Rock Ventures and Quicken Loans Chairman Dan Gilbert (Credit: WJBK | myFOXDetroit.com)
DETROIT (WJBK) -
"I definitely think we're early in the game," Dan Gilbert said Wednesday.
The chairman of Rock Ventures and Quicken Loans is moving yet another one of his companies to downtown Detroit. This time it's Title Source. They're moving 1,500 employees into the First National Building, a building Rock Ventures bought last summer.
Altogether, Gilbert's companies have moved more than 6,500 workers into downtown Detroit, and they're excited to be there.
"Detroit sells itself. We don't even have to get real fancy on selling. Once they're here, it sells itself," he said.
Title Source moved in just a few days ago, and they're already putting their own stamp on the building with cool workspaces full of funky colors and concepts sparking creativity and productivity.
Bruce Schwartz helps transform old office buildings like First National into places where people will want to work and play.
"We want to make each project almost a destination and each one having its own specific type of feel to it," he said. "[There] is going to be an incredible coffee shop that's coming out of New York. We're going to have restaurants, cafes, and we're going to light this place up with Wi-Fi, and people will come here, meet me at First National, so that they can have meetings and do some work and have their coffee and maybe even a drink and dinner."
How do you draw people and businesses into a city full of uncertainty and what some might call political chaos. Gilbert said it's a factor, but what some might call barriers really may be opportunities.
"Anything good or great that's built is messy. It's a messy environment," he explained. "We're fixing a city that's been financially negligent for years, so it's messy, but once you get on the other side of it, I think it will be a lot better."
Thursday, May 16 2013 9:04 PM EDT2013-05-17 01:04:18 GMT
13 people were shot in Detroit in just 24 hours, five from one block, including a woman who was just hours away from a kidney transplant. She did not survive.
13 people were shot in Detroit in just 24 hours, five from one block, including a woman who was just hours away from a kidney transplant. She did not survive.
Thursday, May 16 2013 8:23 PM EDT2013-05-17 00:23:43 GMT
54-year-old Almeter Walls was set to have a transplant surgery on Thursday, but instead she is dead. We're told she was shot when a neighborhood argument ended in gunfire. The shooting also left four others wounded.
54-year-old Almeter Walls was set to have a transplant surgery on Thursday, but instead she is dead. We're told she was shot when a neighborhood argument ended in gunfire. The shooting also left four others wounded.
Wednesday, May 15 2013 9:01 PM EDT2013-05-16 01:01:40 GMT
Recess at Academy of the Americas in southwest Detroit is 20 minutes out of the day where all kids have to do is play, and that time is more valuable than you think.
Recess at Academy of the Americas in southwest Detroit is 20 minutes out of the day where all kids have to do is play, and that time is more valuable than you think.
Friday, May 17 2013 11:55 PM EDT2013-05-18 03:55:04 GMT
"We intend to build cars in North America for [the] North American market, build cars in Europe for the European market and build them in Asia for the Asian market," said Don Graunstadt.
"We intend to build cars in North America for [the] North American market, build cars in Europe for the European market and build them in Asia for the Asian market," said the CEO of North American Operations for the electric car company.
Friday, May 17 2013 10:19 PM EDT2013-05-18 02:19:58 GMT
It can creep up on you without you realizing it. One day you step on the scale and you're obese. That's what happened to a St. Clair Shores woman who never though she would lose the weight.
It can creep up on you without you realizing it. One day you step on the scale and you're obese. That's what happened to a St. Clair Shores woman who never though she would lose the weight.
Friday, May 17 2013 8:43 PM EDT2013-05-18 00:43:34 GMT
Sabrina Gianino was found dead with a cord around her neck inside a Grosse Pointe Park home early Thursday morning. The medical examiner has ruled her death a homicide.
Sabrina Gianino was found dead with a cord around her neck inside a Grosse Pointe Park home early Thursday morning. The medical examiner has ruled her death a homicide.
Friday, May 17 2013 7:48 PM EDT2013-05-17 23:48:59 GMT
A Molotov cocktail was thrown through a kitchen window of a waterfront mansion on Whittier Street in Grosse Pointe Park around 3:20 a.m. Friday. Fortunately, someone inside put it out.
A Molotov cocktail was thrown through a kitchen window of a waterfront mansion on Whittier Street in Grosse Pointe Park around 3:20 a.m. Friday. Fortunately, someone inside put it out.
Friday, May 17 2013 6:26 PM EDT2013-05-17 22:26:25 GMT
Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan urged Detroit's pastors and majority black population Friday to join him in an effort to buy neglected properties and take other steps to help revitalize the struggling city.
Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan urged Detroit's pastors and majority black population Friday to join him in an effort to buy neglected properties and take other steps to help revitalize the struggling city where the movement started more than 80 years ago.
Rock Ventures and Quicken Loans Chairman Dan Gilbert (Credit: WJBK | myFOXDetroit.com)
