Actually saw those downtown redevelopment numbers add up in person

Was at a property near Campus Martius last week and a broker pulled out the actual lease rates for the floor we were standing on. I always figured the whole 'Detroit is coming back' talk was just hype but seeing $32 per square foot on paper for a space that was empty three years ago kinda changed my mind. The building manager walked us through their tenant mix and it was 70% tech and creative firms with real payrolls. Has anyone else seen concrete proof of the shift or am I just catching a lucky snapshot?

2 comments

2 Comments

wells.karen14d ago

I read something in one of those business magazines about how the average lease rate downtown went from like $18 to $28 in just a couple years... "empty three years ago" is the part that really sticks with me because it shows how fast things are actually changing. I heard a local economist on the radio saying that the biggest driver is these creative firms wanting to be near each other, not just cheap rent. That $32 figure you saw is wild but it matches what I've been hearing from folks who work in commercial real estate. The shift seems real when you look at stuff like that instead of just walking down the street and guessing.

david56213d ago

Yeah but I gotta push back on that just a little. I mean sure those numbers are real and all but I wonder how much of that is just landlords finally asking what the market can bear after years of sitting on empty space. Downtown was dead for so long that any bit of life looks like a boom, you know? And that whole creative firms wanting to be near each other thing, I hear that too but I've also seen plenty of those same companies pack up and leave when their three year lease is up because they realize the foot traffic still isn't there. Like my cousin works at one of those marketing agencies and they moved into a fancy new building downtown last year but half the team still works from home most days so it's not like they're actually filling up the streets.