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Sounds like a possible Dan Gilbert project. Context: http://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmuller/2014/09/29/gilbertville-a-billionaires-drive-to-rebuild-the-motor-

by gatsby 12y ago

Sounds like a possible Dan Gilbert project. Context: http://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmuller/2014/09/29/gilbertville-a-billionaires-drive-to-rebuild-the-motor-city/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmuller/2014/09/29/gilbertvi...

rmason 12y ago
Very doubtful. Gilbert has only bought skyscrapers in the downtown area. He bought the buildings for what it would cost to rent that much space for a year in Manhattan. Lately Gilbert has been outbid at auction by Chinese investors so he's exhibited financial discipline. This mystery bidder is paying $500 per house and it would cost ten times that much on the low side to tear down the house. Somebody needs a large chunk of land and for some reason wants it in that specific area. Maybe Piston's owner, Tom Gores, is planning a downtown stadium?
- gatsby 12y ago
  Tom Gores is a good guess, but I think the homes are too distributed to assemble a sizable plot of land. Besides, if you want to buy acreage in Detroit, it's easier to buy an couple old industrial lots than to pay $30m to tear thousands of homes down. Besides, it's hard to imagine a stadium in the middle of a residentially zoned neighborhood. Here's why my money is on Gilbert: http://nextcity.org/daily/entry/hey-dan-gilbert-you-cant-bulldoze-every-abandoned-building-in-detroit http://nextcity.org/daily/entry/hey-dan-gilbert-you-cant-bul... > "Business owner Dan Gilbert has bought more than 30 buildings with 7.5 million square feet of office space in Detroit’s central business district." > "Now, Gilbert wants to get involved in Detroit’s neighborhoods." > "Part of that deal is a new task force faced with the indomitable challenge of figuring out what to do with Detroit’s tens of thousands — no one really knows the exact number, some say 78,000 — abandoned buildings. " > "Gilbert is on that task force" > "'To get the neighborhoods going, we’ve got to take down the 78,000 or so — we don’t even know the exact number of structures that need to be taken down, mostly houses,' Gilbert said..."
- genwin 12y ago
  What would the bidder do about the houses they won't own, on that land? It could be prohibitively expensive to buy the remaining houses.

by gatsby 12y ago

rmason 12y ago

Very doubtful. Gilbert has only bought skyscrapers in the downtown area. He bought the buildings for what it would cost to rent that much space for a year in Manhattan. Lately Gilbert has been outbid at auction by Chinese investors so he's exhibited financial discipline. This mystery bidder is paying $500 per house and it would cost ten times that much on the low side to tear down the house. Somebody needs a large chunk of land and for some reason wants it in that specific area. Maybe Piston's owner, Tom Gores, is planning a downtown stadium?

gatsby 12y ago
Tom Gores is a good guess, but I think the homes are too distributed to assemble a sizable plot of land. Besides, if you want to buy acreage in Detroit, it's easier to buy an couple old industrial lots than to pay $30m to tear thousands of homes down. Besides, it's hard to imagine a stadium in the middle of a residentially zoned neighborhood. Here's why my money is on Gilbert: http://nextcity.org/daily/entry/hey-dan-gilbert-you-cant-bulldoze-every-abandoned-building-in-detroit http://nextcity.org/daily/entry/hey-dan-gilbert-you-cant-bul... > "Business owner Dan Gilbert has bought more than 30 buildings with 7.5 million square feet of office space in Detroit’s central business district." > "Now, Gilbert wants to get involved in Detroit’s neighborhoods." > "Part of that deal is a new task force faced with the indomitable challenge of figuring out what to do with Detroit’s tens of thousands — no one really knows the exact number, some say 78,000 — abandoned buildings. " > "Gilbert is on that task force" > "'To get the neighborhoods going, we’ve got to take down the 78,000 or so — we don’t even know the exact number of structures that need to be taken down, mostly houses,' Gilbert said..."
genwin 12y ago
What would the bidder do about the houses they won't own, on that land? It could be prohibitively expensive to buy the remaining houses.