Calexico (Milford, Hudson: home, to live, restaurant)

[brodie734]

Originally Posted by jaynarie

And most of the new shops opening along Woodward are too high end for Detroit. At least for now. No one except DG's top mortgage bankers can afford to shop there, lol. I'm not saying open up cheap Old Navy level stores, but there is a medium in there somewhere.

Basically- Mr. Gilbert, this isn't NYC. Maybe you forgot?

It's vertical integration and it's very intentional.

[brodie734]

Since I am way past the edit window, I'll expand on what I said above:

Dan Gilbert pays his mortgage bankers (and underwriters, it must be said) a lot of money. He also works them very hard, upwards of 80 hours per week for those positions. He also, of course, has highly paid IT people, marketing professionals and lawyers.

Dan Gilbert owns a huge amount of land in downtown Detroit which he wants to covert into income generating property. He doesn't want to be a slumlord, though. That isn't seemly. He needs someone to come in and rent out his $2000 per month luxury apartments, someone to detoxify the area in the minds of the locals and enhance it's luxe reputation so that he can build and sell more $2000 per month apartments. So he offers incentives to his employees to live downtown, which makes good sense because when you make $80k a year as a 24 year old, you can easily afford those rents and cutting out the commute makes your 16 hour work day easier.

So then Dan Gilbert, now having filled his buildings upper floors with yuppies of his own creation, can attract luxury retail to his bottom floors, further enhancing the reputation of the area. This in turn attracts more and more upper middle to straight up upper class people to downtown, to Gilbert owned properties and drives rents up further.

It's just business. Nobody is in real estate development out of the goodness of their heart. A New York style yuppie Disneyland may not sound appealing to us, but it's what developers want.

[Coldjensens]

It works. I would love to live downtown, but likely not in a Gilbert building. Probably Broderick or David Whitney (or Stott if that gets apartments). I would not take an apartment though. I would wait until they can convert to condos. But I am also happy where I am, so probably not moving anytime soon Not sure my wife would like the city anyway.

[brodie734]

Oh, it absolutely works. I was just reading your other post about moving back to MI from California and I think it was a great companion to this little chain because you are the target for this wave of downtown gentrification. Not you now... if Dan G wanted to capture high earners with kids he would buy up all the vacant land in South Lyon... but the you who graduated from law school ready to move away. Right now to a large (but by no means exclusive) extent, this is being driven by people without the means to really run away: people from lower middle class backgrounds who went to the state's second tier colleges and who didn't make connections that could lead to immediate job offers in Chicago or Seattle or San Fran or Boston. Dan Gilbert has taken those kids, molded them into young professionals and is using them as a launching pad to make Detroit more attractive to those UM and MSU kids whose first instinct upon getting their diplomas is to fly the coop. Which is it's own kind of noble.

[belleislerunner]

There is some truth to the above post - but that's what makes it great. I've been surprised at the number of Quicken/Gilbert kids who not only went to the Westerns, Wayne State and Oaklands of the world but also University of Dayton, University of Toledo, Case Western, etc. Those are still young professionals with green $ eager to move to Detroit - have family who will visit and spend money and they create the environment talent pool that attracts the NYC "want to make a difference" kids. Someone from Dayton isn't going to look down on Detroit the same one someone from Bethesda or Naperville might and they too play a vital role in the comeback.

I lived in DCA (Detroit City Apartments) next to Book Tower for a year and that's still my favorite building to rent an apartment. From the outside it's a concrete fortress - but inside every unit has a balcony overlooking the city, 24 amenities, attached parking garage, walking distance to everywhere, saunas, gym, pool etc. Pretty baller living for only 1K/month.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by brodie734

Oh, it absolutely works. I was just reading your other post about moving back to MI from California and I think it was a great companion to this little chain because you are the target for this wave of downtown gentrification. Not you now... if Dan G wanted to capture high earners with kids he would buy up all the vacant land in South Lyon... but the you who graduated from law school ready to move away. Right now to a large (but by no means exclusive) extent, this is being driven by people without the means to really run away: people from lower middle class backgrounds who went to the state's second tier colleges and who didn't make connections that could lead to immediate job offers in Chicago or Seattle or San Fran or Boston. Dan Gilbert has taken those kids, molded them into young professionals and is using them as a launching pad to make Detroit more attractive to those UM and MSU kids whose first instinct upon getting their diplomas is to fly the coop. Which is it's own kind of noble.

It is a nice idea, but at the time, it was weather and mosquitoes that made me want to leave. (That and UCLA cheerleaders). I am not sure even Dan Giblert can change any of those things (ok maybe he can import some UCLA cheerleaders). To me, Detroit is already a more exciting place with more opportunity than LA or anyplace in Orange County (where I was looking). However I am not sure a 20 something would see it the same. LA has some interesting places but most are very plastic. Orange County has very little, except weather and beaches and mostly sterile housing.

[jaynarie]

Originally Posted by brodie734

Since I am way past the edit window, I'll expand on what I said above:

Dan Gilbert pays his mortgage bankers (and underwriters, it must be said) a lot of money. He also works them very hard, upwards of 80 hours per week for those positions. He also, of course, has highly paid IT people, marketing professionals and lawyers.

Dan Gilbert owns a huge amount of land in downtown Detroit which he wants to covert into income generating property. He doesn't want to be a slumlord, though. That isn't seemly. He needs someone to come in and rent out his $2000 per month luxury apartments, someone to detoxify the area in the minds of the locals and enhance it's luxe reputation so that he can build and sell more $2000 per month apartments. So he offers incentives to his employees to live downtown, which makes good sense because when you make $80k a year as a 24 year old, you can easily afford those rents and cutting out the commute makes your 16 hour work day easier.

So then Dan Gilbert, now having filled his buildings upper floors with yuppies of his own creation, can attract luxury retail to his bottom floors, further enhancing the reputation of the area. This in turn attracts more and more upper middle to straight up upper class people to downtown, to Gilbert owned properties and drives rents up further.

It's just business. Nobody is in real estate development out of the goodness of their heart. A New York style yuppie Disneyland may not sound appealing to us, but it's what developers want.

I understand the concept. And I know all about the norm at QL, as I know at least a dozen people that work there. But, I still think more diversification among retailers would be the better option. (I will concede that I am no where near being a billionaire, and with student loans, my net worth is in the negatives, lol.)

I just hate the whole trying to make Detroit a mini-NYC clone. Attract businesses to make it unique, not another NYC. This is the mid-west. I prefer the more casual way of life. And the lower COL.

[highlanderfil]

Was driving around Downtown looking for a place to eat and passed by Calexico. Decided to stop in based on nothing else but this thread. As I'm polishing off what's left of my gringo nacho taco, I'm perfectly content with the way dinner turned out tonight. I'm a California kid, mind, so I'm kinda picky about my Mexican food. It ain't cheap, but it hit the spot.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by highlanderfil

Was driving around Downtown looking for a place to eat and passed by Calexico. Decided to stop in based on nothing else but this thread. As I'm polishing off what's left of my gringo nacho taco, I'm perfectly content with the way dinner turned out tonight. I'm a California kid, mind, so I'm kinda picky about my Mexican food. It ain't cheap, but it hit the spot.

Good to hear. I had almost decided not to bother trying it since I only heard bad reviews. 20 years of California have embedded a love of Mexican food in me and outside of some places in Mexican Village, I do not find much here.

[highlanderfil]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Good to hear. I had almost decided not to bother trying it since I only heard bad reviews. 20 years of California have embedded a love of Mexican food in me and outside of some places in Mexican Village, I do not find much here.

The tacos aren't all that different from my local spot, Draught Horse in New Hudson. I have a fairly fresh basis for comparison, having just gone to DH last night for the first time. I happened to like them both, though, so there's that. It's definitely not "authentic" in the same vein that the pupuseria on Livernois is authentic, but, like I said - it gets the job done. I still like Imperial a little more, but I wouldn't pass up either of the three.