Tagged: quicken loans

Exciting things are happening in downtown Detroit, and there’s a plan to keep up the positive momentum.

That’s the scenario the Downtown Detroit Partnership laid out at its annual lunch Wednesday.

The DDP outlined its vision for a dense, vibrant downtown Detroit of 2016.

The group is made up some of Detroit’s biggest business leaders. They’re putting money behind incentive programs and other projects to draw more residents and employees downtown.

500 new employees moved into downtown Detroit’s First National Building Wednesday. City officials and business leaders say it’s yet another sign of Detroit’s resurgent business district. 

They held a pep rally of sorts to welcome the new employees downtown. They’re from the title insurance and property valuation company Title Source, which has plans to move another 1000 employees downtown  from the suburbs soon.

There’s an old Russian saying that, even, if you covered the world with asphalt, eventually a crack would form.

And in that crack, grass would grow. I was reminded of that yesterday by an Italian businessman my age, a man who is betting on green shoots coming through a town caked with many layers of asphalt. His name is Sergio Marchionne, and he is the CEO of a company called Fiat. Three years ago, he did something many at the time thought stupid. He took over a dying bankrupt company.

Update 5:30 p.m.

Have you ever heard a radio reporter "Tweet" a story?

Michigan Radio's Jennifer Guerra shows us how:

12:08 p.m.

People are all a-Twitter about the social media company opening an office in downtown Detroit.

The office will be located in the M@dison Building on Broadway Street. The building is owned by Quicken Loans Chairman, Dan Gilbert.

This from a press release from Rock Ventures LLC, another company run by Gilbert:

"Twitter coming downtown is exactly the kind of innovative company Detroit needs to advance our vision of becoming one of the most exciting high-tech and web-centered corridors of growth and activity found anywhere," said Gilbert, Chairman of Rock Ventures and Quicken Loans, and Majority Owner of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers.

"Twitter chose Detroit because of the city's growing, young and energetic environment.  This is further proof that the country is starting to wake up and take notice – if you want to create a thriving, growing tech business, downtown Detroit is one of the best places to be," Gilbert added.

Twitter is headquartered in San Francisco.

The Detroit office will help "marketers and advertising agencies in Detroit leverage Twitter's Promoted Products suite of advertising products."

The company expects to hire more employees as it grows.