1215 Griswold to turn into 25 residential units, 5,500 square feet of retail
By: Kirk Pinho
A $10.3 million plan to turn a vacant Capitol Park building into 5,500 square feet of first-floor retail space and 25 residential units on the top five floors has received approval for $1 million in state financing.
The project to redevelop the Dan Gilbert-owned building at 1215 Griswold St. north of State Street is expected to create 16 jobs, according to a memo to the Michigan Strategic Fund board, which approved the Michigan Community Revitalization Program performance-based loan that was announced Wednesday.
Gilbert’s Bedrock Real Estate Services LLC will provide all of the upfront financing for the project with the expectation of reimbursement from $1.65 million in federal historic tax credits; the $1 million state loan and $2.85 million will be financed with traditional debt, according to the memo. The remaining $4.8 million would be funded through owner equity.
Robin Schwartz, public relations director for Bedrock, said construction is expected to be complete in the early fall.
The CRP provides grants, loans or other economic assistance of up to $10 million to projects that will revitalize regional urban areas, act as catalysts for additional investment in a community, reuse brownfield and/or historic properties, and promote mixed use and sustainable development.
Lansing-based The Christman Co. is the general contractor on the project. Detroit-based architecture firm Kraemer Design Group PLC is the project architect.
The loan, approved on Wednesday, is the first MSF incentive received by Bedrock.
However, brownfield tax credits have been used in other Gilbert projects, such as the redevelopment of buildings at 1520, 1528, 611 and 660 Woodward Ave. and the former Federal Reserve Building downtown, according to the memo.
Gilbert purchased the building in October 2013 for $325,000 from Mousa Ahmad of Dearborn, according to CoStar Group Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based real estate information service.
Gilbert, the founder and chairman of Quicken Loans Inc. and Rock Ventures LLC, owns more than 75 properties — buildings and parking decks — in and around downtown and has invested more than $1.8 billion in the city, according to the most recent Quicken Loans tally.
His portfolio includes more than 12.5 million square feet of space.