[animatedmartian]

Gilbert launches Brush Park homes, vows to take Detroit 'vertical'
John Gallagher , Detroit Free Press. November 29, 2016.


(Photo: Max Ortiz, The Detroit News)

Businessman Dan Gilbert promised Tuesday to launch multiple new building projects in Detroit to help the city "go vertical."

Up to now, the billionaire founder and chairman of Quicken Loans has made his mark renovating older office buildings downtown. His only ground-up construction so far has been his Z Garage downtown.

But at a ceremony Tuesday to launch construction of his new City Modern project, a 410-unit residential building in Brush Park, Gilbert said the "horizontal era" of renovating older buildings is coming to an end.

"Now it's about vertical," he told a large audience including Mayor Mike Duggan at the Brush Park ceremony. "We're going to build a lot of stuff in Detroit. There's a huge demand. A lot of people say, 'Are you guys sort of done?' They ask the mayor the same question; they ask other developers that. I don't think we've started yet."

In Toronto, Gilbert noted, a score of construction cranes stand out on the skyline. Other cities including Chicago are likewise building significant projects. That's his vision for Detroit.

"It talks about the future, the optimism, the can-do efforts," he said. "Nothing gives more hope, in my opinion, than new construction in cities. That's always a sign of good things to come. I'm very, very excited about the future. We're just getting going here."

Gilbert didn't identify any of his future projects, but one that's been in the works for a long time involves the site of the former Hudson's store on Woodward Avenue in the heart of downtown. Gilbert and his team have worked for the past couple of years on plans for a major new development on the site, releasing a rendering of an architecturally innovative structure that might rise there. So far, Gilbert has remained mum on any details.

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http://www.freep.com/story/money/bus...rock/94615206/