[1rudeboy]

Buy to the sound of gunfire

FOR visitors expecting broken windows and muggers, downtown Detroit is a pleasant surprise. Busy food stands serve diners on lime and orange picnic benches, with live music provided by a classical guitarist. After lunch you can play a free game of outdoor table tennis, borrow a bicycle or take a stroll on the lovely riverfront.

The city may be broke, but some parts are reviving. Property is so cheap that Detroit still attracts dreamers. Perhaps the most prominent is Dan Gilbert, the chairman of Quicken Loans, a mortgage provider. In 2010 Mr Gilbert moved Quicken’s headquarters from the suburbs to the centre of town. Another of his companies, Rock Ventures, owns or controls over 30 buildings in the area, which locals light-heartedly call “Gilbertville”. Mr Gilbert’s firms have invested around $1 billion in downtown Detroit and employ some 10,000 people there.

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[berdie]

Well, I hope that works out for all concerned.

My company had a similar experience, albeit on a much smaller scale.

We bought a couple of cheap apartment complexes in a high crime, dilapidated area, close to a hospital district. The premise being, people working at these hospitals would want to live close to work and be willing to live in the area if they could get to a “haven” apartment.

The cost was huge...renovation, security gates and personnel, tennis courts, work out rooms and biz centers. All I can say...it was a total failure. One I had tried to fight tooth and toenail.

[cripplecreek]

Rising transportation costs will help return manufacturing to Detroit. It sits astride the second busiest freight crossing on the continent and nothing will change that short of Canada choosing to spend trillions relocating their manufacturing region. The second bridge will ease the trade bottleneck and create jobs when its built.



The Grandson of a neighbor was transferred to Detroit from NY a while back and he loves it. He gets far more bang for his buck than he got in NY. He's in a nice quiet neighborhood in the city with private security to back up police. Nobody tells him he can't have a powdered doughnut and a big gulp with his cigarette and he can openly carry a gun in Detroit. Within some 4 miles of his house he can see major league baseball, the NFL, Powerboat racing, The Detroit Grand Prix, air racing and sailboat racing. (As far as the Pistons and Red Wings are concerned, both should be downtown but no taxpayer funding)

The Chinese are buying up a lot of land in Detroit and I suspect they're just paying taxes on it till they either sell it or decide to build factories on their very cheap land. (transportation costs again) So far the William Hults is still looking to buy the Packard plant and has even hired the architects. A new Meijer (box store) just opened at the corner of Woodward and 8 Mile last week.

There is big money in Detroit and it will be unleashed once the bankruptcy is settled. The naysayers can say NO all they want, big money is saying something else.