do the training. People literally come from delivering pizzas to slinging mortgages there after a few weeks of minimal training. So talent probably isn't a huge concern for him.

The solution is not to bitch about why they didn't locate here [[which, I think as some have pointed out, isn't some panacea) but to fix what is wrong with the region so people and jobs want to move here. Admittingly, I think there is some progress on this front, but a long way to go.

**Hypestyles** · December-17-18, 06:42 PM

the regions racism possibly scared off Mr. Bezos. there's that, too. You don't have another metro region to gleefully bash the core city like here in the Metro D.

**JBMcB** · December-17-18, 07:01 PM

Originally Posted by SammyS

How can you not agree with him.

Because it involves huge tax incentives. We need to stop carving out special deals for corporations if you want to pay for things like pensions and parks.

**iheartthed** · December-17-18, 08:17 PM

Talk about being slow on the uptake... Isn't it obvious that the entire HQ2 "process" was a sham?

**Richard** · December-17-18, 09:52 PM

^ I agree but you have to give them credit for ingenuity.

They now have every large city in the US 5 and 10 year future growth plans,the financial stability of or in essence they had everybody begging to provide information that they would not be privy to as a private corporation just asking for incentives.

Or they data mined the heck out of the county in a year what would have taken them years to collect anyways.

It is like Google putting a help wanted sign out,no need to apply because they have all of your information anyways.

It has to be the biggest target marketing ruse to date.

**djtomt** · December-18-18, 03:12 AM

Originally Posted by Richard

It has to be the biggest target marketing ruse to date.

This x 10000. No chance this was ever coming here. Gilbert is saying what he needs to say to protect his investment.

**Meddle** · December-18-18, 03:14 AM

People just need to stop feeding JeffCo.

There are other, better ways to buy.

**Canadian Visitor** · December-18-18, 11:36 AM

I am in complete agreement with those who suggest this process was largely or completely a sham.

Realistically the kind of investments discussed by Amazon didn't require days, weeks or months of scoping out.

They are a process of years, that surely started some time ago.

Aside from gaining commercially useful information; and no end of free publicity; this may have been partially about where to locate/expand smaller secondary.......err...tertiary....errr.... quaternary offices.

To that point, Toronto got its consolation prize this morning. 600 engineering jobs.

This, btw, is an expansion of an existing Toronto office w/800 staff.

https://globalnews.ca/news/4772589/a...-toronto-jobs/

**Cincinnati_Kid** · December-18-18, 01:49 PM

Originally Posted by cohen313

Detroit didn't even make Amazon's top 20. Gilbert and Duggan were played and they're just trying to save face. NYC and DC were already Amazon's #2 and #3 satellite offices, so the ruse was just to rake proprietary intel and extort billions from locales those satellite offices were already in [[under threat they'd lose current/future jobs). It was a scam.

I encourage everyone to read this interesting NYT piece on Nashville, which is where Detroit's Jack White and Kid Rock have moved. It characterizes Nashville as a booming tier 2 or 3 American city – which makes Detroit, what, tier 4 or 5? Not good. We have a lot of catching up to do. Getting Oakland and Macomb to bankroll trains to nowhere is the least of the region's concerns.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/16/b...am-amazon.html

When did Kid Rock move there? I thought he bought a mansion in Indian Village a while back.

**masterblaster** · December-18-18, 02:05 PM

Originally Posted by Cincinnati_Kid

When did Kid Rock move there? I thought he bought a mansion in Indian Village a while back.

He may have bought a mansion in "Joseph Berry" subdivision but that may only be his party crash pad when he is back in the Detroit area. He probably lives in Nashville. Also, Brad Keselowski, the NASCAR driver from Rochester, also lives down there.

**masterblaster** · December-18-18, 02:07 PM

Originally Posted by Canadian Visitor

I am in complete agreement with those who suggest this process was largely or completely a sham.

Realistically the kind of investments discussed by Amazon didn't require days, weeks or months of scoping out.

They are a process of years, that surely started some time ago.

Aside from gaining commercially useful information; and no end of free publicity; this may have been partially about where to locate/expand smaller secondary.......err...tertiary....errr.... quaternary offices.

To that point, Toronto got its consolation prize this morning. 600 engineering jobs.

This, btw, is an expansion of an existing Toronto office w/800 staff.

https://globalnews.ca/news/4772589/a...-toronto-jobs/

Congratulations to you guys! 600 high-paying jobs is fantastic.

**poobert** · December-18-18, 02:34 PM

Originally Posted by 313WX

The fact that Nashville is getting a 5K employee operations centers means transit was never a honest disqualifier.

Nashville is a lovely, thriving city. In the middle of the 20th century it was 1/10 the population of Detroit and is now...more populous! There are many, many ways besides transit that Nashville is more qualified, and a better quality place to live and work than Detroit.