Small win at the Packard Plant site this week

I've been poking around the old Packard Plant area for months looking at a few parcels. Finally got a signed letter of intent from a small manufacturing tenant who wants to lease 5,000 square feet. The broker on the other side actually remembered me from a networking event six months ago and that connection sealed it. Has anyone else had luck with long shot follow-ups in Detroit turning into real deals?

3 comments

3 Comments

diana_black23d ago

Yeah "the long game works in Detroit because nobody plays it" really sums it up. I see that same thing everywhere not just in real estate but in like everyday stuff. People are so quick to burn a bridge or just stop reaching out after one no. I've had random conversations at the hardware store turn into people I call for help with my car or fixing a fence just because I kept saying hi and remembering what they told me months ago. It's wild how most people treat connections like one time transactions instead of something you water a little bit over time. Your tenant broker probably gets ghosted by 90 percent of the people he meets at those events so you standing out by being consistent made you look reliable. That kind of patience is rare and it pays off because nobody else wants to put in the boring follow up work.

oscar74323d ago

That exact thing happened to me with a warehouse off I-75 by the old Adams factory. I had a broker brush me off at a CRE mixer back in 2021, but I kept sending him one line updates every few months about what I was seeing in the neighborhood. Last year he had a client who needed 3,000 square feet with heavy power and I was already tracking three buildings that fit. He remembered my name from those check ins and called me first. That deal closed in 45 days. The long game works in Detroit because nobody plays it. Most people follow up once and give up. If you just keep showing up with solid info, you become the go-to person for that pocket.

drew_bennett2423d ago

The bit about "the long game works in Detroit because nobody plays it" is exactly right. I had a similar thing happen with a building off Gratiot near the old Checker Cab site. Oscar743 your story about sending one line updates is spot on. I did the same thing with a landlord who ignored my first three emails. I just kept sending him quick notes every couple months about what I was seeing in the neighborhood, no pressure just info. After about a year he called me up out of the blue because he had a tenant looking for space with a loading dock and remembered I mentioned one. That deal closed in like 60 days. The follow up is boring and feels pointless most of the time but that's exactly why it works when you actually do it. People remember the person who didn't give up.