With 1.7 million square feet and roughly 3,500 parking spaces, Dan Gilbert is number two when it comes to owning Detroit (General Motors is #1). Today, Crain's suggests that two childhood friends who went into real estate helped Dan build his empire.
Dan Gilbert was born in Detroit in 1962 and is now the Chairman and Founder of Quicken Loans, which has afforded him majority ownership of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers. A year ago, Quicken moved its headquarters to downtown Detroit, which was where Magic Johnson announced he was joining Gilbert's Detroit Venture Partners.
Buildings Big Dan now owns in the area include: Chase Tower, Madison Theatre Building, Two Detroit Center parking garage, First National Building, and the Dime Building.
· Magic Johnson Joins Dan Gilbert, Josh Linkner in DVP [MLive]
· The real deal: Longtime friends key to Gilbert's strategy [Crain's]