Gilbert Asks for 15-Year Extension of Renaissance Zone

By Veronica Grecu, Associate Editor It’s no news that Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert, Detroit’s prominent real estate investor, is in a buying and rehabbing spree. Already the owner or more than five office buildings in the city’s financial district, Gilbert [...]

By Veronica Grecu, Associate Editor

It’s no news that Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert, Detroit’s prominent real estate investor, is in a buying and rehabbing spree. Already the owner or more than five office buildings in the city’s financial district, Gilbert is now asking for a 15-year extension of a renaissance zone—i.e. an area that’s free of almost all local and federal taxes for the businesses within the site’s boundaries—for a Downtown property where the former J.L. Hudson Co. department store used to be.

According to Crain’s Detroit Business, the renaissance zone designation will expire in 2017 but Gilbert and his real estate group, Bedrock Management, decided to ask for this extension so that the site’s redevelopment would go on smoothly over the next years.

The Hudson site should have become headquarters for Quicken Loans back in 2007 when Gilbert decided to relocate the operation in Detroit. However, when the economic crash first hit the city, he chose the Compuware Building as headquarters for his company. The nearby Hudson property could be transformed into a mixed-use development that would include loft-style apartments and retail space. As pointed out by Free Press Detroit, the investor hasn’t yet made a final decision.

You May Also Like