Opportunity Detroit Timeline
January 2007: Dan Gilbert founds Bizdom, a non-profit entrepreneurship accelerator for budding web and tech-based startups in Detroit.
January 2009: Gilbert and other business leaders invest in M-1 RAIL, a 6.6-mile light-rail system that will link key neighborhoods to Detroit’s riverfront, the business district, and educational, cultural, entertainment and medical institutions along Woodward Avenue.
July 2009: Quicken Loans announces it will relocate its headquarters to the Compuware Building in downtown Detroit in 2010.
August 2010: Quicken Loans and five of its sister companies move 1,700 team members into the Compuware building in downtown Detroit.
November 2010: Gilbert, together with entrepreneurs Josh Linkner and Brian Hermelin, launch Detroit Venture Partners, a Detroit-based venture capital firm that invests in seed and early-stage technology companies to be located in the city.
January 2011: Rock Ventures, the umbrella entity formed to provide operational coordination, guidance and integration of Gilbert’s portfolio of companies, investments and real estate, purchases Detroit’s historical M@dison Theatre Building and begins transforming it into a collaborative tech hub to encourage partnership among local entrepreneurs.
April 2011: Rock Ventures acquires the 13-story Chase Tower located in Detroit’s downtown central business district and immediately begins renovation to reflect Quicken Loans’ culture.
April 2011: Rock Ventures buys Two Detroit Center, a 1,106-space parking garage located in the central business district.
May 2011: Skidmore Studio, a graphic design firm located in a nearby suburb, announces it will become the anchor tenant in the M@dison Building.
June 2011: Quicken Loans hires 200 interns to work in its downtown Detroit office to expose students to the city and help end Detroit’s “brain drain.”
July 2011: Earvin “Magic” Johnson joins Detroit Venture Partners to help fund start-up tech companies.
July 2011: Quicken Loans and four other downtown Detroit companies unveil the “Live Downtown” program, which offers financial incentives to team members who live in the city.
July 2011: Quicken Loans sponsors the debut of Somerset Collection’s CityLoft, a pop-up shop open the last weekend of each month in downtown Detroit with mini-versions of upscale stores, to bring retail back to downtown Detroit.
August 2011: Rock Ventures purchases Detroit’s First National Building to house more team members as well as other businesses.
August 2011: Rock Ventures acquires its fourth building, the 101-year-old Dime Building located in downtown Detroit, along with the Financial District Garage, an adjacent 938-space parking structure.
August 2011: Rock Ventures purchases the M@dison Parking Lot on Broadway, adjacent to the M@dison Building.
September 2011: Quicken Loans hosts a job fair to fill 500 positions in Detroit within the Family of Companies; 2,500 people line up around the building to apply.
October 2011: An additional 2,000 Quicken Loans team members move into the newly renovated Chase Tower.
December 2011: Rock Ventures completes the acquisition of three additional properties in Downtown Detroit – the historic Wright-Kay brownstone, the Lane Bryant Building and the Arts League of Michigan Building.
January 2012: Rock Ventures adds two more buildings to its real estate portfolio – the historic Federal Reserve Building and 1550 Woodward Avenue, a one-story building to be utilized for retail or commercial use.
February 2012: To encourage Detroit’s “brain gain,” the Quicken Loans Family of Companies announces it will hire 600 paid interns – 500 to work in Detroit to discover all the great things the city has to offer.
April 2012: The Quicken Loans Family of Companies begins a recruiting campaign to hire more than 1,400 team members, and launches Valley to Detroit, a campaign aimed to bring laid-off Yahoo technology professionals to Detroit from Silicon Valley.
April 2012: Rock Ventures and Chrysler hold a press conference to announce that Chrysler will lease the top two floors of Rock Ventures’ Dime Building and rename the building Chrysler House.
June 2012: Quicken Loans partners with other Detroit businesses to create “IT in the D,” a program to give local university students real-world experience to prepare them for tech jobs in Detroit.
July 2012: Title Source, the largest independent provider of title insurance, property valuations and settlement services in the nation, begins move of 1,500 team members to downtown Detroit’s First National Building.
October 2012: Rock Connections, a strategic marketing company that provides experienced communications specialists, robust analytics, and targeted selling strategies, moves 140 team members into the Chase Tower Building in downtown Detroit’s growing tech hub.
October 2012: Rock Ventures and Quicken Loans launch Opportunity Detroit with a national commercial narrated by Kid Rock on the Fox television network during the fourth game of the World Series.
November 2012: Rock Ventures breaks ground on 33,000-square-foot specialty retail development with 10-story parking garage in downtown Detroit.
December 2012: Rock Ventures purchases One Woodward, a 26-story, 359,300 square-foot building located in Detroit’s Central Business District.
December 2012: Metro-West Appraisal, the nation’s largest independent residential real estate appraisal company, announces it will move its national headquarters to downtown Detroit’s Chrysler House in March 2013.
December 2012: Rock Ventures adds five buildings to its real estate portfolio: 1201 Woodward (Kresge Building), 1217 Woodward, 1412 Woodward, 1301 Broadway (Cary Building Lofts) and 1521 Broadway (Small Plates Building) for a total of 115,600 square feet of space.
January 2013: Rock Gaming, Rock Ventures’ Detroit-based gaming partnership announced one of its affiliated companies, Athens Acquisition LLC, has entered into an agreement to acquire a majority interest in Greektown Superholdings Inc., owner of the Greektown Casino-Hotel located in downtown Detroit
February 2013: The Roasting Plant, a unique and innovative coffee shop, opens in the Rock Ventures-owned First National Building. The Detroit location is Roasting Plant’s first shop outside of New York City.
March 2013: Rock Ventures acquires the 23-story 1001 Woodward office tower, located in the heart of Detroit’s emerging tech district. The building was built in 1965 for the First Federal Savings and Loan of Detroit and features 167,400 square feet of Class-A office space.
March 2013: Rock Ventures, The Downtown Detroit Partnership (DDP), and the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. (DEGC) announce an extraordinary placemaking plan for Detroit’s urban core. As part of the plan, Rock Ventures launches Opportunity Detroit’s international design competition for a new signature project that will sit on the historic Hudson’s Department Store site.
March 2013: Rock Ventures acquires the historic 12-story Albert Kahn-designed Vinton Building. Built in 1917, the 54,600 square foot building was added to the Michigan Register of Historic Places in 1982 and the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
March 2013: Rock Ventures signs master lease agreements with the Schostak Brothers and Farbman Group to manage more than 60,000 square feet of first floor retail along the Woodward Corridor in downtown Detroit. The properties include 12 storefronts along the 1200 and 1400 blocks of Woodward Avenue.
March 2013: Rock Ventures announce popular grocer Papa Joe’s Gourmet Market and Catering will occupy 15,000 square feet of the First National Building, steps from Campus Martius Park in downtown Detroit.
April 2013: Rock Gaming affiliate company acquires a majority interest in downtown Detroit’s Greektown Casino-Hotel with vision to better connect the Historic Greektown neighborhood to Woodward corridor.
May 2013: Rock Ventures announce ROSSETTI, an international architectural planning and design firm will move its headquarters to the historic Federal Reserve Building, located in the heart of Detroit’s rapidly expanding business district at Fort and Shelby Streets.
June 2013: Rock Ventures acquired the 1238 Randolph Building in the Historic Greektown neighborhood. The former Serman’s building, offers a unique retail opportunity with store frontage that wraps around the corner.
June 2013: The 620 and 630 Woodward Buildings were acquired by Rock Ventures. The buildings offer retail opportunities along the Woodward corridor.
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