– City and company’s chairman view move downtown as the launch of Detroit 2.0 –
Detroit, Mich. – Nov. 13, 2007 – Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick and Dan Gilbert, Chairman of Quicken Loans, the nation’s largest online retail mortgage lender, announced today the company will relocate its headquarters to downtown Detroit, bringing 4,000 new economy jobs to the city.
“We believe this is the right thing and best thing to do for our team members, our company, the city of Detroit, the region and the state of Michigan,” said Gilbert.
The company currently is considering two sites: the site of the old Hudson’s department store on Woodward and the site of the old Statler Hotel on Grand Circus Park. The city has granted the company up to one year to select a site, followed by an 18-24 month timeframe during which it will arrange financing and develop site plans and renderings.
“Quicken Loans’ decision to move their headquarters and 4,000 employees to Detroit is further proof that the revolutionary transformation taking place in this city continues to gain momentum,” said Mayor Kilpatrick. “Detroit’s long history of being a manufacturing town will never die, but it’s important to the long-term sustainability of this city that technology-based emerging industries with forward thinking leadership become part of the city’s business landscape.”
Mayor Kilpatrick and the Detroit Economic Development Corporation (DEGC) had been pursuing Quicken Loans for more than two years. “Dan Gilbert has a genuine love for Detroit, and with him being a local guy I knew he was familiar with the transformation taking place here, but I believed that once he fully understood my vision for the NEXT Detroit, he would agree that no other city in America would be better suited to be home to the new Quicken Loans Headquarters,” said Mayor Kilpatrick. “I’m pleased Dan shares my vision and has taken it a step further with Detroit 2.0.”
Quicken Loans and City Launch Detroit 2.0
In what may appear to be the most challenging of economic times for the State of Michigan, there are many great things happening in Detroit: the restoration of the Book Cadillac Hotel; the emerging Detroit Riverfront; the newly refurbished DIA, casinos, new housing and neighborhood rejuvenation.
“There’s a new energy in downtown Detroit,” Gilbert said. “A thriving, central area, where the threads can be tied between entrepreneurs who have creative ideas, and people with capital seeking to invest, is essential to our city’s future.”
“In the information age, wealth and jobs can be created very rapidly,” Gilbert continued. “For that to happen, you have to create an environment that encourages, promotes, supports and funds the kind of activity and idea generation in which the entrepreneurial spirit thrives. Once it gets going, the threads that emerge from this environment create limitless opportunities.”
“We believe our move downtown will be the catalyst for further growth and momentum. From this core, we will create the kind of city and economy that Detroit and Michigan need to compete in the 21st Century. Detroit 2.0 is underway,” he concluded.
“Dan Gilbert could move his company to any state in the nation, but he is choosing to stay right here in Michigan,” said Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm. “His desire to grow jobs here should send a signal to other new economy companies that Michigan is a great place for businesses looking to invest and grow. We are proud that Dan has chosen to stay here, and we look forward to partnering with him to ensure continued success as he moves forward with this exciting project.”
“I would like to thank Mayor Kilpatrick, the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, as well as Gov. Granholm and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, for the great spirit of regional cooperation as we pursued this project,” said Gilbert. “This is a clear example of the public and private sectors working together in a partnership that will benefit the entire region and state.”
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About Quicken Loans
Quicken Loans is the nation’s largest online retail mortgage lender and the country’s 11th largest retail lender overall, closing nearly $18 billion in home loans in calendar year 2006. The company employs more than 4,600 people and has been ranked in the “Top 20” of FORTUNE Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work for in America” list for the last four years.