"We are excited to work with Pike Pointe [Syncora $SYCRF ] to design + develop this site that sits in an area primed to see a lot of activity in the coming years as downtown's momentum begins to spread east along Jefferson Avenue + the riverfront,"
$5m / another ~6cents to BV =>
Gilbert buys Detroit riverfront land with bankruptcy creditor in quiet $5 million sale
KIRK PINHO
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Dan Gilbert is on tap to develop 2.75 acres of east Detroit riverfront land
Sale of eight parcels on Franklin, Atwater and Guoin streets for $1.82 million per acre was recorded with city in November
Subsidiary of bankruptcy creditor Syncora Guarantee Inc. had development rights, will work with Bedrock
Kirk Pinho/Crain's Detroit Business
Dan Gilbert is teaming up with one of Detroit's most vocal creditors from its bankruptcy case to develop a 2.75-acre property on the east Detroit riverfront. It could hold up to 400,000 square feet of mixed-use development, according to a document Crain's obtained in March 2017.
Dan Gilbert is on tap to develop 2.75 acres of east Detroit riverfront land after a quiet $5 million sale involving one of the city's most vociferous bankruptcy creditors, Bermuda-based Syncora Guarantee Inc.
The sale of eight parcels on Franklin, Atwater and Guoin streets to Atwater Owner LLC for $1.82 million per acre was recorded with the city in November. The Economic Development Corp. was the seller.
Those parcels — 1303 East Atwater; 1325 East Atwater; 1365 East Atwater; 1399 East Atwater; 1310 Franklin; 1340 Franklin; 1364 Franklin; and 1370 Guoin — are identified in an offering memorandum obtained by Crain's in March 2017 as being about one-quarter of the 11.65 acres of east riverfront land a subsidiary of Syncora, Pike Pointe Holdings LLC, received development rights to as part of its 2014 bankruptcy settlement with the city.
A spokeswoman for Gilbert's Detroit-based Bedrock LLC real estate development, management, ownership and leasing company confirmed that Atwater Owner is a subsidiary.
"We are excited to work with Pike Pointe to design and develop this site that sits in an area primed to see a lot of activity in the coming years as downtown's momentum begins to spread east along Jefferson Avenue and the riverfront," Jim Ketai, chairman of Bedrock, said in a Wednesday statement to Crain's.
"The Atwater site has good potential for future development with close proximity to the Detroit River, where we are seeing strong interest and activity."
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Details of how the deal is structured were not released Wednesday, nor were specific plans for the property, which immediately to the west abuts a 3.1-acre property slated for a $136 million development with 360 apartments and a 120-room hotel by Detroit-based City Growth Partners LLC. The company is paying $5.61 million for the site, or $1.81 million per acre.
Development rights for the Syncora property expired last month, according to the offering memorandum obtained by Crain's. Development rights for another 8.9-acre site to the east expire in December 2021, the OM says. The Atwater property can accommodate 400,000 square feet of mixed-use development, while the larger property referred to as the Chene site can accommodate 1.8 million square feet for a total of 2.2 million square feet.
The Detroit Economic Growth Corp., which staffs the Economic Development Corp., declined comment. An email was sent to a local Syncora representative on Wednesday.
This isn't the first deal Bedrock and Syncora have teamed up on.
The two companies are working together on a redevelopment of the former Detroit Police Department headquarters building at 1300 Beaubien Street near Greektown in a deal that was announced in February 2018. Recent plans have included a 200-room boutique hotel.
Gilbert is the founder and chairman of Quicken Loans Inc. and Rock Ventures LLC with a net worth of $6.5 billion, according to Forbes.
As the most influential business magnate in Detroit, he owns more than 90 properties in the city — buildings and parking decks, mostly — and his company says he has invested billions in real estate redevelopment and has billions more on tap in new construction, primarily in the downtown core where his companies are headquartered and he employs north of 17,000 people.
Crain's asked him Dec. 13 if there was progress on his long-in-discussions projects on the east riverfront, and he said "no real news on that."
Those projects include the Syncora property, property owned by a General Motors Co. affiliate east of the Renaissance Center, and the 43-acre Uniroyal Tire Co. site near Belle Isle.
Syncora settled a $333 million bankruptcy claim for $44.8 million in new debt, development rights to the east riverfront land, a lease to operate the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, a long-term lease of a Grand Circus Park parking garage and development rights to the former police headquarters building at 1300 Beaubien.
An entity called Pike Pointe Atwater LLC was registered with the state in November.
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