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Quicken may lead others downtown.

Article Excerpt
Byline: Tom Henderson, Daniel Duggan

Dan Gilbert said he has verbal commitments from three companies to move from the suburbs to downtown Detroit since the formal announcement was made last week that Quicken Loans Inc. would move its headquarters and 4,000 employees from Livonia.

"It was a chicken-or-egg thing. Now that we've gone public with it, and the land is under contract, it's become real. People are ready to commit, now,'' said Gilbert, who declined to name the firms. "Detroit's comeback doesn't have to be a 30- or 40-year deal if you have some synergy and get people together and on track.''

Gilbert said all three of the firms are independent of companies he controls.

Gilbert's recruiting of office tenants adds to the blow the suburbs took last week when Gilbert announced his plans. The Quicken family of companies controls 685,000 square feet of office space in the area, the company said in August.

While suburban landlords doubt Gilbert will put a dent...

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