Gilbert bought the First National Building on Woodward in 2011
Dan Gilbert
Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert has snapped up so many downtown properties that some critics and admirers use the term "Gilbertville."
Since 2011, companies linked to Quicken Loans Inc. founder Dan Gilbert have spent $451 million to buy 62 properties in downtown Detroit, according to a Detroit News analysis of public records. Often the buildings have been vacant or underutilized and been purchased for bargain-basement prices.
Gilbert has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to renovate them, Louis Aguilar writes. About 17,000 parking spaces also are among holdings.
On top of that, dollar amounts haven’t been recorded publicly for another 11 downtown properties including Greektown Casino-Hotel, Aguilar writes.
“Buying buildings ... that cheap is a very unique opportunity,” Steve Morris, an adjunct professor of real estate finance at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, tells the News. “He has the deep pockets to buy (properties), then quickly renovate. Beyond that, he and his team have the resources to find tenants."
