Quicken Loans-Owned Buildings in Detroit Receive Federal Grant for Energy Efficiency

By Veronica Grecu, Associate Editor

Last week the Detroit Economic Development Corp. approved grants of up to $260,000 in federal tax money for three buildings owned by Dan Gilbert, founder of Quicken Loans. The Detroit News reports that the Dime, the Madison Theatre and Chase tower building—which are handled by Bedrock Management Services LLS, a joint venture between Dan Gilbert and Jim Ketai, who owns the commercial property management company—would become more energy efficient as, in Jim Keta’s opinion, millions of dollars are expected to be invested in the properties’ renovation and upgrades.

According to newspaper reports, the federal grant will be reimbursed based on a 3-to-1 formula—75 percent of the funds needed for the energy efficient upgrades will be provided by the buildings’ owner and the remaining 25 percent will be covered by the grant offered Detroit Economic Development Corp.

Quicken Loans and about 1,700 of its employees relocated to Detroit in 2010 to the Compuware Corp. building that is located next to the Martius Park; another 2,000 employees are scheduled to move in the building by the end of October.

The company has increased its Detroit real estate holdings to 1.7 million square feet with the purchase of the First National Building. Quicken Loans paid $8.1 million for the 800,000-square-foot building at 660 Woodward Ave., informs Crain’s Detroit Business.