Ed Dawda, founding member with the Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based law firm Dawda Mann, says that Detroit is heading in the right direction. And, like many others here, he credits much of this with the investment that Quicken Loans founder and chairman Dan Gilbert has made in the city’s downtown.
Gilbert bought five downtown Detroit buildings at the end of 2012. That meant that at the end of last year, Gilbert owned 15 buildings in downtown. He also owns three parking garages and recently broke ground on a new office/retail development.
Dawda also said that he’s intrigued by Gilbert’s vision of Detroit as a center for young, intelligent and creative people.
“He wants to energize the city by attracting young people who will live and work downtown,” Dawda said. “He has a vision of bringing life back to the city by getting young people to come downtown, work there, stay there and live there.”
For this vision to work, Gilbert, though, can’t be the only person investing in downtown Detroit. Fortunately, there are enough positives in Detroit and its surrounding areas to, hopefully, encourage other investors.
