the mission
In 2009, Dan Gilbert, Chairman of Rock Ventures and Quicken Loans, Majority Owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Partner at Detroit Venture Partners, made a commitment to play a role in developing a creative, tech-focused urban core where people want to live, work and play: Detroit 2.0. Gilbert knew his hometown was full of potential to become a thriving city once again. In 2009, Gilbert announced he was moving his family of companies to the heart of Detroit’s central business district; a tech hub coined “WEBward Avenue.”
Check out the companies that have joined Rock Ventures in downtown Detroit since August 2010.
the progress
January 2007: Dan Gilbert founds Bizdom, a non-profit entrepreneurship accelerator for budding web and tech-based startups in Detroit.
January 2009: Gilbert and other business leaders invest in M-1 RAIL, a 6.8-mile light-rail system that will link key neighborhoods to Detroit’s riverfront, the business district, and educational, cultural, entertainment and medical institutions along Woodward Avenue.
July 2009: Quicken Loans announces it will relocate its headquarters and 1,700 team members to the Compuware Building in downtown Detroit in 2010.
August 2010: Quicken Loans and five of its sister companies move 1,700 team members into the Compuware building in downtown Detroit.
November 2010: Gilbert, together with entrepreneurs Josh Linkner and Brian Hermelin, launch Detroit Venture Partners, a Detroit-based venture capital firm that invests in seed and early-stage technology companies to be located in the city.
January 2011: Rock Ventures, the umbrella entity formed to provide operational coordination, guidance and integration of Gilbert’s portfolio of companies, investments and real estate purchases Detroit’s historical Madison Theatre Building and begins transforming it into a collaborative, colorful space designed to encourage partnership among local entrepreneurs.
April 2011: Rock Ventures acquires the 13-story Chase Tower located in Detroit’s downtown central business district and immediately begins renovation to reflect Quicken Loans’ culture.
April 2011: Rock Ventures buys Two Detroit Center, a 1,095-space parking garage located in the central business district.
May 2011: Skidmore Studio, a graphic design firm located in a nearby suburb, announces it will become the anchor tenant in the Madison Building when it opens in Fall 2011.
June 2011: Quicken Loans hires 200 interns to work in the Detroit office to expose students to the city and help end Detroit’s “brain drain.”
July 2011: Earvin “Magic” Johnson joins Detroit Venture Partners to help fund start-up tech companies.
July 2011: Quicken Loans and four other downtown Detroit companies unveil the “Live Downtown” program, which offers financial incentives to team members who live in the city.
July 2011 – September 2011: Quicken Loans sponsors Somerset Collection’s CityLoft, a pop-up shop open the last weekend of each month in downtown Detroit with mini-versions of upscale stores, to bring retail back to downtown Detroit.
August 2011: Rock Ventures purchases Detroit’s First National Building to house more team members as well as other businesses.
August 2011: Rock Ventures acquires its fourth building, the 101-year-old Dime Building located in downtown Detroit, and the Financial District Garage, a 983-space parking structure adjacent to the Dime Building.
August 2011: Rock Ventures purchases the Madison Parking Lot on Broadway, adjacent to the Madison Theatre Building.
September 2011: Quicken Loans hosts a job fair to fill 500 positions in Detroit within the Family of Companies.
October 2011: An additional 2,000 Quicken Loans team members move into the newly renovated Chase Tower.
December 2011: Rock Ventures completes the acquisition of three additional properties in Downtown Detroit – the historic Wright-Kay brownstone, as well as the Lane Bryant and the Arts League of Michigan Buildings.
January 2012: Rock Ventures adds two more buildings to its real estate portfolio – the Historic Federal Reserve Building, and 1550 Woodward Avenue, a one-story building to be utilized for retail or commercial use.
February 2012: To encourage Detroit’s “brain gain,” the Quicken Loans Family of Companies announces it will hire 600 paid interns – 500 to work in Detroit to discover all the great things the City has to offer.
April 2012: The Quicken Loans Family of Companies begins a recruiting campaign to hire more than 1,400 team members, and launches Valley to Detroit, a campaign aimed to bring tech professionals to Detroit from Silicon Valley.
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