Tagged: dan gilbert

Dan Gilbert.

The founder of Quicken Loans.

A man with deep pockets.

Taking advantage of what he calls Detroit's "Skyscraper Sale."

He owns three million square feet of downtown commercial space.

His stated goal is to breathe new life into downtown Detroit.

The Sunday New York Times business section calls him the "Motor City Missionary."

So what does Dan Gilbert's "Opportunity Detroit" plan mean for the city and its people?

We asked George Galster - professor of urban studies and planning at Wayne State University - author of "Driving Detroit" - and Toni Griffin - founder of Urban Planning and Design for the American City - director of the Technical Planning Team for the Detroit Future City Plan - and professor of architecture at the City College of New York.

They've got credibility. We asked them questions.

You can listen to the full interview above.

A story by Detroit Free Press Business writer, John Gallagher outlines a host of improvements and attractions coming to Detroit. Quicken Loans founder and Chairman Dan Gilbert described the high points of his vision:

A gaming company run by Detroit billionaire Dan Gilbert has announced plans to move into the city’s casino business.

Quicken Loans founder Gilbert owns Rock Gaming, which already owns
several gambling sites in Ohio.

Now, one of the group’s subsidiaries has announced it will buy a
majority stake of the company that runs Detroit’s Greektown
Casino-Hotel.

Gilbert says in a statement they envision a “significant investment”
in the Greektown casino, “as well as the enhancement and growth of the
existing entertainment district.”

The Michigan Gaming Board will need to sign off on the deal.

They hope to grow that area as well, building on what Gilbert calls
“the positive momentum” now going in downtown Detroit.

Gilbert himself is partly responsible for that momentum.

He’s been buying up much of the major commercial real estate in
downtown Detroit in pursuit of a vision he’s dubbed “Detroit 2.0.”

The vision is a vibrant downtown district to “live, work, and play,”
centered around tech start-ups along Woodward Avenue, which Gilbert
calls “Webward” Avenue.