Quicken Loans To Buy Madison Building

[DetroitDad]

If this doesn't get the rest of us moving... well, the rest will just have to push it further, I guess.

Detroit; as she lay on the operating table with bullet holes, they debated whether she would even make it another two hours. Now she sits in rehabilitation recovering from a near death experience inspiring us through the same.

Sorry, no one can understand the pure energy and feeling of empowerment I feel right now, and nobody could take it away. You can't even understand it unless your feeling it this morning too.

My low income apartment overlooks the Madison Building, across the street from the United Artist Building, the Statler site, and North Detroit parking desert. This morning I'll go look out the window with my daughter and wife, and be inspired by the ghetto they ruined.

Nevermind, you won't get it, not yet.

Source: http://www.detnews.com/article/20101...dison-Building

Quicken Loans will buy Detroit's Madison Building
Firm wants to get suburban workers downtown as soon as it can

Quicken Loans Inc. plans to buy a downtown Detroit building to house workers who couldn't move with the company to the Compuware building from its Livonia headquarters and offices in suburbs, including Troy and Farmington Hills.

The mortgage company signed a contract to buy the Madison Building, subject to due diligence, Quicken Chief Executive Bill Emerson wrote in an e-mail to employees Monday evening and confirmed by a company spokeswoman.

The building, located on Washington Boulevard near Grand River Boulevard, is about two blocks from Compuware and overlooks Grand Circus Park.

"As you all know, we are committed to getting as many of our Michigan-based team members to Detroit as soon as we can," Emerson wrote in the e-mail. "In just the three months since we have been in the city, I can already tell you we have made a difference — and frankly Detroit has made a difference in all of us."

Quicken signed a five-year lease for four floors in the Compuware building in August to house 1,700 workers but still doesn't have enough space to bring all of its Michigan-based employees downtown.

Quicken founder and Chairman Dan Gilbert said in August he wanted to move an additional 2,000 workers downtown. He said then that he hopes to attract more businesses downtown and create a technology hub that will help downtown's Woodward Avenue be known as "WEBward Avenue."

"We're looking at Detroit space not only for our own team but to attract other businesses," said spokeswoman Paula Silver. "We want to help bring new businesses to the area."
Silver declined to name a purchase price or spell out more specific plans for the building.

"Our plans for the building are not final," she said.
When Quicken moved most employees downtown in August, it gave them a raise to compensate for the city's income tax, which amounts to 1.25 percent of income for nonresident workers and 2 percent for a worker living in Detroit.

Gilbert's In-House Realty, a real estate service firm catering to Quicken clients and employees, also helped new downtown workers interested in moving downtown and aided them in selling or renting their suburban dwellings


From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20101...#ixzz14mrf6QLt

I was out and about at several suburban office parks recently, and word around the Camp Fire is that this is just the tip of the ice berg.