Quicken Loans Continues To Invest In Detroit

Those of us here in the Detroit area have seen a massive commitment to the city by Quicken Loans and their chairman, Dan Gilbert.  In addition to moving their headquarters to Downtown Detroit, Dan Gilbert has been on buying spree.  His purchases include:


The Madison Theatre Building
The Chase Tower
The Two Detroit Center parking structure
The First National Building
The Dime Building
Several additional Woodward Avenue properties 

He also has the rights to develop the former Hudson's department store site.  In total, Gilbert now owns approximately 1.6 million square feet of property in Detroit, making him the third largest landlord in Detroit, behind only the city itself and General Motors. The plan is to quickly develop and renovate the sites.   

And in a more subtle move, Quicken loans has begun quietly servicing more loans instead of transfer the servicing to other lenders, leading to more local jobs.  Quicken has had several hiring sprees over the last 12 months, and plans to add up to 1000 more people in the next 6 months.

The lending industry has been roundly (and in most cases, rightfully) criticized over the years for their practices.  But let's give credit where credit is due.  Dan Gilbert and Quicken Loans have made a huge commitment to revitalizing Downtown Detroit.  Major kudos to Quicken.