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What We Learned From The Metro Times Profile of Joel Landy

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Have you seen that white-haired, mustachioed man running around the Cass Corridor in rumpled clothes? Yeah so he's not homeless he's just the developer Joel Landy who owns the Addison Apartments (pictured at right) above Atlas Bistro in midtown. Actually he owns a lot of buildings, but that's the one where he can eat dessert for free, according to the Metro Times's lovefest profile of Landy. Here's what else we learned about The Man of the Cass Corridor.

Our favorite fun facts on Landy:

· When it comes to the Detroit documentary Detropia Landy is, "not impressed at all." He says "The producer-directors lived in my building for the year they were here. Their film [turned out to be] a very depressing look at Detroit."

· Not all real estate moguls are friends! Landy calls Matty Moroun, owner of the decaying Michigan Central Station, "one greedy businessman."

· Landy's home is a "magnificent" 1882 mansion. Well it sounds like the old details are the good parts. As for the current condition, it is "partly restored, partly gleaming, partly still in ruins."

· You gotta unwind somehow! Landy has an "unbelievable collection of model trains, including one that is big enough to sit on and ride around his compound." Man it really must bother that kind of train fanatic the Michigan Central is such a mess.

So there you have it. It takes an eccentric to buy up the architecture in this city. Landy's just got a bit of a different brand than Dan Gilbert.

· Joel Landy's Detroit: The long-awaited renaissance is under way [Metro Times]