Dealmaker: Gilbert-Led Venture To Build $267M Mixed-Use Property in Detroit

A joint venture of Bedrock Real Estate Services, Enterprise Community Partners, KBK Enterprises and Ginosko Development will build a $267 million mixed-use development in Detroit.

Quicken Loans Founder Dan Gilbert is affiliated with Bedrock Real Estate Services.  

Crain’s Detroit Business reported that the project on the former Brewster-Douglass public housing development’s site will include 1,000 units of mixed-income housing and 30,000 to 45,000 square feet of retail on Detroit’s east side. It predicted a $267 million all-in cost.

Named for African-American abolitionist Frederick Douglass, the Brewster-Douglass development was the largest residential housing project in Detroit. The city demolished the property in 2013 and 2014 and asked for proposals to redevelop the Brewster-Douglass site and two parcels in Eastern Market totaling 25 acres.

The city specified that the new development should provide 500 units of mixed-income housing, at least one acre of open space and retail sufficient to meet the needs of future residents.

Detroit Director of Housing and Revitalization James Arthur Jemison noted that the joint venture–named Choice Detroit LLC–includes an affordable housing specialist and two African-American developers, one Detroit-based and both experienced in affordable housing.