The poor Penobscot, a 47-story building constructed in the 1920s, had been hanging out half-occupied and in foreclosure but now the Canadians are coming! Triple Properties, a Toronto-based real estate firm, bought the building for a price in the $5-million range. The Freep is making it sound like Triple’s owner Andreas Apostolopoulos is all about getting more people downtown for cheap. He plans to start rental rates at about $10 per square foot — below the general market asking rate of $14 to $20 per foot.
“By doing that it would hopefully draw some people who either want to switch, move, or come downtown,” a representative said Friday. “The idea is to lure people in with very attractive rental rates and then (Triple) will spend some money to dial up the suites.” The building is actually three interconnected buildings sharing the same name and designed by architect Wirt Rowland of the firm Smith, Hinchman & Grylls. Until the Renaissance Center was built in the 1970s, it was Detroit’s tallest building. According to Historic Detroit, it was named after a tribe of American Indians and the name means “the place where the rocks open out.” · Toronto real estate firm buys historic Penobscot Building for estimated $5-million [Freep]
· Penobscot Building [Historic Detroit]
Loading comments...