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Getting 4,000 or so jobs is good news for any downtown. But luring Quicken Loans Inc. – a company known for having a dynamic workforce, energetic top executives and a Web-centric business model – makes the whole thing even more exciting, says Ann Lang, president and CEO of the Downtown Detroit Partnership.
Lang said Quicken Loans' workforce is "a remarkable group of people" that will be a welcome addition to the downtown Detroit scene. They will be "an infusion of energy and customers and people who will be our best ambassadors," she said.
Lang said most major cities in the U.S. have been working hard to bring “new economy” companies to their downtowns in part, because those companies tend to have workforces that appreciate – and use – the kinds of amenities and services available in an urban setting. From a business attraction standpoint, she said, the announcement by Quicken Loans is “a base to recruit from that would be the envy of any city.”
Others downtown are just happy to be getting a big influx of new potential customers.
“That’s beautiful,” Mark Reddick, general manager for Detroit Breakfast House and Grill on Woodward Avenue told WWJ Newsradio 950. “I am ecstatic … It will be a great addition to what we have going on downtown.”
Reddick said he anticipates hiring additional staff, thanks to the extra business the Quicken Loans move will bring. The addition of 4,000 more downtown workers “means more business,” he said.
Michelle Pittman who manages The Woodward restaurant in the Compuware building agreed. Having more people in the city can only be good news for small businesses in the area, she told WWJ.
“We need to continue to bring people in the city … the more the merrier,” Pittman said.
Spinoff Potential
The DDP’s Lang said the fact that Quicken Loans Chairman Dan Gilbert is openly inviting other companies to join him downtown adds an exciting element to the move.
“I like the creativity of this and how inclusive this is,” Lang said.
Lang said she sees Gilbert as another community leader – like Little Caesar’s founder Mike Ilitch, Compuware CEO Peter Karmanos and Penske Corp. Chairman Roger Penske – who has invested his money, energy and passion into creating a better Detroit.
Economic development officials in Detroit think the move by Quicken Loans to the city will spur other development.
"We think this will be really beneficial as it relates to spinoff activity, both entertainment, residential, as well as retail and that's why we went after Quicken with such tenacity," George Jackson, president and CEO of the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. and chief development officer for Detroit said in an interview on WWJ.
Gilbert has said he is moving the company downtown because it is good for Quicken Loans and the city. He talks about creating a “Detroit 2.0” that will benefit from building a knowledge-based, technology-heavy economy. He also has said that moving into a dynamic urban environment will be good for the company.
"This isn't just about us saying, `Let's just go to Detroit because it's right thing to do.' We do think it is the right thing to do, but we also think it's the smart thing to do,'' said Gilbert.
Quicken Loans is paperless. Every transaction is processed electronically in an office where a vast computer network handles 175,000 phone calls and 2.4 million internal e-mails each day.
Forbes magazine says Gilbert is worth about $1.2 billion. He turned a $5,000 investment in the mid-1980s into an online mortgage empire and bought the Cleveland Cavaliers for $375 million in early 2005. Quicken Loans includes Michigan mortgage company Rock Financial.
Retail analyst Fred Marx says because of the Quicken move retail development will soon follow. Marx said he expects smaller, GAP-type stores to be the first to move into the city. |
