Dan Gilbert’s Rock Ventures Breaks Ground on 10-Story Garage/Retail Facility in Downtown Detroit

By the Editors of Commercial Property Executive

November 8, 2012

Rock Ventures LLC, the real estate development arm of Dan Gilbert’s Quicken Loans, is building a 1,300-square-foot parking garage and 33,000 square feet of retail space in an effort to provide more parking, more restaurants and more shops to the growing number of people who work in Detroit’s Central Business District.

By Veronica Grecu, Associate Editor

Rock Ventures LLC, the real estate development arm of Dan Gilbert’s Quicken Loans, is building a 1,300-square-foot parking garage and 33,000 square feet of retail space in an effort to provide more parking, more restaurants and more shops to the growing number of people who work in Detroit’s Central Business District.

Construction is already underway on the 535,000-square-foot Z-shaped development and the company says it will be completed by the end of 2013. Surrounded by Broadway and Library streets and East Grand River and Gratiot avenues, the project will occupy two adjacent surface parking lots. Rock Ventures has hired Southfield-based Neumann/Smith Architecture to create a state-of-the-art design that will camouflage the rigid, garage-like façade of the structure by using an innovative combination of color, glass and original artwork.

As reported by Detroit Free Press, the retail space at the ground floor of the 10-story garage will be large enough for 10 to 20 new retail stores which are expected to create a unique shopping experience in Downtown Detroit. While no retail chains have been named yet, a number of high-end retailers similar to those found at suburban malls could lease space in the new building and Apple Store would be on top of this list.

According to a recent market report by Marcus & Millichap, approximately 400,000 square feet of retail space will be completed in Detroit by the end of 2012. Dan Gilbert’s new garage/retail project adds to the first major shopping center to be built in the city in 50 years: the 500,000-square-foot Michigan State Fairgrounds that should re-open in fall 2013 as a thriving mixed-use redevelopment.