'Boy Wonder' emerges on the Downtown Real Estate Scene

[Lowell]

Move over Dan Gilbert? Well not quite. I caught this very interesting read in today's Free Press about 28-year-old Brad Foster who just acquired the 211 Tower, a 28-story building at 211 West Fort St. that is across from Detroit's federal courthouse--a name that is likely to appear in these pages in the future.



My knee-jerk thought was "this must be daddy's money" but I was quite wrong. This "kid" has an impressive entrepreneurial boot-strapper story dating back to a computer repair business that he started at age 10 and grew to 25 employees. As detailed in the excellent JC Reindl article, he went on to acquire a string of businesses, an MBA from Wharton, then ever-larger real estate acquisitions.

His latest moves, which includes acquiring the 14 story Tower 14 [next to abandoned Northland Mall, the Lahser Center I & II on Lahser Road and Central Park Plaza on Central Park Boulevard in Southfield], strike me as gutsy plays in view of the dim prospects for commercial real estate created by the pandemic and the work-from-home movement that has resulted.

But maybe that's the beauty of youth. You have the time to roll the dice and if it doesn't work, time to recover. Good luck Brad!

[Satiricalivory]

So it sounds like this was a puff piece. I mean one does not simply just start acquiring major investments just from the proceeds of a computer repair shop. Daddy's money has to be involved here somewhere.

[Lowell]

So it sounds like this was a puff piece. I mean one does not simply just start acquiring major investments just from the proceeds of a computer repair shop. Daddy's money has to be involved here somewhere.

I suggest reading the entire article. Any puff is deserved and it isn’t daddy dollars but investors who want to hitch onto his star.

[313WX]

So it sounds like this was a puff piece. I mean one does not simply just start acquiring major investments just from the proceeds of a computer repair shop. Daddy's money has to be involved here somewhere.

Your spidey sense would be correct.

The article mentions he grew up in Grosse Pointe and around wealthy people [[thus had plenty of connections with capital to support his endeavors).

His family may not have been Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos rich, but they were definitely wealthy compared to the average family in Metro Detroit family. Also, he definitely had more advantages than the average person, including bring able to attend one of the top school districts in the state and somehow having access to expensive equipment at a young age [[when they were barely mainstream) to tinker around with.

[EGrant]

I literally don't care if his dad is Bill Gates or he built his entire fortune selling newspapers on the street corner, I'm just happy to see someone investing in the city. The things we gripe about on this forum haha

[313WX]

I'm just happy to see someone investing in the city.

I don't think anyone has an issue with that.

[SammyS]

I literally don't care if his dad is Bill Gates or he built his entire fortune selling newspapers on the street corner, I'm just happy to see someone investing in the city. The things we gripe about on this forum haha

It’s definitely encouraging to see investors going all out when the vibe is to flee the cities. Contrarians, like hedge funds, are not stupid.

[Danny]

Brad Foster only brought a 50 story skyscraper. HAH!

Gilbert brought over 100 Gilbert-town Detroit Buildings in 8 years!

[Former_Detroiter]

So it sounds like this was a puff piece. I mean one does not simply just start acquiring major investments just from the proceeds of a computer repair shop. Daddy's money has to be involved here somewhere.

Even if it was his daddy's money he used it wisely. He could have blown it on drugs, women, booze, gambling, etc.

[Danny]

Even if it was his daddy's money he used it wisely. He could have blown it on drugs, women, booze, gambling, etc.

Mr. Foster better not act like Dennis Kelifinos. In fact He can buy the Michigan Building and fix it up.

[intelligentBeing]

It's great to see young ambition in the city. Best of luck to Brad Foster. Vision + action!