[animatedmartian]

Grand Park Centre sold to Bloomfield Twp.-based Princeton Enterprises
By Kirk Pinho




Bloomfield Township-based Princeton Enterprises LLC has purchased the two-building Grand Park Centre office complex at 28 W. Adams St. in Detroit from the Detroit Police and Fire Retirement System.

Princeton Enterprises likely paid between $4 million and $5.5 million for Grand Park Centre, according to real estate sources.

The deal for the 177,000-square-foot complex, previously known as the Michigan Mutual Building, also includes an attached 115-space parking deck and a surface lot on Woodward Avenue with 23 spaces.

Matt Lester, founder and CEO of Princeton Enterprises, said his company also plans to open a 5,000- to 10,000-square-foot satellite office in Grand Park Centre in the fall and to double the amount of available parking space "in order to be a first-choice facility among potential office users."

"We want to be down there," Lester said. "Then, longer-term, there are some thoughts about extensive renovations, particularly to the vacant floors in the (40,000-square-foot) annex, so that's where the action is going to be more mid-term."

Princeton Enterprises will remain headquartered in Bloomfield Township for the time being, although Lester said the company may eventually move its headquarters to Detroit.

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http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...on-enterprises

M1 awards Calif.-based firm major contract for streetcar project
By Bill Shea



The nonprofit M1 Rail effort has awarded the contract to build the Woodward Avenue streetcar project loop to Alameda, Calif.-based civil construction firm Stacy and Witbeck Inc.

Stacy and Witbeck, which has built 17 transit systems, was awarded the project's construction manager and general contractor bids from a pool of five companies, M1 said in a statement tonight.

Detroit-based White Construction Co. has been subcontracted by Stacy and Witbeck to work on the project, M1 Rail said.

Because engineering is still underway, a maximum contract price hasn't been determined. M1 believes construction of the grade-level streetcar loop itself between Hart Plaza and New Center will cost $135 million to $145 million, which could drive the total project cost closer to $187 million from a previously estimated $137 million.

Of that, the state is funding a Woodward resurfacing and some overpass work concurrently with the streetcar line construction, M1 COO Paul Childs previously told Crain's. The MDOT work, at a cost of $35 million to $45 million, will be between Sibley and Chandler streets. That amount is part of the project's total, which could end up higher or lower than $187 million.

Future bids will include an estimated $9.5 million for construction of a vehicle storage and maintenance facility, $27 million for six streetcars, and for a private-sector vendor to operate and maintain the streetcar system at an estimated $5.5 million annually. The $187 million assumes only $5.5 million for a year of operations, so the total could rise under a multi-year deal.

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http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...eetcar-project