Crain's Detroit Business, June 27, 2016 issue

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JUNE 27-JULY 3, 2016

Brexit may stall business investment

Southeast Michigan navigates smart roads, but financing

Experts uncertain of long-term impact

remains uncertain

By Dustin Walsh dwalsh@crain.com

MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Sensors like these, intended to communicate with autonomous vehicles, are starting to pop up on roads in Southeast Michigan.

Coming to sensors By Lindsay VanHulle

edge of all things mobility, given competition from other states. LANSING — The smart roads of But the technology also adds a the not-too-distant future are benew layer of complexity to the oning built in Southeast Michigan. going question about how the state Along a 125-mile triangle from velopment of automated cars, funds its infrastructure: How to pay St. Clair Shores to Brighton and these so-called vehicle-to-infra- for the systems we’ll need in the fuAnn Arbor and back, more than structure projects will be crucial ture, not just the ones we have to100 sensors capable of detecting a not only to understanding how the day. The answer isn’t yet clear. vehicle’s speed and location are in- technology works to improve vehiThe market for connected vehistalled along the side of the road — cle safety, but also, many hope, to cle technology is emerging amid many of them in Oakland County. attracting the economic benefits the broader context that Michigan State and federal transportation that come with being an R&D hub. for years has under-invested in its managers want to see how these The Michigan Department of infrastructure, one of the reasons sensors interact with the connect- Transportation applied for a share the state ranked last among the 50 ed and driverless vehicle proto- of a $60 million federal grant last states in a 2009 study by the Ameritypes automakers are developing, week to buy more of these devic- can Society of Civil Engineers. The especially when it comes to alert- es, in conjunction with the Univer- state is hardly alone; the ASCE estiing cars to oncoming hazards — sity of Michigan in Ann Arbor, mated in a recent report that slightred traffic lights, icy roads, work where the federal government ly more than half of the nation’s inlaunched a connected vehicle pilot frastructure needs are funded. zones or lane closures. Many of the sensors set up As Michigan aspires to lead the program several years ago. The goal nation in mobility research and de- is to keep Michigan on the cutting around metro Detroit were bought with federal dollars. Michigan’s transportation department says it has spent close to $3 million © Entire contents copyright 2016 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved through multiple funding sources, crainsdetroit.com Vol. 32 No 26 $2 a copy. $59 a year. mostly federal money with matching state contributions. But federal grants have limits. So do state and local transportation budgets. In response, state transportation administrators and Oakland County government leaders, including the county

NEWSPAPER

Crain’s Detroit Business/Bridge Magazine

Inside: More about where the 115 sensors exist in the area, Page 18

SEE SENSORS, PAGE 18

United Kingdom voters’ choice to leave the European Union sent markets into a tizzy last week. But the lasting global effects of the “Brexit,” particularly in Southeast Michigan, are foggier than a spring morning on the English Channel. What is certain is that the British exit from the EU introduces uncertainty that will affect businesses’ investment decisions and planning in coming months. Locally, the stock market impact hit hard. Troy-based Delphi Automotive plc, which is incorporated in the U.K., watched its shares plummet more than 12 percent — losing $2.2 billion in market value. Bloomfield Penske Automotive Hills-based Group Inc.’s shares fell more than 10 percent.

“The big picture here is that (Brexit) creates a very large amount of uncertainty about what happens next,” said Kyle Handley, assistant professor of business economics and public policy at the University of Michigan. “We don’t know how this is going to play out, but it’s likely this is going to cast a damper on investment and decisions for Michigan businesses with operations in the U.K. and the EU.” U.K.’s exit strategy from the EU — which operates as a 28-country (soon to be 27) bargaining chip for trade agreements, immigration policy, etc. — will take years to play out, Handley said. The U.K. will begin to renegotiate trade deals with the EU. It currently operates with complete free trade, zero tariffs, among the EU member nations. The U.S., which has no free trade agreement with the EU, operates under the World Trade Organization standards with the member SEE BREXIT, PAGE 16

Shinola case begs question: What is ‘American made’? By Dustin Walsh dwalsh@crain.com

What does it mean to be made in America? It’s a sweeping assertion of national pride, implying the notion of high-quality products manufactured by U.S. citizens. But it’s also not easy to define. Last week, the federal government settled with Bedrock Manufacturing Co. LLC, and its Shinola brand, over the advertising slogan of “Where American Is Made” and the label on its watches “Built in Detroit.”

Both seem innocuous statements about the watchmaker’s use of local employees, yet the government called into question Shinola’s use of foreign parts. Experts say the use of the voluntary slogan, and iterations, present a minefield for businesses looking to market their products to a consumer base keen on buying American goods. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said Shinola’s claims overstated the extent to which its products are made or built in the U.S., according SEE SHINOLA, PAGE 17

Shinola agreed to

stop using the slogan “Where American Is Made” to appease

Federal Trade Commission

regulators. FILE PHOTO


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MICHIGAN

BRIEFS Firms sued over Flint water let online responses flow

The engineering services firm that handled refits to the Flint Water Treatment Plant is making a case for itself online, after Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette said last week it was one of two companies that contributed to the city’s lead-tainted water crisis. Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam Inc., a Houston-based engineering

services and program-management company with a Flint office, on Friday unveiled LANwaterlitigation. com, a website devoted to “clarify its role in the events in Flint and appropriately inform the media and general public.” The website features an overview of Lockwood’s position on the work it performed, a condensed timeline of events in its contractual relationship with Flint since 2011, and a set of answers it furnished to questions from the state’s Flint Water Advisory Task Force, which released its own findings on the crisis in March. Schuette was not the first to sue Lockwood or Veolia North America Inc. of Chicago for professional negli-

gence or public nuisance. The companies together face well above 50 of the 250 individual and class-action lawsuits brought since last November in various state and federal courts. But both companies seemed particularly irked by Schuette’s entry into that fray, and cited the Advisory Task Force and its finding that the state was accountable, in online statements responding to the new suit. “Veolia was given rigid parameters around what we were and were not allowed to do and we followed those directions. We made a series of recommendations and they were ignored,” a Veolia statement reads. “In fact, when Veolia raised potential lead and copper issues, city officials and representatives told us to exclude it from our scope of work because the city and the EPA were just beginning to conduct lead and copper testing.”

Kellogg brings Silicon Valley approach to Battle Creek Battle Creek-based Kellogg Co., struggling with slumping U.S. cereal sales, will invest about $100 million in a venture fund, a bid to use a Sili-

con Valley approach to find the food industry’s next growth engine, Bloomberg reported. The fund — named Eighteen94 Capital, a nod to the year the cereal maker was founded — will look to take minority stakes in startups developing new packaging, ingredients, products and technology. Kellogg joins packaged-food rivals General Mills Inc. and Campbell Soup Co. in turning to venture funds to cope with a changing industry. Big food companies have suffered from U.S. consumers shifting to more natural and fresh products, a move away from many grocery-store stalwarts. With startups taking market share, Campbell announced a $125 million venture fund in February. The General Mills fund, 301 Inc., has invested in companies that are working on vegan products.

MICH-CELLANEOUS n Representatives of the eight states adjoining the Great Lakes, including Michigan, voted to allow the city of Waukesha, Wis., to tap Lake Michigan for its drinking water — a key test of a compact designed to prevent raids on the region’s water supply. The agreement will require the suburban Milwaukee city to return any water it receives from Lake Michigan to the Great Lakes. Waukesha submitted a $207 million plan to draw water from the lake, describing it as a necessity because the groundwater wells on which it has long relied are contaminated with radium.

The city is only 17 miles from the lake but is just outside the Great Lakes watershed. The 2008 compact prohibits most diversions across the watershed boundary but creates a potential exception for communities in counties that straddle the line. n Michigan consumers are expected to get as much as $10.1 million as part of a settlement with Apple Inc. stemming from a 2012 electronic books price-fixing lawsuit, AP reported. Attorney General Bill Schuette announced the update on the case, saying account credits or checks are coming soon. The U.S. Supreme Court in March rejected an appeal from Apple and left in place a ruling that the company conspired with publishers to raise e-book prices. The case pertains to e-books sold from April 1, 2010, to May 21, 2012. In a court settlement, Apple agreed to pay about $400 million. n German forklift maker Kion Group AG agreed to buy robot maker Dematic for about $2.1 billion to expand in the U.S. and tap demand from Amazon.com Inc. and other online retailers as they look to automate warehouses, Bloomberg reported. Dematic, which has its North American corporate headquarters based in Grand Rapids and is owned by buyout firm AEA Investors and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, had sales of about $1.8 billion last year. n Leaders of the state’s two largest teachers unions, the Michigan Education Association and the Amer-

],WUV TKIJV _ Which audit, tax, and consulting firm is the right size for your organization? Too small and you may not benefit from industry experts and the bench strength to meet your needs. Too large and you could feel that your needs don’t come first.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

CLASSIFIED ADS...............................15 KEITH CRAIN....................................... 6 OPINION .............................................. 6 OTHER VOICES ................................... 6 PEOPLE ...............................................14 RUMBLINGS .......................................19 WEEK ON THE WEB ..........................19

COMPANY INDEX: SEE PAGE 18 ican Federation of Teachers Michigan, confirmed they have been in talks on a possible merger for more than a year, though they haven’t settled on a decision. If they joined forces, the combined union would have close to 175,000 members, including teachers and support staff members at K-12 and charter schools, intermediate school districts and community colleges. n A new Delta College satellite campus for downtown Saginaw could be announced as soon as October, MLive.com reported. Delta trustees were informed this month that the college was selected to receive capital outlay funding, which means the state can pay half the cost of a project at a Michigan college or university. In 2014, Delta trustees chose the downtown area from four potential “zones” for a Saginaw satellite location. Delta’s main campus is in Bay County. A site could be presented for approval as early as Oct. 16, officials said.

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Pierce talks of bank transition and life

Properties of value Fringes of Woodbridge: A compilation of vacant land and houses and commercial buildings in varying condition.

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North of Brush Park: This rectangle contains a sparse number of historic houses, commercial and residential buildings, and vacant land.

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Milwaukee Junction: Industrial and commercial buildings sit among sparse residential neighborhoods and vacant land.

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North End: Blocks of historic houses in varying states of repair, farms and vacant land.

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Fix-up job: Eric Novack is redeveloping the Treymore, a 28-unit apartment building on the edge of Midtown.

Boston Edison: Roughly 900 homes mostly constructed between 1905 and 1925 that range in size from two-story, brick family homes to mansions. Early residents there include Henry Ford and Joe Louis.

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Home ice: Properties near the under-construction Little Caesars Arena are of increasing interest.

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New Center: Commercial and residential historic district in uptown Detroit. It includes the majestic Fisher Building and the former world headquarters of General Motors.

Open Arms: It took Scott Lowell more than eight years

and nearly $10 million to rebuild the Forest Arms apartment building in Midtown.

LaSalle Gardens: Historic single family homes in varying states of repair.

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Midtown’s next act Developers: Opportunities for redevelopment can be had in New Center and beyond By Marti Benedetti mbenedetti@crain.com

Don't assume opportunities to buy land or redevelop property in Detroit’s bustling Midtown are all scooped up. According to city real estate developers, parts of the New Center neighborhood and various fringe areas of Midtown are still ripe for the taking. “The next gold rush is New Center,” said Ron Henry, senior vice president, chief facilities and construction officer for the Detroit Medical Center. The property value differentials between

the neighborhoods are mind-boggling. “While it costs $250,000 to tear down something south of Mack (Avenue), it costs $30,000 to tear down property east of Woodward (Avenue) and (north of Grand Boulevard) in New Center,” Henry said. Once the QLine is operating in 2017, property on both sides of Woodward heading north toward Highland Park will increase in value, he said. Henry also said he sees opportunity south of Mack between the DMC and Brush Park. The area has scattered commercial buildings

and historic brick houses as well as vacant land available for sale. Total investment made in Midtown since 2012 is $698 million. Investment that is now under construction is $365 million, which makes the total planned investment about $1.2 billion, said Sue Mosey, executive director of Midtown Detroit Inc. Developers expect residential conversions, lot sales and new construction in and around Midtown to continue at a rapid pace. SEE MIDTOWN, PAGE 15

Sandy Pierce has a new job — and it comes with many hats. Columbus, Ohio-based Huntington Bancshares Inc. (Nasdaq: HBAN) announced last week that the longtime local banker and community activist will join the bank once its proposed $3.4 billion acquisition of Akron, Ohiobased FirstMerit Corp. (Nasdaq: FMER) closes, sometime in the third quarter. Pierce, currently a vice chairman of FirstMerit and chairman and Sandy Pierce: CEO of South- Awaits new duties f i e l d - b a s e d for Huntington. FirstMerit Michigan, will have wide-ranging respon-

sibilities at Huntington — she will be a senior executive vice president, a regional banking director, head of the national private client group overseeing wealth management and chairman of Michigan operations, among other things. Pierce, 58, who earlier this month was named to Crain’s list of 100 Most Influential Women in Michigan, talked to reporter Tom Henderson about her long career in banking, which began in 1978 when she took a job as a part-time teller at National Bank of Detroit, and how she reacted to the news FirstMerit was being bought.

Q: When you started as a teller, was it with the idea of a career in banking, or was it just a job to help pay your way SEE PIERCE, PAGE 14

BCBS to sell services to smaller Blues plans By Jay Greene jgreene@crain.com

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan

has created a new division as part of its restructuring plan to sell management and consulting services to up to 20 smaller Blues plans in other states. With millions of baby boomers retiring every year, health insurers like Blue Cross and Health Alliance Plan have been targeting growth in Medicare Advantage — a federal program that contracts with private insurers to offer managed care services to seniors — as a profitable business. Last month, the board of the Michigan Blue Cross approved a

Blues to make retiree medical benefits switch, Page 5

plan to create an emerging markets division that would coordinate new and enhanced business lines like Medicare Advantage. Besides helping fellow Blues plans, the idea is to boost revenue and profits to help Michigan Blue Cross subsidize other operations. As part of that new plan, Blue Cross now is managing claims and offering various support services to two smaller Midwest Blue Cross plans for their Medicare Advantage products, said Elizabeth Haar, Blue Cross' new president of the emerg-

ing markets division. Haar declined to name the two smaller Blues plans under contract for Medicare services. The total membership Michigan’s Blues are managing this year in the two states is 23,000, said Haar, the former CEO of the Accident Fund group who also is now senior vice president for subsidiary operations. The emerging markets division now includes the Accident Fund, Medicare Advantage, Medigap (Medicare supplemental insurance) and two unnamed departments that will handle functions such as claims processing and quality improvement services for Medicare SEE BLUES, PAGE 16

MUST READ OF THE WEEK

Board help Crain’s launches board-matching database to help link companies with women in leadership, Page 7


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Company’s new wireless tech will watch house when you can’t By Tom Henderson thenderson@crain.com

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Two former presidents of OnStar Corp. have formed another company that uses wireless technology to communicate with customers. The company is Northville-based HouseSetter LLC, and it offers what it is billing as a check-in service for people with second homes. Using sensors and a camera embedded in a 7-inch replica of a dog that is placed in the second house, owners can remotely get reports on humidity and temperature, make sure the electricity is on and get images of the interior. Retirees wintering in Florida, for example, would be notified in the event of a power outage at their home in Michigan, and be able to take steps to prevent the freezing of pipes and a major financial hit. The “dog� is called Sherlock. In honor of the fictional detective’s nationality, Sherlock the dog responds in a British voice when contacted: “I’m on duty!� Chet Huber, who helped launch OnStar in 1995 and is now a senior lecturer at the Harvard Business School, said he

got the idea for the company after he retired as Chet Huber: Got president of On- the idea for Star in 2009 and HouseSetter after spent his first he retired winter in Bonita Springs, Fla. It was the first time he’d owned two homes at the same time, and he thought there should be a way to use sensors to inexpensively monitor them remotely. In 2011, Walt Dorfstatter, who replaced Huber as president at OnStar, visited him in Florida. “I’m an engineer at heart,� said Huber. “I thought, this should easier to do than what we’d done with vehicles.� He said he and Dorfstatter kicked the idea around for a year, founded the company in 2012, then spent two years getting the technology refined. They’ve had customers in beta testing for six months. Huber is chairman and Dorfstatter CEO. HouseSetter is a partner with the wireless provider Verizon through its innovation program. Sherlock plugs into a wall outlet, but in the event of a power outage, its backup battery will power the sensors and camera and wirelessly transmit data for about 48 hours. Sherlock costs $200. There are two pricing models. For $19 a quarter or $60 a year, owners get continuous monitoring of temperature, humidity and power, weekly email status reports and photos at $1 each. For $29 a quarter or $89 a year, daily photos are included, as are

HouseSetter LLC offers a

check-in service for people with second homes that includes sensors and a camera embedded in a 7-inch replica of a dog called Sherlock.

HOUSESETTER

daily graphs charting various data. Huber and Dorfstatter say there is a range of overlapping competitors. ADT offers home security, Comcast offers some monitoring through Xfinity, and Nest can connect to specific devices, but they say most require internet connectivity, a phone connection and often-complicated installation.

Dorfstatter said they have funded the company themselves and anticipate being able to fund growth out of cash flow. The company employs seven. Sherlock is manufactured by Malibu Technologies in Chesterfield Township. Tom Henderson: (313) 446-0337 Twitter: @TomHenderson2


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Blue Cross sets new plan for retirees’ med benefits By Jay Greene jgreene@crain.com

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan

has approved a plan to convert its retiree medical benefit plan to a defined contribution program that will enable it to more accurately budget health care costs and give more flexible options to its retirees, Crain’s has learned. The changes affect participants who retired after Jan. 1, 1993 — about 3,200 retirees — and 4,138 expected future retirees except for union employees who will continue current benefits until their agreements expire. Under the Blue Cross plan, retirees will receive a pre-funded health reimbursement account they will use to purchase individual health insurance through the Towers Watson OneExchange private network. For those retirees under 65, Blue Cross will annually contribute up to $20,000 for a family. Those 65 or older will receive up to $5,000 a year. Funding will be based on length of service, age and job classification and will incorporate expected medical inflation. “Many companies have already moved to defined contribution from defined benefit plans,” Andy Hetzel, Blue Cross vice president of corporate communications, said in an interview with Crain’s. “This makes our health care costs more predictable and manageable. Health care (benefits) for retirees are a long-term proposition and are unpredictable because of growth in health care costs.” The changes to retiree medical benefits are part of a larger “strategic business transformation” effort intended to reduce administrative costs by $300 million over three years and increase revenue. Last year, Blue Cross reported it lost $68 million in net income on its overall operations in 2015 — its first loss in at least five years. In recent years, Blue Cross’ health care cost increases for under-65 retirees has ranged from 7 percent to 8 percent, with over-65 retirees experiencing a 10 percent annual increase, primarily because of prescription drug cost increases, Hetzel said. “We have taken steps over years to minimize costs over the years,” Hetzel said. “This is another step to make (our budget) much more predictable.” Some 516 retirees are not affected because they retired before 1993 and will remain in Blue Cross’ group health insurance plan. But 3,200 retirees will move to the defined contribution model on Jan. 1. Starting Oct. 1, they will select an individual health plan through the Towers Watson exchange. Jay Greene: (313) 446-0325 Twitter: @jaybgreene

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Fee schedule would help behavioral health system

OPINION

Smart roads need smart investment S

martphones, smart appliances and smart cars are increasingly part of daily life, and finding new ways for all those devices with smart sensors to talk to each other is an industry that is growing exponentially. Michigan is angling for its slice of the “smart roads” market. As Lindsay VanHulle details on Page 1, roads equipped with smart sensors can do practical things for drivers like provide advance notice of potholes and icy patches via connected car technologies. Early adoption of this technology isn’t cheap, but there are some pilot areas in Detroit, Ann Arbor and Oakland County — so the state and the connected car industry can continue to collect data and advance Michigan’s stance as a smart roads leader. The Michigan Department of Transportation is applying for a share of a $60 million federal grant to buy more of the devices, which can run more than $5,000 per sensor. Meanwhile, other states are going after smart mobility grants as well. Last week, Columbus, Ohio, was named the winner of a federal Smart City Challenge and eligible for $50 million in federal and private funding to help it develop smart transportation systems. The federal transportation department said Columbus stood out because it plans to launch three electric and driverless shuttles between a shopping district and a new bus rapid transit facility. It’s an exciting time in these industries — connected cars and mobility — as businesses and government groups continue to learn and evolve. It’s also important that private money, in metro Detroit and beyond, gets behind these smart roads investments. Think about it. As cars packed with various devices vie for airwaves with cars packed with car-to-road sensors or car-to-car communications, shouldn’t the private companies who benefit from all this communication help foot the bill to avoid a data traffic jam? Maybe there’s an app for that.

M

ental health experts have done a thorough analysis of how what is known as behavioral health is administered and coordinated. There is no question: As it stands today, the behavioral health system is inefficient, costly and wasteful. I have previously stated and continue to support my stance that the Medicaid behavioral health benefit should be administered by Medicaid health plans for a number of reasons. Recently, I was quoted in an article in Crain’s that the health plans “won’t do onesy-twosy contracts. … We are not going to contract with one person at a time.” I soon learned this statement created a considerable level of angst for some people who read it, including me. Why? The intention behind my remark was not accurately represented. The context of the quote was quickly clarified in the online version of the publication, but the change was too late for the printed version. The intent of my original statement had nothing to do with any current or potential member of our health care system; I was referring to any provider or those who are contractually providing any level of care for behavioral health services. It is burdensome, costly and ineffi-

OTHER VOICES Jon Cotton

Cotton is president and COO of Detroitbased Meridian Health Plan of Michigan. cient to work out a “financial deal” with any single provider as a “unique” arrangement. As we understand it, the state of Michigan formerly had a Medicaid fee schedule for all behavioral health services. Suggesting an approach where every provider or personal care attendant receives a different negotiated payment is not only unscalable from an operational perspective, I also believe it would lead to a potential reduction in the quality of care. Simply put: A set fee schedule for all administered behavioral health services is the answer. I have discussed this at length with advocates, behavioral health workers and state health officials. I have yet to find anyone who did not immediately

show support and gratitude for this proposed fee structure. They say the “proof is in the pudding,” and that is why I encourage anyone interested in this issue to examine the progress the state of Illinois has made by entrusting its behavioral health benefit coverage to its Medicaid health plans. At Meridian Health Plan, we have seen incredible improvement in the lives of our Illinois-based members when the Medicaid health plans are coordinating not only the physical, but also the behavioral, social and community aspects of care. Some of our members were naturally apprehensive at first but now realize they are better able to live their lives to the fullest under a better system. We hear repeatedly the “lives we serve” no longer feel like the care they need is falling through the cracks or being overlooked. Members know they have an active voice in their comprehensive, person-centered plan of care. It is my hope that in clarifying how we at Meridian believe this crucial health benefit would be best implemented by Medicaid health plans, we can continue to collaborate and make great progress toward the integration of physical and behavioral health care.

Empower patient to drive behavioral health care

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evisions to Michigan’s Mental Health Code in 1996 require that people who have a developmental disability, mental illness, serious emotional disturbance or substance-use disorder are provided with a person-centered approach to the planning, selection and delivery of their public mental health services. This process is designed to ensure that they are empowered with the same life opportunities — resulting from personal choice — as other individuals in their community. The people we assist not only participate in their plan of care, they lead the conversation. They invite whom they choose to the table, share their hopes and dreams, and then collaborate with professional staff to attain the life they envision for themselves. Individuals, family members, friends and allies are encouraged to look beyond medically necessary services and also focus on supports that promote community inclusion,

OTHER VOICES Willie Brooks

Brooks is CEO of the Oakland County Mental Health Authority. equality and independence. Important matters that apply to all areas of life are discussed: daily activities, relationships, employment, education and housing, to name a few. This meaningful conversation results in a plan that is inclusive of the person’s needs, goals and aspirations. It also identifies social determinants that negatively impact health outcomes. People can’t be expected to buy fresh fruits and vegetables when

they live several miles from a grocery store. It’s unrealistic to believe that individuals who are homeless are more concerned with adhering to prescribed physical and mental health treatment than finding shelter during the cold winter months. The public mental health person-centered approach tackles all of these tough issues. In contrast, person-centered planning used by health plans for physical health care is based on medical guidelines established by the Michigan Quality Improvement Consortium. Casts are applied to broken bones; surgeons perform surgeries. While this service protocol works to cure physical illnesses, it does not transition appropriately to public mental health services. We are in the business of equipping people with resources that empower them to lead life as they choose, keeping in mind that life does not come with a “one size fits all” option.

Snyder’s biggest mistake? Look beyond Flint I happen to think we have a pretty darn good governor. Sure, anyone can throw brickbats at him about the Flint water crisis — and many people are. But it sure seems like you can throw blame around as much as you’d like. There is plenty of blame for everyone to share. No, that’s not what I fault our governor for during the past couple of years. It wasn’t that long ago when our Legislature repealed a law that was already on the books making the wearing of helmets mandatory when you’re riding a

KEITH CRAIN Editor in chief

motorcycle. The repeal law passed and was sent to the governor’s desk. Most of us were assuming, and hoping, that he would veto

the bill and the use of helmets would stay in force. Sadly, our governor signed the bill and since then, far too many motorcycle riders have been killed and injured unnecessarily because they weren’t wearing a helmet. We’ve seen motorcycle deaths climb — completely unnecessarily — with the repeal of helmet safety laws, something that was completely unwarranted. We have seen far too many bikers die because the governor did not veto that bill.

As I have said, I think we are lucky to have elected and re-elected our governor. But this one lack of a veto was a big mistake. I hope he will admit his mistake and try to get our Legislature to once again pass a motorcycle helmet law and then sign it for good this time. It is pretty hard to understand why anyone would object to wearing a helmet while they are riding when all the facts are staring them in the face. You can talk all you want about individual rights, but it simply doesn’t make sense. We have all

sorts of safety laws, whether it’s automobile seatbelt laws or speed limits, and society understands — and goes along with — those laws. Now I am sure that I will get a lot of letters and emails disagreeing with me. All I can say is: Look at the numbers. Since our governor vetoed the helmet law, many folks have died unnecessarily. It was a big mistake that has cost too many lives. Let’s hope they can repair this obvious error as soon as possible, before more riders are killed.


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Crain’s launches database to match companies with women leaders By Adrienne Roberts aroberts@crain.com

In an effort to boost women’s representation on for-profit corporate boards, Crain’s Detroit Business last week launched the Michigan Women's Directory, an online database to match companies with women in leadership. The launch coincided with the 100 Most Influential Women in Michigan recognition event at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi. About 700 guests attended the June 21 ceremony. "It’s remarkable to me that (according to Inforum research) the percentage of women on boards in Michigan is not even 12 percent," said Crain’s Publisher Mary Kramer, who led a panel discussion about the initiative for award winners before the formal program. The directory is a tool to assist companies looking for specific skills to complement their board makeups. Women — beginning with those honored by Crain’s — are invited to complete a talent bank profile with information such as skills, career experience, and professional and volunteer roles. Interested candidates can apply to be in the directory. Women approved to submit are asked to pay a $250 fee to cover administrative costs. Companies that hire a candidate based on the directory will pay a fee based on a sliding scale. Directory staff will then compile profiles of candidates based on the relevant experience a company is looking for, but won't reveal names or contacts until the company identifies the candidate its nominating chairperson or other representatives want to interview in person. Kathy Sinclair, founder of Executive Recruiters International, will coordinate the searches. She said one reason women historically have been under-represented is that smaller companies rely on their own board members' and executives' networks. "It's about who you know — and they know a lot of men from golf or their country clubs." Boards often “mirror the lack of women leadership within companies,” added panelist Barbara Mahone, a retired General Motors Co. executive and now the lead independent director for Talmer Bank. Women who weren't CEOs were not always encouraged to seek board opportunities, she added, but that's changing. Panelist Francine Parker, an honoree and executive director of the

on boards,” Parker said. “Diversity at the boardroom table will help improve your investments and make those companies stronger.” Deloitte’s Board-Ready Women program is one such effort. Michigan Managing Partner Mark Davidoff announced the firm would be bringing the invitation-only program to Michigan later this year. Cohorts of 25-30 women would go through a series of sessions on topics useful to corporate governance to prepare women for board roles. Davidoff was joined at the event by Deborah DeHaas, Deloitte's vice chairman and national managing partner for the company's Center for Corporate Governance. She described Deloitte's own internal initiatives to attract and retain women. “We started the journey more than 20 years ago to advance women (at the company),” said DeHaas. At the time, the company was hiring women at the same ratio as men, but women were leaving in significantly larger numbers than their male counterparts. “We found they were leaving Deloitte because they didn’t think they could be successful,” DeHaas said. “That was a pretty big pill to swallow.” Since then, Deloitte has focused on creating a culture where people can be successful and achieve their full potential, she said.

Mary Kramer (center), publisher of Crain’s Detroit Business, and panel during Crain’s 2016 Most Influential Women event June 21 : (From left) Kathy Sinclair, recruiter, Michigan Women’s Directory; Mark Davidoff, Deloitte LLP; Barbara Mahone, Talmer Bank board; and Francine Parker, UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust.

Crain’s 2016 Most Influential Women in Michigan honorees in hospitals/ medical research (top row, left to right): Rebekah Smith, president/CEO, Lake Huron Medical Center; Denise Brooks-Williams, president/CEO, Henry Ford Hospital, Wyandotte; Christina Freese-Decker, president, Spectrum Health Hospital Group; Jean Meyer, president and CEO, St. John Providence Health System; (bottom row) Marianne Udow-Phillips, director, Center for

Healthcare Research and Transformation; Carolyn Wilson, COO, Beaumont Health; Nancy Schlichting, CEO, Henry Ford Health System; Gwen MacKenzie, PHOTOS/AARON ECKELS

senior VP and Michigan market executive, Ascension Health Michigan.

UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust,

said the stock positions the trust holds are used to encourage gender and cultural diversity on governing boards of publicly traded companies. Together with the organization Thirty Percent Coalition, the trust has helped to place 80 women on corporate boards, 68 women on national boards and engaged with 19 companies, eight of whom adopted diversity guidelines for their boards in the past five years. “We believe that we increase shareholder value by placing women on boards and having diversity

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NAMES TO KNOW IN REAL ESTATE Believe it or not, 50 is a small number when trying to determine the top real estate professionals in metro Detroit. What you see in this issue is the result of two months of work, interviews, emailing and calling, archival work and, finally, painstaking culling to

produce the 50 Names to Know list for commercial real estate locally. A lot of incredibly worthy names were scratched from the list for a variety of reasons, including the level of major recent activity. With few exceptions, we selected only one person per company.

But truth be told: We could have produced 100 Names to Know without diluting the list’s quality. Still, the end result is what we feel represents the very top players in Detroit-area commercial real estate, the men and women responsible for untold billions of dollars worth of local real estate deals.

By Kirk Pinho / kpinho@crain.com

Jim Bieri

Principal, Stokas Bieri Real Estate Headquarters: Detroit Years in commercial real estate: 40 Age: 67 Why he should be on your speed dial: Bieri is one of the most active downtown retail brokers in Detroit. One of his most significant local projects has been the Gateway Marketplace project at Eight Mile and Woodward, developed by Southfield-based Redico LLC three years ago, that put the first Meijer Inc. store in the city and brought tens of thousands of square feet of new retail space to Detroit. Did you know? Bieri was a pie judge at the Michigan State Fair. Token you use in Monopoly: Top hat

Paul Choukourian

Kevin Dillon

Managing director, Berkadia Headquarters: Southfield office of Ambler, Pa.-based company Years in commercial real estate: 31 Age: 50

THE BROKERS Larry Emmons Market leader and managing director, Jones Lang LaSalle

Headquarters: Royal Oak office of Chicago-based JLL Years in commercial real estate: 28 Age: 51

Why he should be on your speed dial: As the head of Berkadia’s local office, Dillon is one of the most active multifamily real estate brokers in the region. Most recently, his company fetched $79.5 million for the Riverfront Towers along the Detroit River from a significant New York City real estate investor, but since 2010, he has closed or is under contract to close $1.05 billion in multifamily deals with more than 21,500 units.

Why he should be on your speed dial: Emmons has oversight of the local JLL office in Royal Oak. In the past, he has been on the Newmark Grubb Knight Frank team that sold the Travelers Towers I and II buildings in Southfield for $25.1 million as well as the 104-acre former Unity Studios site in Allen Park for $14 million, both to New York City-based Time Equities Inc.

Token you use in Monopoly: The race car

Token you use in Monopoly: “The race car. Speed kills the competition.”

Barbara Eaton

Andy Farbman

Executive managing director, Colliers International Inc.

Vice president of leasing and business development, Redico LLC

CEO, Farbman Group

Headquarters: Southfield office of New York City-based Colliers

Headquarters: Southfield

Years in commercial real estate: 19

Years in commercial real estate: 22 Age: 43 Why he should be on your speed dial: Choukourian heads the Southfield office of one of the largest brokerage firms in the world. He has expanded it from 20 people when he assumed the helm in March 2011 to 78 today. Transaction volume has increased from $279 million in 2011 to about $700 million last year and is on track for $1 billion this year. Favorite television show: “Chasing Classic Cars.” “If I was not in real estate, I would try to be like Jay Leno and have a great car collection.”

Years in commercial real estate: 25 Age: 59 Why she should be on your speed dial: Eaton is key at Redico, one of the largest local developers, in leasing office space in their owned properties throughout the region, particularly in large local submarkets like the Detroit central business district and Southfield. Token you use in Monopoly: “Always the cannon — taller than all the other pieces. I love the game and have never lost (yet). However, I am open to a challenge if someone thinks they can beat me.”

Headquarters: Southfield Age: 41 Why he should be on your speed dial: Farbman and the eponymous company manage more than 20 million square feet of space — office, retail, multifamily and industrial — in Southeast Michigan, including the 275,000-square-foot former TD Auto Finance building in Farmington Hills, now known as The Standard. The company, founded by Burton Farbman 40 years ago, also has a robust brokerage team. Token you use in Monopoly: The horse and rider

Matthew Farrell

CEO and co-founder, Core Partners LLC

Anne Galbraith Kohn Senior vice president, CBRE Inc.

Headquarters: Bingham Farms

Headquarters: Southfield office of Los Angeles-based CBRE

Years in commercial real estate: 16

Years in commercial real estate: 25

Age: 39 Why he should be on your speed dial: Farrell runs Core Partners, which he co-founded and whose services he has grown through acquisitions to include development and construction, among others. He is also helping create Troy's 137-acre planned city center. Token you use in Monopoly: “As a kid, it would have been the battleship, as I desired to be a jet fighter pilot. As a young businessperson, I would have done the shoe on the basis of ‘burning shoe leather’ to build business. As of today, I would select the race car, in support of the M1 Concourse (in Pontiac) becoming one of the area’s future exciting destination locations.”

David Friedman Executive managing director, CEO, Friedman Integrated Real Estate Solutions LLC Headquarters: Farmington Hills Years in commercial real estate: 30 Age: 55 Why he should be on your speed dial: Friedman is the brain behind one of the most successful brokerage/landlord companies in the region, with more than 140 properties totaling more than 16 million square feet managed, plus more than 10,000 apartment units. Favorite television show: “I don’t watch TV shows. I still own a flip phone!”

Age: 48 Why she should be on your speed dial: Galbraith Kohn is one of CBRE’s local brokers handling large capital market transactions in the region. Notably, she was the broker on the $102 million sale of 704,000 square feet of office space in Ann Arbor for $102 million to Oxford Cos. and sold the City Center building in Troy to a Florida developer that’s planned to be part of a $130 million mixed-use project. Token you use in Monopoly: “The race car. It’s maneuverable and a nod to Detroit as the home of the automobile.”

Steve Gordon President, Signature Associates Inc. Headquarters: Southfield Years in commercial real estate: 38 Age: 60 Why he should be on your speed dial: Gordon is the mastermind of Signature Associates, one of the largest and most active real estate brokerage and property management companies locally. Gordon's current large listings include a 515-acre parcel in Lyon Township for developers and the Centerpoint Business Campus in Pontiac with up to 564,000 square feet of leasable industrial/office space and 110 acres for sale. Token you use in Monopoly: The dog (a boxer, if that were an option).


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BROKERS Dan Labes

DEVELOPERS/LANDLORDS

John Latessa

Senior managing director, Newmark Grubb Knight Frank

Executive managing director, CBRE Inc.

Headquarters: Farmington Hills office of New York City-based company

Headquarters: Southfield office of Los Angeles-based company

Years in commercial real estate: 29

Years in commercial real estate: 25

Age: 52 Why he should be on your speed dial: Labes is one of the most prolific industrial brokers in the region. For example, in just the past year at Ashley Capital's Brownstown Business Center and Livonia Corporate Center, Labes has been involved in the leasing of more than 2.8 million square feet of space. What’s your outlook for the next two years for the industry? “With lack of significant new construction, we’ll continue to see low (industrial) vacancy rates, which will create higher lease rates/sale prices. Also, continued interest from out-of-state investors will keep driving down capitalization rates.” Token you use in Monopoly: “I haven’t played in years.”

Bill Lichwalla President and CEO, Plante Moran Cresa

Headquarters: Southfield

Age: 48 Why he should be on your speed dial: Latessa oversees the local office of one of the largest real estate brokerage firms in the country. He also oversees the local CBRE offices in Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Louisville, St. Louis and Kansas City, all of which total 1,700 people generating about $4.5 billion in revenue. Among his career highlights: Being involved in both General Motors’ acquisition of the Renaissance Center and again years later as CBRE now manages the region’s largest office complex. Token you use in Monopoly: The car

Brian Piergentili

Managing principal, Cushman & Wakefield Headquarters: Southfield office of Chicago-based company Years in commercial real estate: 19

Years in commercial real estate: 19 Age: 43 Why he should be on your speed dial: Lichwalla oversees Plante Moran Cresa, which is providing advisory services on office and retail space leasing for Olympia Development of Michigan's sprawling District Detroit project downtown. He has been involved in more than $2 billion worth of real estate deals, including capital expenditures and transactions. Token you use in Monopoly: “Got to be the race car!”

Age: 44 Why he should be on your speed dial: Piergentili runs the new local office of real estate giant Cushman & Wakefield and has counted powerhouses like Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Chrysler among major clients. Did you know? He coaches football at his alma mater, Livonia Stevenson High School.

President, Landmark Commercial Real Estate Services Inc. Headquarters: Farmington Hills Years in commercial real estate: 30plus Age: 57 Why he should be on your speed dial: Simon heads one of the dominant retail brokerage firms in Michigan, representing around 70 tenants exclusively in the state. Among the company’s recent deals were the new Field & Stream store in Troy and the move of the Dick’s Sporting Goods from the Oakland Square center in Troy across the street into 50,000 square feet at Oakland Mall.

Richard Broder

Ryan Dembs

Chairman, McCormack Baron Salazar Development Inc.

CEO, Broder & Sachse Real Estate Services LLC

President and CEO, Dembs Development

Headquarters: St. Louis

Headquarters: Birmingham

Headquarters: Farmington Hills

Years in commercial real estate: 43

Years in commercial real estate: 33

Years in commercial real estate: 21

Age: 73 Why he should be on your speed dial: Baron, a Detroit native, has worked on a pair of significant downtown and Midtown projects in the past year: the $65 million first phase of the Orleans Landing mixed-use project with 278 apartments along the Detroit River and the $28 million redevelopment of the former Strathmore Hotel into 129 apartments on West Alexandrine. Midtown Detroit Inc. is co-developer on The Strathmore.

Albert Berriz

Age: 55 Why he should be on your speed dial: Broder and his business partner, Todd Sachse, have been knee-deep in downtown Detroit redevelopment with projects such as The Albert, a redevelopment of a building in Capitol Park; The Scott at Brush Park, which will bring 199 apartment units to the market this year; and others. Token you use in Monopoly: “I haven’t played in a long time; too busy playing Monopoly for real.”

CEO, co-owner and co-managing member, McKinley Inc.

Peter Cummings

Headquarters: Ann Arbor

Headquarters: Detroit

Years in commercial real estate: 37 Age: 59 Why he should be on your speed dial: A consummate power player in the Ann Arbor market and elsewhere, Berriz heads up McKinley’s portfolio, valued at $4.6 billion with more than 55 million square feet of commercial and residential real estate under management in 33 states. What’s your outlook for the next two years for the industry? “I see a downturn over the next 48 months, which is why we are waiting patiently on the sidelines. Once this becomes a buyer’s market, we are poised to pounce.” Favorite television show: “So many, but the original ‘Hawaii Five-0.’ ”

Principal, The Platform LLC Years in commercial real estate: 38 Age: 68 Why he should be on your speed dial: Cummings, a longtime heavy-hitter among Detroit developers, has in the past year become more active in greater downtown real estate, including with projects at the Fisher Building and the Albert Kahn Building. His new development company, The Platform, plans more than $250 million in primarily mixed-use developments and redevelopments in Midtown, New Center and around TechTown, with about 1,000 units and 100,000 to 150,000 square feet of retail space.

Token you use in Monopoly: The race car

Favorite television show: “ ‘The People v. O.J. Simpson’ was as good as I have seen in a long time.”

Christopher Brochert

Nathan Forbes

Managing director, Jones Lang LaSalle

Partner, Lormax Stern Development Co. LLC

Managing partner, Forbes Co.

Headquarters: Royal Oak office of Chicago-based company

Headquarters: Bloomfield Hills Years in commercial real estate: 36

Years in commercial real estate: 30-plus

Token you use in Monopoly: The dog

A.J. Weiner

Bruce Simon

Richard Baron

Years in commercial real estate: 20 Age: 43 Why he should be on your speed dial: Weiner is one of the most active downtown office brokers, handling sales of the Old Wayne County Building in 2014 to a New York-based investment group and selling Dan Gilbert's Bedrock Real Estate Services LLC a pair of buildings, including the David Stott skyscraper, previously owned by a group of Chinese investors. Token you use in Monopoly: “The wheelbarrow, no doubt.”

Age: 57 Why he should be on your speed dial: One of the leading shopping center and retail developers in the region, Brochert and his partner, Daniel Stern, have led the retenanting, remodeling and turnaround of Macomb Mall in Roseville and built the second Meijer Inc. store in Detroit in the Brightmoor neighborhood. The company has done work throughout the region and state. Favorite television show: “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” “It makes fun of everyday things (sometimes ridiculous) people say and do without thinking about why they say and do them.”

Headquarters: Southfield

Age: 53 Why he should be on your speed dial: Forbes, one of the people behind the Somerset Collection mall in Troy, has been particularly active in downtown Detroit retail in recent years, launching Somerset Collection CityLoft pop-up stores during the end-of-year holidays, and The Detroit Shoppe. He is also a key behind-the-scenes adviser to Dan Gilbert on downtown retail. He is minority owner of the newly crowned NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers. Token you use in Monopoly: The race car

Age: 43 Why he should be on your speed dial: Dembs Development has been one of the few companies locally doing speculative building around metro Detroit. Among the company's projects are the new $23 million GKN Driveline North America Inc. headquarters in Auburn Hills and a 75,000-square-foot speculative research and development building in Novi. What is the most underappreciated building/project locally, and why? ”In my opinion, the most underappreciated building is Joe Louis Arena. I understand that it is old and a little dingy, and I also understand the new hockey arena is going to be incredible, but I still believe there is no better place in the country to see a rock concert. The best music venue in the country.” Token you use in Monopoly: The race car

David Di Rita

Principal, The Roxbury Group Headquarters: Detroit Years in commercial real estate: 28 (18 as an attorney, 10 as a developer) Age: 52 Why he should be on your speed dial: Di Rita’s company has been one of the most active in downtown redevelopments in the past several years, completing the David Whitney Building redevelopment and turning the former Globe Trading Co. building on the Detroit River into a new Michigan Department of Natural Resources Outdoor Adventure Center. Current projects include The Plaza redevelopment of an old office midrise in Midtown into apartments and constructing five floors of multifamily housing called The Griswold atop a parking garage on Michigan Avenue downtown. What’s your outlook for the next two years for the industry? “If the economy can stay healthy, I think we will see more growth of residential, hospitality and commercial development in the greater downtown, with significant expansion into neighboring districts.” Favorite television show: “Mad Men” Token you use in Monopoly: “The hat, of course.”


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DEVELOPERS/LANDLORDS Susan Harvey

Jim Ketai

Richard Karp

Lisa Payne

Dale Watchowski

Senior vice president, Ashley Capital

CEO, co-founder, Bedrock Real Estate Services LLC

Principal, Karp and Associates

President and CEO, Redico LLC

Headquarters: Canton Township office of New York City-based company

Headquarters: Detroit

President, Soave Real Estate Group; chairman of the board, Soave Enterprises LLC

Years in commercial real estate: 34 Age: 56 Why she should be on your speed dial: Harvey heads the local office of the region’s largest and most active industrial/warehouse landlord and developer. Most recently, the company began construction of a 575,000-square-foot distribution center on part of the Hazel Park raceway site, in addition to the redevelopment of a 1-million-squarefoot former General Motors facility in Livonia and two more new buildings nearing 1 million square feet. Token you use in Monopoly: The top hat

Jeff Hauptman CEO, Oxford Cos.

Headquarters: Ann Arbor Years in commercial real estate: 26 Age: 46 Why he should be on your speed dial: A $102 million deal last year to buy The McMullen Co. and its 704,000-square-foot office portfolio made Oxford Cos. the largest office landlord in the Ann Arbor market. The company’s portfolio is more than 2 million square feet. Token you use in Monopoly: The dog

George Jackson Chairman and CEO, Ventra Group LLC Headquarters: Detroit Years in commercial real estate: 32 Age: 63 Why he should be on your speed dial: Although no longer the head of the Detroit Economic Growth Corp., Jackson remains active in Detroit development, particularly as a multifamily development consultant for the District Detroit project, which includes the new arena for the Detroit Red Wings and new construction and historic rehab of buildings in the 45-50 blocks surrounding it. In his 12 years at the helm of the DEGC, Jackson worked on some of the most significant real estate projects happening in Detroit, including the redevelopment of the riverfront and the restoration of the Book Cadillac hotel. Token you use in Monopoly: “I don’t play Monopoly; I only use tokens for golf markers.”

Years in commercial real estate: 26 Age: 54 Why he should be on your speed dial: Ketai is Dan Gilbert’s right-hand man on real estaterelated matters in and around downtown Detroit, where the founder and chairman of Quicken Loans Inc. and Rock Ventures LLC has purchased more than 90 buildings in the past five years. What has been the most significant local project you’ve worked on in the last three years, and why? “Almost all of our projects have been significant, but if I had to single one out, I would say the Z Garage. In January 2014, we introduced Bedrock’s first ground-up development in downtown Detroit known now as The Z. This 10-story parking garage features colorful murals painted by 27 different international artists on every level as well as a unique architectural design. This was our entry into public art and one that we continue today in the alley that bisects the two parking decks, better known as The Belt, and throughout the city. The way art can transform a parking lot and a dark alley into a destination for anyone coming downtown is something that makes what we do so relevant. Consistent with all of our downtown properties, the first floor is occupied by retail tenants, which provide shopping and dining experiences.” What’s your outlook for the next two years for the industry? “At Bedrock, we feel like we have just gotten started. From the retailers that are setting up shop downtown, like Nike and Shake Shack, to the renewed interest nationwide in Detroit — we are at the beginning of creating a new history for our city. We have so much to look forward to, and I’m honored to be a part of it.” What is the most underappreciated building/project locally, and why? “615 W. Lafayette (the former Detroit Media Partnership building) is a hidden gem, which has had an unbelievable transformation. Construction work is being completed on the lobby of the iconic building. The entrance is being restored to the original spectacular, grandiose lobby. We removed the floor that had been added to use the second floor area over the lobby.” The more than 100-year-old Albert Kahn-designed building previously housed Detroit’s two largest newspapers: The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press. Original historic markers indicating the newspapers’ presence have been restored and reattached to the outside of the building, to preserve its history. Favorite television show: “House of Cards” Favorite board game: Catan

Headquarters: Lansing Years in commercial real estate: 26 Age: 50 Why he should be on your speed dial: Karp has been redeveloping several buildings in downtown Detroit’s Capitol Park neighborhood, including the former United Way building, the Farwell Building and the Capitol Park Building. He also has been purchasing property south along Washington Boulevard, including across from the Westin Book Cadillac Detroit hotel for a new mixed-use development when the planned demolition of the Gateway Center building occurs. Token you use in Monopoly: The boot

Eric Larson

CEO, Larson Realty Group; Downtown Detroit Partnership Headquarters: Bloomfield Hills; Detroit Years in commercial real estate: 30 Age: 54 Why he should be on your speed dial: As head of the Downtown Detroit Partnership, Larson is a key gateway to downtown real estate. In addition, Larson’s company is redeveloping the former Tiger Stadium site in Corktown. He has also worked on the District Detroit project, which includes the new stadium for the Detroit Red Wings, when he worked for Olympia Development of Michigan.

Headquarters: Detroit Years in commercial real estate: 20-plus Age: 57 Why she should be on your speed dial: After spending two decades as CFO of Bloomfield Hills-based mall developer Taubman Centers Inc., Payne next month begins the next chapter of her career for Tony Soave's wide-reaching Soave Enterprises, including overseeing a long in-the-works $126.5 million planned mixed-use project in Corktown — pending state financing approvals — to build more than 400 residential units spread throughout nine buildings and 800,000 square feet. She will also oversee Soave's handful of residential complexes in Michigan.

David Schostak

Gary Weisman

Years in commercial real estate: 35

Years in commercial real estate: 33

Age: 58

Founder and CEO, Princeton Enterprises LLC

Robert Taubman

Token you use in Monopoly: Top hat

Token you use in Monopoly: The wheelbarrow. “It reminds me of what it takes to be successful in business — hard work.”

Headquarters: Southfield

Token you use in Monopoly: The race car

Why he should be on your speed dial: Lester and Princeton Enterprises have become a force in greater downtown multifamily real estate and development, having completed the redevelopment of the former Milner Hotel into The Ashley apartment development, and acquisitions of the Claridge, River Place and The Palms apartment buildings in the city. The company's multifamily portfolio in Detroit consists of more than 1,500 units. He also purchased the Drummond Island Resort and Conference Center and The Hunt Club, totaling about 1,700 acres.

Why he should be on your speed dial: Watchowski heads one of the largest development companies in the area, which developed the Gateway Marketplace with Detroit’s first Meijer Inc. store; is in the process of redeveloping the adjacent former Michigan State Fairgrounds site; and is in the beginning stages of a redevelopment of the failed Bloomfield Park site, now known as the Village at Bloomfield.

Headquarters: Livonia

Matthew Lester

Age: 51

Age: 58

Co-owner, General Development Co. LLC

Token you use in Monopoly: “The race car, always.”

Years in commercial real estate: 23

Years in commercial real estate: 34

CEO, Schostak Bros. & Co. Inc.

Why he should be on your speed dial: Schostak, a son of the late Jerome Schostak, who was considered a pioneer in the enclosed mall concept, heads up the eponymous real estate company with his brother, Robert. It is currently expanding its Lofts of Merchants Row mixed-use development along Woodward Avenue downtown and is developing a $20 million-plus global headquarters for Masco Corp. in Livonia.

Headquarters: Bloomfield Hills

Headquarters: Southfield

Chairman, president and CEO, Taubman Centers Inc. Headquarters: Bloomfield Hills Years in commercial real estate: 40 Age: 62 Why he should be on your speed dial: As head of Taubman Centers, Taubman runs one of the pioneering mall companies in the country. Michigan properties include Great Lakes Crossing Outlets in Auburn Hills and Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi; it sold The Mall at Partridge Creek in Clinton Township and Fairlane Town Center in Dearborn in 2014 as part of a $1.4 billion deal with Greenwich, Conn.-based Starwood Capital Group. He also is a member of Business Leaders for Michigan and the Comerica Inc. board.

Age: 62 Why he should be on your speed dial: Weisman is one of the top local developers, with one of his most significant projects locally being the Oakland Technology Park project in Auburn Hills in a joint venture with Farmington Hills-based Friedman Integrated Real Estate Solutions LLC. The project has more than 1,000 acres, including more than 200 formerly owned by Chrysler Corp., that has attracted $100 million in development from major corporate relocations and consolidations totaling more than 1 million square feet. What’s your outlook for the next two years for the industry? “The continuation of strong auto sales and its trickle-down effect in housing, low unemployment, and consumer spending habits is my hopeful outlook.” What is the most underappreciated building/project locally, and why? “Northland Mall. I see this project as immensely important to bridging the first ring of suburbs to the tremendous rebirth going on in the city of Detroit. Northland Mall’s redevelopment success could finally bring an end to the invisible Eight Mile Road demarcation line separating the city from the suburbs. Favorite television show: “ ‘Bewitched’ from the 1960s with the original Darren (Dick York). I am a student of the older films; Turner Classic Movies is far and away my favorite TV channel.” Token you use in Monopoly: “I do not play Monopoly. I have enough of that reality in my everyday life.”


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FINANCE Dennis Bernard

Dave Blaszkiewicz

Headquarters: Southfield

Headquarters: Detroit

Years in commercial real estate: 30

Years in commercial real estate: 25

President, Bernard Financial Group

President and CEO, Invest Detroit

Age: 56 Why he should be on your speed dial: Bernard’s company is one of the backbones of commercial real estate lending in metro Detroit, having financed more than $15 billion in the area, ranging from flashy downtown skyscrapers to nondescript suburban apartment complexes. What has been the most significant local project you’ve worked on in the last three years, and why? “That’s easy: Financing the rebirth of the city of Detroit, from downtown, Midtown, New Center, Jefferson and Lafayette, Corktown, Eight Mile and everything in between. The most satisfying project of my entire career.� Favorite television show: “ ‘The Wire.’ I like light comedy.� Token you use in Monopoly: The top hat What should newcomers to the metro Detroit commercial real estate market know? “If it’s a site that the locals have passed over for several years, there is a reason for that. We have a lot of smart local developers in Detroit, and thus they know something you should know.�

Age: 48 Why he should be on your speed dial: Blaszkiewicz heads one of the key financing institutions in Detroit redevelopment projects. Among those Blaszkiewicz has worked on are the David Whitney Building and Broderick Tower downtown and The Strathmore and Woodward Willis in Midtown. Invest Detroit is also active in affordable senior housing, partnering in a joint venture with The Roxbury Group on a deal for the Industrial State Bank Building and the Stevens Building. Token you use in Monopoly: “The race car — a great combination of speed and design.�

ATTORNEYS Melinda Clemons

Senior loan officer, Capital Impact Partners Headquarters: Detroit office of Washington, D.C.-based company Years in commercial real estate: 13 Age: 43 Why she should be on your speed dial: Clemons is the point person locally in Detroit for Capital Impact, a community development financial institution that has organized more than $1.9 billion in loans since its inception. CIP has financed projects like the Argonaut Building in New Center; the Garden Theater and Willys Overland projects in Midtown. Token you use in Monopoly: �I was always the banker. I guess I knew from a young age that handling real estate transactions was in my future.�

Executive director, Local Initiatives Support Corp. Detroit

Years in commercial real estate: 25-plus Age: 49 Why she should be on your speed dial: Ziegler runs the local office of LISC,

Denise Lewis

Member, Clark Hill PLC Headquarters: Detroit

Years in commercial real estate: 18 Age: 43 Why he should be on your speed dial: Kopietz is a go-to attorney for complex real estate financing packages in Detroit. Among his other projects, he is working on Fernando Palazuelo’s Packard Plant redevelopment plans on Detroit’s east side that are planned to take over a decade to complete. The 3.5-millionsquare-foot property is at I-94 and East Grand Boulevard. Token you use in Monopoly: The race car

a community development financial institution that has done more than $200 million in real estate financing in Detroit on projects such as the Royal Fresh Market on Grand River Avenue, as well as $5 million in QLine financing. All told, LISC has financed 4,500 housing units and 2 million square feet of commercial space. Token you use in Monopoly: “The race car. It shows my Motor City roots.�

Partner; chairman of urban redevelopment practice group, Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP Headquarters: Detroit Years in commercial real estate: 33 Age: 69 Why she should be on your speed dial:Â Lewis has worked on several of Dan Gilbert's Bedrock Real Estate Services LLC projects, including the First National Building, the former Compuware Corp. headquarters building, Chrysler House (the former Dime Building) and the Qube. All told, she has been counsel for the financings of more than 3.5 million square feet of downtown office space.

Monica Labe

Token you use in Monopoly:Â The bag of money or the wheelbarrow

Headquarters: Detroit and Troy

Lawrence McLaughlin

Partner, member of management group, Dickinson Wright PLLC Years in commercial real estate: 25

Tahirih Ziegler Headquarters: Detroit office of New York City-based LISC

Joseph Kopietz

Age: 51 Why she should be on your speed dial: In addition to her work as lead counsel for the Detroit Land Bank Authority on acquisition and development, Labe has also done real estate work for major automotive suppliers and one of the Big Three. What’s your outlook for the next two years for the industry? “I think a lot is riding on the election results. There has been a great deal of hesitancy on real estate transactions for the past six months (investment, development and otherwise) given the volatile and uncertain political climate (which of course impacts the credit markets).� Token you use in Monopoly: Race car

Partner, chairman of real estate department, Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP Headquarters: Detroit Years in commercial real estate: 36 Age: 64 Why he should be on your speed dial: As chairman of Honigman’s muscular, loaded-withtalent real estate department, McLaughlin and his company are on the front lines of real estate legal work in the area, including his own work on the formation of the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy and the development of the Renaissance Center, plus Dan Gilbert’s Bedrock Real Estate Services LLC. Token you use in Monopoly: “I don’t play Monopoly — I represent the people who play it for real.�

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C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U N E 2 7 , 2 0 1 6

Matt Cullen

Debby Homic Hoge

President and CEO, Rock Ventures LLC; CEO, Jack Entertainment LLC; CEO, M-1 Rail Headquarters: Detroit Years in commercial real estate: 30-plus Age: 60 Why he should be on your speed dial: Cullen’s effect on real estate in Detroit is vast, from his position with M-1 Rail (QLine) and the related development and redevelopment surrounding it, to his work on a recently announced $1 billion plan to bring a Major League Soccer team and stadium to the failed Wayne County Jail site downtown and to his advocacy and work on the Detroit riverfront. Cullen’s fingerprints are on much of the new activity in and around downtown. Favorite television show: “24” Token you use in Monopoly: “I prefer Euchre or the Game of Life.”

CORPORATE/OTHER Donna Inch

Rodrick Miller

Sue Mosey

Global director, real estate and planning, General Motors LLC

Chairman and CEO, Ford Land Development Corp.

President and CEO, Detroit Economic Growth Corp.

Executive director, Midtown Detroit Inc.

Headquarters: Detroit

Headquarters: Dearborn

Headquarters: Detroit

Headquarters: Detroit

Years in commercial real estate: 30-plus

Years in commercial real estate: 6

Years in commercial real estate: 15

Age: 50 Why she should be on your speed dial: Between GM’s ongoing $1 billion investment in its Warren Technical Center to renovate the 326-acre campus and create 2,600 jobs and the 120,000-square-foot renovation of the Renaissance Center headquarters downtown, She has had her hands full in the past few years in city and suburban real estate and construction. Token you use in Monopoly: The race car

Brinda Devine Jordan Director of real estate, Wayne State University Headquarters: Detroit Years in commercial real estate: 26 Age: 53 Why she should be on your speed dial: Wayne State University has been one of the key catalysts for breathing new life into the Midtown area, and

Age: 60 Why she should be on your speed dial: Inch oversees all of Ford Motor Co.’s real estate activities through Ford Land, including the massive planned $1 billion-plus overhaul of its 63-year-old research and engineering hub in Dearborn. The company also has been active in redevelopment in the city, including leasing the former Lord & Taylor space in Fairlane Town Center and buying two downtown Dearborn blocks for redevelopment. Token you use in Monopoly: The dog

Age: 38 Why he should be on your speed dial: Miller, who took over for George Jackson two years ago, oversees the Detroit Economic Growth Corp., which is instrumentally involved in planning and financing of real estate projects such as the Capitol Park redevelopment and others within the city. Favorite television show: “The Wire.” Token you use in Monopoly: “I usually pick the shoe. It reminds me of forward momentum — moving ahead.”

Devine Jordan has been at the heart of it all. Included in her work has been the Integrative Biosciences Center building, a $90 million research facility totaling about 200,000 square feet along Woodward Avenue.

more new business ideas anchoring real estate, more walkable areas between West Grand Boulevard and Warren, more people and more traffic.

What’s your outlook for the next two years for the industry? More residential and retail development,

Favorite television show: “Game of Thrones.”

What is the most underappreciated building/project locally, and why? The many projects being developed in Highland Park, which is strategically located, offers low land costs, and is a connector between downtown and the inner-ring suburbs.

Years in commercial real estate: 20 Age: 61 Why she should be on your speed dial: Mosey's organization, a nonprofit economic development group, has been one of the key catalysts for the Midtown neighborhood's resurgence. She has been involved in many of the area’s major developments, including The Strathmore apartments project, the Woodward Willis mixed-use project, the Forest Arms apartments renovation and scores of others. Token you use in Monopoly: The battleship

Token you use in Monopoly: The car What should newcomers to the metro Detroit commercial real estate market know? “You can’t get an understanding of the city, its opportunities and challenges by simply reading articles and reviewing data points. You have to explore Detroit. Drive Woodward from downtown to Eight Mile, Jefferson to Grosse Pointe, Grand River to Rosedale Park and Michigan Avenue to Dearborn. Do your own due diligence, engage with people that live and work in the city.”


14

C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U N E 2 7 , 2 0 1 6

Gemphire delays IPO PIERCE over uncertainty When I started as a teller, I was in pre-med Wayne State, so, no I didn’t plan on caused by Brexit ata career in banking. I grew up poor, FROM PAGE 3

through Wayne State University?

By Tom Henderson thenderson@crain.com

The initial public offering for Northville-based Gemphire Therapeutics Inc., which had been scheduled for the Nasdaq Stock Exchange last Thursday, is now likely to happen sometime this week, according to the website iposcoop.com. Company officials declined to comment because of a quiet period mandated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, but it is believed the company decided to delay the offering over market uncertainty about Thursday’s vote by British citizens over whether to leave the European Union. Despite late polling that showed the “stay” vote ahead, the “leave” side ended up winning by a 52 percent-48 percent vote, leaving markets in turmoil around the world. A posting on the Nasdaq website last week said Gemphire planned to start trading on the Nasdaq Global Exchange under the symbol GEMP. It was offering 3.75 million shares, which were expected to begin trading in a range of $11-$13 and give the IPO a range of $41.25 million to $48.75 million. Gemphire wants to market a cardiovascular drug called gemcabene to lower levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, the so-called bad cholesterol, and of triglycerides, the main constituent of fat in the body. The drug, which was licensed from Pfizer Inc. in 2011, has been tested alone and in combination with other drugs in 895 subjects in 17 phase one and phase two U.S. Food and Drug Administration trials.

and I knew the only way out of poverty was education. I had no money, I was on grants and scholarships, and when I realized how long it was going to take in pre-med and what it was going to cost, I thought I’d look at what I could graduate from in four years. I started taking business classes my junior year, and I loved them. Q: There weren’t many women in executive positions in banking in those days. When you graduated, were you ambitious enough to be thinking about being in management one day? When I gradu-

ated, I wanted to stay at NBD, and I applied for the management training program. I was denied. The recruiter told me I’d never make it in management because I was too nice. I was devastated. I went home. After a couple of days, my mother told me I needed to pick myself up and get back down there and tell them they needed me. That’s when I was accepted into the marketing division at NBD. I was driven. When I was in marketing, I looked at top management, and it was all white men and all commercial lenders. I couldn’t do anything about my gender, but I could do something about commercial lending, so I went back to Wayne State and got a master’s degree in finance and moved into the commercial lending program.

Q: You were the youngest of 10 kids and the first one to go to college. You’ve told me before about working in your parents’ bar in Detroit even after you got out of college. Let me tell you a story. As I

was moving up the ranks in commercial lending, I never liked telling people about my background, but I

never talked about it either because my peers at the bank all came from more privileged backgrounds. I thought if people knew about my background, I wouldn’t move up as quickly. After I made senior vice president at age 37, I realized that I was able to get to that level because of my background, not despite it. I’m proud of my story. Q: What were your parents’ names, and what was the name of the bar they owned? Nick and Helen, and it was the Chene-Adele bar in Detroit, near

I-94. When the city used eminent domain to build the Poletown plant, they bought a tavern in a Polish neighborhood in Wyandotte. After I graduated from Wayne State, I’d still work there on weekends and nights if they needed help. And every Sunday, my siblings and my husband and I would clean the bar for them, until they died 22 years ago.

Q: When did you first hear that Huntington was going to buy FirstMerit? It

was in January, just before they announced it publicly. They really played it close to the vest, between the CEOs, the lead directors and the outside board members. I was in Akron when Paul Greig, our CEO, called me and the other vice chairman into his office and informed us. The first thing was shock. We just looked at each other, and I teared up a bit that there was going to be such a change. When he said Huntington, I couldn’t believe it, it couldn't have been better. If I had been part of this process, I would have put Huntington at the top of the list. I knew how strong we were and how strong Huntington was. We both understand the Midwest. We both understand manufacturing. The fit was incredibly aligned. It’s going to be good for Michigan.

Q: When did you first hear from Stephen Steinour, Huntington’s chairman and CEO, that there was a job for you?

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Steve and I have known each other for years. He was president of RBS Citizens in the U.S., and I began reporting to him in 2005, after Citizens bought Charter One. He called me as soon as the announcement was made. We didn’t talk about me, we talked about how great it was that these two organizations were coming together. When we met in person shortly after, we agreed it wasn’t going to be about me, but about how many FirstMerit executives I knew who would be a good fit for the new organization. Fifteen senior executives at FirstMerit were offered contracts by Huntington, and 15 accepted. We didn’t start talking about Sandy Pierce until two months ago. Q: You’e on so many boards around town — Henry Ford Health System, Business Leaders for Michigan, the Detroit Regional Chamber and the Detroit Economic Club, just to name a few. I read in the Crain’s profile of you in the recent section on the 100 Most Influential Women that you have been riding your son’s hoverboard. Between the demands of work and of all those boards, where do you find time for a work-life balance that includes hoverboards? Balance? I don’t

use that word. There’s no such thing as balancing it. You integrate every part of your life, whether it’s kids, grandkids, spouse, work and church. When my 31-year-old daughter, Megan, and my 29-year-old daughter, Jessica, were young, I used to overpromise them. I’d try to do too much and have meltdowns in my younger career days. Now, I make sure the circle is finite. I make choices, and I never overpromise anymore. I tell Tommy, “I can’t make your basketball game Thursday night, but I’ll take off half a day Friday and we can do something.” Some weeks, it’s heavy, heavy work. Some weeks, it’s heavier family than work. Tom Henderson: (313) 446-0337 Twitter: @TomHenderson2

NON-PROFITS Karen L. Murphy

Chief Development Officer Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan Karen Murphy joined Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan as Chief Development Officer. She was previously with McLaren Oakland Hospital Foundation. She has 25 years of experience in all areas of fund development including annual giving, planned giving, and capital campaigns.

G-TECH Services, Inc. Medina is currently at the helm of an aggressive diversification strategy for securing new retail clients and direct hire business. She will also manage the growth of the firm’s Illinois and Texas sales teams and will spearhead sales planning and execution strategies to continue G-TECH’s expansion into new markets. Medina formally served as G-TECH’s Director of Business Development and before that, as Sales Manager and Senior Business Development Manager for Volt Workforce Solutions.

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to announce the selection, promotion, appointment, leadership or role responsibility expansion of an employee, colleague or team member across industries and sectors. For more information or questions regarding advertising in this section, please call Lynn Calcaterra at (313) 446-6086 or email: lcalcaterra@crain.com

PEOPLE: SPOTLIGHT

Morris named president of Beaumont Royal Oak Rosanna Morris has been named president of 1,070-bed Beaumont Hospital in

Royal Oak. She replaces Shane Cerone, who

Rosanna Morris

left earlier to become a consultant with Van

Conway and Partners LLC.

Morris, who is expected to start at Beaumont in late summer, was recruited from Nebraska Medicine, a twohospital system in Omaha with a 600-physician faculty practice plan, where she has served in a series of executive positions since 2008, most recently as the system’s interim CEO. Nebraska Medicine is part of University HealthSystem Consortium, of which eight-hospital Beaumont Health is a member.

Dall becomes MotorCity’s permanent president MotorCity Casino Hotel in Detroit has named its interim president, Bruce Dall, to the permanent post. Dall had been named interim president in February. Bruce Dall As CFO of MotorCity, and previously senior vice president of finance and administration, Dall has more than 28 years in the casino industry. He was assistant general manager and CFO of Detroit’s Greektown Casino-Hotel for seven years.

Arborlight names McCorquodale as CEO Ann Arbor-based Arborlight LLC, a University of Michigan

spinoff that produces LED lighting systems for daylight emulation, has named Michael McCorquodale as CEO. McCorquodale returns to Michigan from Silicon Valley. A UM spinoff he founded in 2003, Mobius Microsystems Inc., a maker of tiny clocking devices for the silicon-chip industry, moved from Detroit to Sunnyvale, Calif., in 2007. Mobius was later acquired by Integrated Device Technology. He was then co-founder and COO of e-SENS, which made instruments to test for chemicals in water, and CEO of Cortera Neurotechnologies, a medical-device startup.


MIDTOWN FROM PAGE 3

Next frontier Detroit real estate developer Scott Lowell said if he were starting real estate acquisition now, he would be looking north and northeast of New Center; in Milwaukee Junction, which is the area around the I-75/I-94 inter- Scott Lowell: change with “Still a great town Grand Boule- to make a living.� vard in the center; on the outskirts of Woodbridge “going block by block�; and on the east fringe of Indian Village. “In Midtown, a lot of the buildings are done. It is hard to find something for sale,� Lowell said. Among Lowell’s developments are the 70-unit apartment Forest Arms, at 4625 Second Ave.; 69 W. Willis St., which is called the Billinghurst; 3962 Second Ave., called the Century; and he is working on a yet-to-be disclosed apartment-condo project in the neighborhood. A Midtown staple is the Traffic Jam & Snug restau-

rant, which he owns with his wife, Carolyn Howard. “There is not a shortage of (real estate) opportunities here. There is still a great town to make a living,� Lowell said. Mosey said Midtown is not done being developed. “There are still historic buildings that need to be rehabbed,� she said. But she also sees New Center, which Midtown Detroit includes in its focused economic development zone, as the next frontier. “New Center has a lot of property changing hands,� she said. “People are buying to do development. “East Grand (Boulevard), both north and south of Woodward, are areas of opportunity. In nearby Virginia Park, lots of rehab has been done,� Mosey said. “It’s logical that five years out, development will go up to Boston Edison.� Since 2012, 900 new housing units have been delivered, according to Mosey. Units under construction or in the pipeline total 2,201, plus 800 new dormitory beds planned at Wayne State University and the College for Creative Studies. Eric Novack, a partner with his wife, Lindsey, in Blackbird Asset Management Corp. and senior project developer for Detroit-based Boydell Development Co., is involved in

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rehabbing the Treymore, a three-story, historic 28-unit apartment building in Midtown, and, through a variety of companies, in other Midtown and New Center projects. The Treymore is costing its owners $6.2 million in construction, architecture and other costs. Novack said the future of Midtown is new construction on empty parcels. He said property and land downtown is going for $120-150-plus a square foot, so anything near the new Little Caesars Arena “is selling high as well, regardless of the condition. It is totally location-driven now. “With the Midtown market saturated, I see investments can be made north on Woodward past Boston Edison, almost to Highland Park,� he said. Novack is a partner in an old industrial building on Custer Street, east of Woodward and south of Grand Boulevard, in the Milwaukee Junction area. “There are still some great deals like (the Custer building) for $10 to $20 a square foot,� he said. “Diamonds in the rough, for sure. You will find that the more experienced and aggressive developers are now looking in the fringe areas. “Milwaukee Junction has a lot of activity. There’s lots of commercial buildings there that people from out

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of state are looking at. People are buying Victorian houses. Individual owners are refurbishing houses all the way to Clairmount Avenue. Small investors are eating up those houses like crazy.�

What’s ahead? Expect to see more buildings converted to small-batch manufacturing, rather than additional residential and commercial, Mosey said. More fitness options such as health clubs and gyms will be locating in Midtown, she said. “Lots of vacant land that the city is sitting on will be developed into mixed-use commercial and maybe some parking decks,� Mosey said. “Wayne State University announced a Shakespeare theater on Cass and an 800-bed dormitory. The Fine Arts Theater is slated for a dinner theater.� Expect to see more national and regional boutiques and the continuation of startup retailers. More hotels are on the way — both boutique and midlevel types, she added. Novack said the area surrounding the Masonic Temple may have opportunities. “There’s plenty of undeveloped stuff there,� he said. But Chris Monsour with Southfield-based Signature Associates said properties in the vicinity of the Ma-

sonic are commanding $70 to $95 a square foot. The dilapidated, 19,866-square-foot former apartment building on 8,000 square feet of land that his company is selling on Second Street near Masonic has a $1.5 million price tag, or $76 a square foot. “The condition of the property seems to be irrelevant,� Monsour said. Henry pointed out that Midtown is unusual in that most of the buildings are low-rise — one to three stories. He predicted that will change as land prices continue to escalate and demand for property exceeds supply. “The Midtown projects in the next five to 10 years will have increasing density,� he said. “New construction will start being midrise — 10 to 20 stories.� Said Chris Mihailovich, a property manager for Boydell Development: “The way we look at it, there’s everything bought by (Dan) Gilbert, and we go the next layer and the next layer. I don’t know the next layer. I know you need to put on your boots and see what is developing and ask questions. “We’re not exploring much now. We’re developing the property we have had for years — taking care of what we have.�

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C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U N E 2 7 , 2 0 1 6 CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

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C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U N E 2 7 , 2 0 1 6

BREXIT FROM PAGE 1

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countries, paying an average of 5.3 percent tariff on U.S. products imported to those nations. “This is what the U.K. faces,” Handley said. “I’m sure the U.K. would like to replicate its current deal, but the EU has more bargaining power. Michigan companies operating in the U.K. may now feel that’s not where they want to be because it’ll be more expensive to export products and services.” General Motors Co., which operates its Vauxhall unit in Luton, England, said in a statement that expedited negotiations are critical to minimize impact to the automaker. “It is important for GM’s local operations that negotiations on the U.K.’s future relationship with the EU are concluded in a timely manner,” the brand said in a statement to Automotive News Europe. “It is also important that business continues to benefit from the free movement of goods and people during this period. Communication on the development of the future relationship with the EU should also be clear and transparent.” Delphi generates about 5 percent, or $758 million, of its global revenue from the U.K., it said in an emailed statement to Crain’s. “Given the volatility created by the Brexit vote, we will continue to monitor the potential impacts on our business, including the impact from foreign exchange movements,” it said in the statement. Southfield-based IHS Automotive Inc. cut its 2017 U.K. auto sales forecast Friday down 220,000 units to 260,000 units from its projection in early June of down just 105,000 units after a long period of growth.

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products. Like Blue Cross, HAP also is looking at opportunities for growth in the Medicare Advantage market. Mark Hall, HAP’s vice president of business development and sales, said HAP has received approval from Medicare to expand its Medicare Advantage offerings from nine counties into 22 adjacent counties. It still must receive federal approval for its proposed pricing for Medicare Advantage products. HAP’s region will extend south from Monroe County, west to Jackson County and north through Saginaw County to Iosco County. It encompasses the Thumb-area counties that include Huron, Sanilac and Lapeer. The expanded region also covers the markets held by newly acquired Allegiance Health in Jackson and HealthPlus of Michigan in Flint. Hall said HAP’s Medicare Advantage membership now stands at about 65,000. He said he expects 5 percent to 10 percent growth over the next two years. He expects some growth in HAP’s Medigap product line as Blue Cross is ending its subsidy program for low-income seniors this

Penske Automotive’s stock price dropped to its lowest levels since February in the wake of Britain’s vote. “It’s been a crazy night and morning,” said Tony Pordon, Penske executive vice president of investor relations and corporate development, to Automotive News. “Everybody is just speculating. The simple fact is, this is unprecedented, so we don’t know how it’s going to affect us.” In 2015, Penske dealerships in the U.K. contributed just more than $6 billion in revenue, or nearly onethird of the company’s total. Roughly 30 percent to 35 percent of profits in Penske’s auto retail business come from U.K. dealerships, Pordon said. Penske has 94 dealerships there, largely representing British and European luxury brands. Charles Chesbrough, executive director of strategy, research and senior economist at Southfield-based

Original Equipment Suppliers Association, said every decision about U.K.

investment from U.S. firms will be under review as negotiations ensue. “Uncertainty is an investment killer,” Chesbrough said. “Until the dust settles and new trade arrangements are signed, I can’t image auto companies will consider significant investments in the U.K. So ... plans under consideration will likely be left on hold. Current investments will not likely change over the near term, but depending on what final agreements are, certainly there is the possibility that manufacturing will move out of the U.K. if duties are implemented.” Jeff Van Winkle, partner at Detroit-based law firm Clark Hill PLC, said a current client is pulling a $5 million investment in a project north of London and moving it to Ireland. “I’m waiting for the call right now for them to pull the trigger,” Van

year per its agreement with the state. Over the past five years, since the Affordable Care Act of 2010 cut rates by 15 percent and required plans to improve quality to receive bonus payments, many of the smaller Blues plans in the nation have been unable tap into this lucrative market or score high margins because they have lacked necessary skills and infrastructure support, Michigan Blues executives told Crain’s. Michigan Blue Cross, the nation’s largest single-state Medicare Advantage provider, has been steadily adding Medicare Advantage members, growing to 468,964 in May from 170,567 in December 2010. Under CEO Dan Loepp, Blue Cross has been diversifying its business lines to help subsidize its commercial individual and Medicare supplemental insurance lines, which have lost hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years. Overall, Blue Cross operates at a very small profit margin for its core health insurance product lines. For example, in 2011 Michigan Blue Cross paid $215 million for a minority interest in AmeriHealth Caritas, a profitable 15-state Medicaid HMO, which it now co-owns with Independence Health of Philadelphia. Blue Cross Complete is now a for-profit member of AmeriHealth

Winkle said. “Unless a business has a compelling reason, they’re not going to invest in the U.K. If they plan to grow, they are going to do it somewhere else.” However, Charles Ballard, professor of economics at Michigan State University, said the Brexit won’t be the cause of a major recession — predicting the global economy to slip only two-tenths of a percent — unless others join the U.K. in leaving the union. “By itself, I don’t believe that’s enough to trigger a global recession,” Ballard said. “But combined with China not growing as fast, and worries about the U.S. economy after last month’s jobs report, this is a worry. What if other countries pull out of the EU? Brexit is only a medium-sized snowball, but if it starts to roll downhill and gets bigger and bigger, the damage to the world economy could be much bigger than the immediate damage caused by Brexit.” Scotland, which voted down its own independence from the U.K. in 2014, may do the opposite and vote to leave the U.K. and join the EU, Nicola Sturgeon, first prime minister of Scotland, told the BBC Friday. Sean McAlinden, vice president for strategic studies and chief economist for Ann Arbor-based Center for Automotive Research, believes the markets are overreacting and business will readjust as usual. “The U.K. and the auto industry have survived much tougher challenges than a happier English public,” he said. (The) effect on Michigan is restricted to panicky financial markets for a while and cheaper oil and gasoline. Auto sales were going to be off this month anyway. The Dow Jones will be down 3 percent to 4 percent for a week maybe.” Dustin Walsh: (313) 446-6042 Twitter:@dustinpwalsh

Caritas. Blue Cross also has acquired or founded several companies the past 10 years, including Brighton-based LifeSecure Insurance Co. and ikaSystems Corp., a Southborough, Mass.based information technology vendor, to primarily help it manage its Medicare plans and as a revenue generator. In 2014, Blue Cross obtained a 40 percent interest in Data Driven Delivery Systems Inc., which helps physicians manage risk contracts. To become more competitive, Blue Cross last fall began a restructuring project intended to cut administrative costs by $300 million over three years and boost revenue in growth areas like Medicare. Blue Cross reported it lost $68 million in net income on its overall operations in 2015. Julie Smith, senior vice president for senior health services, said many smaller Blues plans haven’t had the staff or time to fully adjust to changes under the Affordable Care Act to be rewarded for quality. “Our intent is to support their core services,” Smith said. Haar said about 20 Blues plans either have less than 50,000 members in Medicare Advantage or don’t offer a product at all. Jay Greene: (313) 446-0325 Twitter: @jaybgreene


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C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U N E 2 7 , 2 0 1 6

SHINOLA FROM PAGE 1

to a letter it sent to Bedrock late last week. Ultimately Bedrock, which does business as Shinola/Detroit LLC and C.C. Filson Co., acquiesced to the feds by agreeing to end the ad campaign this past January and altered its labeling to avoid deceiving customers. But interpreting the rules has been an exercise in frustration, said Bridget Russo, Shinola’s chief marketing officer, and highlights the need for an updated edict by the FTC. “We thought we understood the rules and were doing the right thing,” Russo said. “On the one side, we’re happy this happened because we never set out to deceive anyone. We came here to create jobs. But at the same time, the rules depend on context and are up for interpretation, and we could all use some clarity.” Its employees assemble watches in Detroit from parts imported from Switzerland and Thailand — which is what drew the attention of the FTC. Paul Laurenza, partner at Detroit-based law firm Dykema Gossett PLLC in Washington, D.C., said the FTC rules are relatively straightforward, despite the prevalence of the “Made in America” and other similar claims by manufacturers. “The percentage of enforcement is probably just a small percentage of the violations,” Laurenza said. “I think, in part, it’s fueled by a misunderstanding of just how strict the standards are. ...” Under FTC rules, a product must be “all or virtually all” produced in

“Quite frankly, there’s so many parts coming from overseas nowadays, most companies don’t have the option, so look for acceptable language. After all, you don’t have to use it at all. It’s a voluntary claim.” Paul Laurenza, Dykema Gossett PLLC the U.S. to use the claim “Made in America” or similar claims on its packaging or advertising. For example, a wrench manufactured in the U.S. from Korean steel can’t be deemed Made in America because the bulk of the actual product, the steel, comes from overseas. But a computer with an imported steel casing can use the claim if “most” of its parts were made in the U.S. The FTC overhauled the rules governing “Made in America” labeling and advertising in 1997 following a two-year legal battle with Boston-based New Balance Athletic Show Inc. New Balance had been labeling its shoes as “Made in the USA” even though many of its shoes were made abroad. The shoemaker contended that 70 percent of its shoes were made in the U.S., so it qualified to make the claim. The battle ended with a consent decree, where New Balance agreed not to use the labeling on shoes that were wholly made elsewhere, according to a 2010 report by NBC News. Since the case, New Balance continues to label its shoes as American made if they contain 70 percent locally made content — which has appeased the FTC in this case. “The cases are very fact-specific, and it’s not just about percentages,” Laurenza said. “It’s about how im-

Crain’s Detroit Business would like to extend our most sincere gratitude to all of our Honorees, Attendees and Sponsors for helping to make our Most Influential Women event a tremendous success. A special thank you to our title sponsor, Deloitte.

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portant the component is to the product. The foreign component, if it’s a part that’s considered critical to the product, that’s not eligible for the claim.” For Shinola, 100 percent of the watch components are assembled from foreign parts, according to the FTC. Using the slogan “Built in Detroit” is a violation under its rules, the FTC said. “We were behind the word ‘built’ and ‘build’ because we thought it meant ‘assembled’ and best represented what we were doing,” Russo said. “We didn’t put ‘American Made,’ and we’ve always been very transparent on our website.” There are workarounds, Laurenza said, and Shinola is now employing them. Shinola’s watches now read “Built in Detroit with Swiss and Imported Parts.” Laurenza said he advises most clients to use a qualifying claim, like Shinola now uses. “It’s so difficult to meet the ‘Made in America’ claim, it’s not worth the hassle since it’s so easy to use qualifying language,” Laurenza said. “Quite frankly, there’s so many parts coming from overseas nowadays, most companies don’t have the option, so look for acceptable language. After all, you don’t have to use it at all. It’s a voluntary claim.”

But Shinola founder Tom Kartsotis, in a statement, said the FTC rules are uneven and unfair. “What is left unsaid here is that the regulations governing the ‘Made in the USA’ standards create somewhat subjective policies and standards that hinder the ability of any given company to communicate effectively to the consumer the overall effort and scope of what they are manufacturing in America in order to separate themselves from the majority of companies that completely import their products, “ he said in a statement. “We found it confusing that a car, for example, isn’t held to the same standard as a watch. The inconsistency of the policies and laws, as well as the subjective nature of some of the process, renders it difficult to navigate as a U.S. company and compete against other companies, U.S. or foreign, who benefit from the overall lower costs in off-shore production.” Cars are governed under a different set of labeling rules overseen by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Passenger vehicles manufactured after Oct. 1, 1994, must display a label informing the customer of where it was assembled, the percentage of parts made in the U.S. and Canada, and where the engine and transmission were manufactured. Textile and wool products are also governed under a different set of rules, which must display the fiber

content, the country of origin and the identity of the manufacturer. All assembled imported products must display country of origin, i.e. Made in China, and are governed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Russo said the FTC should realign its guidance to create uniformity, much like the Food & Drug Administration did with food labeling. “If it’s confusing to us, it’s confusing for the consumer,” Russo said. “Let’s create a level playing field, one that’s consistent.” For the consumer, however, the rules applying to “Made in America” is likely moot, said Jake Grover, partner at Royal Oak-based Howard & Howard Attorneys PLLC. “There’s the issue of whether (the claim) creates confusion in the marketplace, but the other issue is whether the consumer really cares,” Grover said. “I own a Shinola watch. I’m aware of Shinola’s claim. I knew the parts came from elsewhere and was vaguely aware they did the assembly in Detroit, and that was enough for me.” Said Russo: “Maybe it does matter to a small percentage; maybe there are people that want a product where every part is sourced in the U.S. no matter how difficult that is. But it doesn’t negate the fact that we’ve created jobs in Detroit, and anyone that has bought our watch, they have the added benefit of knowing that’s what we’ve done.” Dustin Walsh: (313) 446-6042 Twitter: @dustinpwalsh


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C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U N E 2 7 , 2 0 1 6

SENSORS FROM PAGE 1 www.crainsdetroit.com Editor-in-Chief Keith E. Crain Group Publisher Mary Kramer, (313) 446-0399 or mkramer@crain.com Editor Jennette Smith, (313) 446-1622 or jhsmith@crain.com Director, Digital Strategy, Audience Development Nancy Hanus, (313) 446-1621 or nhanus@crain.com Managing Editor Michael Lee, (313) 446-1630 or malee@crain.com Managing Editor/Custom and Special Projects Daniel Duggan, (313) 446-0414 or dduggan@crain.com Assistant Managing Editor Kristin Bull, (313) 446-1608 or kbull@crain.com News Editor Beth Reeber Valone, (313) 446-5875 or bvalone@crain.com Senior Editor Gary Piatek, (313) 446-0357 or gpiatek@crain.com Research and Data Editor Sonya Hill, (313) 446-0402 or shill@crain.com Newsroom (313) 446-0329, FAX (313) 446-1687, TIP LINE (313) 446-6766

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road agency, have been working to develop a business model that could support more “smart” infrastructure projects — including tapping the private sector for money. “We’re pretty confident that there are business models out there to help offset or drastically reduce the amount of public transportation resources needed to put ... these systems into place,” said Matt Smith, MDOT’s intelligent transportation systems program administrator. “We don’t have any public-private partnership agreements in place right now, but it is being jointly — very aggressively — pursued.” At a cost of roughly $5,000 to $6,000 per sensor, the state is targeting specific locations rather than deploying them for deployment’s sake, Smith said. If administrators can get the same data and anticipated safety benefits without having to pay the cost of installation, he added, “we’re completely on board.”

Setting up sensors In a June 2014 report, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials envisioned

that by 2040, when the market for connected vehicles has matured, 80 percent of the nation’s traffic signals will be equipped with sensors; 25,000 more would be set up at other roadside locations. Besides the wireless devices themselves, other infrastructure systems necessary to support connected vehicles likely will include cybersecurity protections; mapping and geopositioning services that can identify a vehicle’s location; and a data center equipped with servers to collect data transmitted from vehicles and to send signals, the group’s report suggests. Potential applications are numerous. Not only could this technology support the mobility industry, the authors wrote, but it also could contribute to driver safety improvements, help public agencies monitor road conditions, enable international border crossings and collect fees. Even so: “For the purposes of this analysis, it is assumed that there will

Smart infrastructure by the numbers The state has established a 125-mile test bed for connected vehicle technology in Southeast Michigan. It is bounded roughly by I-94 between Ann Arbor and St. Clair Shores, I-96 and I-696 between St. Clair Shores and Brighton and U.S. 23 between Brighton and Ann Arbor. In that area are a number of sensors and other wireless equipment on roadsides to broadcast signals to and from connected vehicles equipped with receivers. About 115 of these sensors exist in the test area, including:

n 17 within the Detroit city limits. n 25 within the Ann Arbor city limits. n 17 along I-96 from Milford Road to M-5, and at M-5 and 12 Mile Road. n The rest along I-696 between I-275 and Telegraph Road, and along Telegraph Road in Oakland County.

Source: Michigan Department of Transportation

be no congressionally designated funding to support the deployment of connected vehicle field infrastructure,” the report said. “As such, it is unlikely there will be a centrally coordinated nationwide infrastructure rollout.” More likely, the authors suggest, are partnerships between government and the private sector, such as data service providers and developers of commercial applications — both for the installation and for upkeep. In the early 2000s, as automakers and government leaders began to study whether connected vehicle technology was possible, national groups were estimating the U.S. would need 250,000 sensors placed across the country, Smith said. “Boil that down, and that’s thousands upon thousands in each state,” he said. Today, the range of a radio unit has improved to about 1,000 feet, but Smith said signals could be transmitted beyond that distance if they bounce off of multiple vehicles’ receivers as part of a larger network, he said. That allows the state road department to target locations along roadsides at least every half mile, if not farther, which also lowers the cost. The U.S. Department of Transportation in 2012 launched a $25 million pilot deployment program in Ann Arbor along with UM’s Transportation Research Institute, with the university receiving about $13 million. The pilot program sent 2,800 cars, trucks and buses onto Ann Arbor streets, equipped with two-way technology that allowed

Race for mobility test beds Michigan is one of a number of states vying to be a national leader in mobility, particularly as it pertains to development of connected and automated vehicles and smart infrastructure systems — including sensors and other devices that can allow cars to share data with traffic signals, bridges and roadsides. The state has the advantage of having the legacy auto industry headquartered here, but that doesn’t guarantee market share. Case in point: The U.S. Department of Transportation last week named Columbus, Ohio, the winner of its Smart City Challenge and eligible for $50 million in federal and private funding to help it develop intelligent transportation sys-

tems. The federal transportation department said Columbus beat 77 other cities — including finalist cities Austin, Texas; Denver; Kansas City, Mo.; Pittsburgh; Portland, Ore.; and San Francisco — in part because it planned to launch three electric, driverless shuttles between a shopping district and a new bus rapid transit facility. Detroit and the St. Clair County cities of Port Huron and Marysville applied for the program; neither was a finalist. U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a recent op-ed in The Columbus Dispatch that the federal government plans to help all cities that applied find additional federal dollars for their mobility projects.

the vehicles to send and receive signals. The technology was used to test how drivers could be warned if they are at risk of a crash or faced other traffic hazards. About 155 roadside units should be in place across metro Detroit by the end of this year, MDOT Director Kirk Steudle said during the recent

Detroit Regional Chamber Mackinac Policy Conference.

Next in line for sensors are I-275 from Five Mile Road in Livonia to the I-96/I-696/M-5 interchange in Novi, and I-75 near Auburn Hills as they’re reconstructed, the state said. The I-275 project is underway now, with the I-75 project staggered in Oakland County through 2030. Fiber optic lines are being laid along I-275 while the pavement is being rebuilt, Smith said. If approved for a federal grant, MDOT would retrofit some older stateowned vehicles with the technology, Smith said. UM’s Mobility Transformation Center and a group of automakers also jointly applied for the grant. State road administrators also are developing a single back-end system that can process all the data collected from connected vehicles. Arada Systems, a subsidiary of Southfield-based Lear Corp., is the state’s current supplier of the connected vehicle technology. Arada Systems was founded in Silicon Valley as a spinoff of Qualcomm Atheros Inc., owned by San Diego-based wireless technology developer Qualcomm Inc. Arada recently moved its headquarters to Troy. The effort goes beyond passenger vehicles. The U.S. Army, through its Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center, last

week tested how military vehicles can communicate with roadside devices the state transportation department installed along I-69 in St. Clair and Lapeer counties.

Taking the lead For the time being, the federal government is taking the lead on many of the early developments. Congress included a provision in

the newest federal highway bill that incentivizes states that install vehicle-to-infrastructure technology by allowing them to use some federal funding from existing highway programs. The FAST Act (Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act) authorizes $305 billion for five years, through the 2020 fiscal year, according to Sen. Gary Peters’ office. Automakers are on board. General Motors Co. President Dan Ammann told reporters at the Mackinac conference that the Detroit carmaker supports real-world, on-road testing that goes beyond the controlled environments like UM’s Mcity site and the planned American Center for Mobility at Willow Run. Oakland County has been involved in discussions about longterm funding sources as one of the state’s earliest adopters of the technology, said Danielle Deneau, director of traffic safety for the Road Commission for Oakland County. Test beds have been created in Novi and Farmington Hills, she said, and 22 traffic signals along Telegraph Road between Nine Mile and 13 Mile roads can tell vehicles equipped with receivers when the signal will change. The road commission is interested in what future infrastructure systems will look like because of the benefits they could have on project planning, Deneau said. Oakland County’s program has cost close to $100 million since its inception, though much of that is for a separate program that started in the ‘90s to help traffic signals ease congestion by keeping lights green if they sense heavy traffic, she said. “We have 900 square miles across Oakland County. If you want to put radios across them, it’s going to cost some money,” Deneau said. Cities, too, are looking for guidance on how to tackle the infrastructure question, said Richard Murphy, the Michigan Municipal League’s Civic Innovation Labs program coordinator, who helps cities adapt to changing trends through planning and public engagement. The emerging industry sector also raises questions that impact community planning. For instance, he said: Should cities start laying conduit and fiber optic cables when they rebuild local streets today to prepare for smart infrastructure needs a decade from now? Do municipal leaders invest in more parking to alleviate congestion today if the mobility industry will lead to less car ownership and more ride sharing? “The consensus was, yes, more answers are needed on this, and things are still pretty wide open,” Murphy said. “It is definitely something that we are looking at and thinking about.” Lindsay VanHulle: (517) 657-2204 Twitter: @LindsayVanHulle

INDEX TO COMPANIES

These companies have significant mention in this week’s Crain’s Detroit Business: Bedrock Manufacturing ....................................... 1

HouseSetter LLC .................................................. 4

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan ................ 3, 5

Michigan Department of Transportation .......... 1

Boydell Development .......................................... 15

Michigan Municipal League ...............................18

FirstMerit of Michigan ..........................................3

Midtown Detroit ....................................................3

Gemphire Therapeutics ......................................14

Penske Automotive Group ................................... 1

General Motors ....................................................16

Road Commission for Oakland County ...........18

Health Alliance Plan ..............................................3

Shinola/Detroit LLC .............................................. 1


WEEK UAW cancels strike after agreement with Sakthi

T

he UAW and aluminum castings supplier Sakthi Automotive Group Inc. USA agreed to a tentative labor agreement, and a strike threatened by the union was canceled, the UAW said Friday. Workers at Sakthi’s Detroit plant, represented by UAW Local 6000, were to vote on the deal Sunday; terms weren’t immediately known.

COMPANY NEWS n The planned Little Caesars

Enterprises Inc. headquarters in

downtown Detroit is expected to feature a unique formed-glass exterior shaped in 14-foot-tall triangles that look like pizza slices, an homage to the country’s third-largest pizza chain. Construction is slated to begin this summer. Costs were not disclosed, but one estimate set the price at more than $70 million. n Billionaire investor Carl Icahn raised his bid to acquire the remaining stake in Southfield-based parts supplier Federal-Mogul Holdings Corp. Icahn, already the company’s largest shareholder, said in a letter to the board of directors that he would increase his offer to $8 per share, up from the $7 per share offer he made in February. n Detroit Tigers catcher James McCann signed a three-year endorsement deal with Royal Oak-based sweat-wicking dress shirt company Lawrence Hunt in which McCann received an ownership stake. Terms were not disclosed. n The Arts League of Michigan, which operates as the Carr Center in Detroit, secured more than $775,000 in grants in recent weeks to help it implement a sustainability plan and proposal for a new home. n The University of Michigan Health System signed a letter of intent to merge with Grand Plans for the new Little Caesars Global Resource Center call for a

walkway to connect it to offices above the Fox Theatre in downtown Detroit. PHOTO COURTESY OF LITTLE CAESARS

C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U N E 2 7 , 2 0 1 6

ON THE WEB JUNE 18-24

Detroit Digits A numbers-driven look at last week’s headlines:

103

The years in business for Novi-based Frank W. Kerr Co., once one of the country’s largest independent pharmaceutical wholesalers, before its scheduled closing this week.

$100,000 The amount awarded by the San Francisco-based Thiel Foundation to Lunar Labs, a Detroit startup. Lunar Labs will receive mentorship from current and former fellows, as well as from the Thiel Foundation’s network of technology entrepreneurs, investors and scientists.

37th

The ranking of Ann Arbor-based RetroSense Therapeutics LLC on the annual list by the MIT Technology Review of the 50 smartest companies in the world. RetroSense’s drug to treat patients with retinitis pigmentosa began human trials in March.

Rapids-based Metro Health Corp. n Vibra Healthcare LLC is opening a third location, at Detroit Medical Center’s Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan that will occupy 16,000 square feet starting July 1. A long-term acute care hospital, Vibra Hospital of Southeastern Michigan-DMC Campus will operate 28 beds. Vibra Healthcare is based in Mechanicsburg, Pa. n Detroit-based Quikly, a digital marketing platform for retailers, announced it has closed on a funding round of $3 million, led by Plymouth Ventures of Ann Arbor. n Durr AG, the No. 1 global builder of automotive paint shops, has consolidated three Detroit-area facilities — in Auburn Hills, Plymouth Township and Wixom — into a $40 million technical

19

RUMBLINGS

center in Southfield, Automotive News reported.

n Idemitsu Lubricants America

opened its new facility in Wixom — the company’s first research and development center in North America. ILA is a subsidiary of Japan-based Idemitsu Kosan Co. n Detroit-based Blackbourne Worldwide, a startup company specializing in cybersecurity, won the first Macomb-Oakland University INCubator Adopt-A-Biz program award. n Livonia-based Tower International Inc., which makes a variety of metal components for cars and trucks, said its board authorized a share repurchase program of up to $100 million of the company’s common stock. n The Kroger Co. of Michigan said it will close a West Bloomfield Township store as of July 16. The store, at 6433 Orchard Lake Road, is among the seven Hiller’s Markets stores Kroger acquired last year.

OTHER NEWS n The Michigan Department of

Environmental Quality denied a permit request for a bridge to Harsens Island proposed by Manuel “Matty” Moroun’s Detroit International Bridge Co., citing “significant adverse impacts” on natural resources and wetlands, the Detroit Free Press reported. The DEQ denied a similar proposal from the company in 2007. Moroun owns the Ambassador Bridge. n Gov. Rick Snyder signed a $617 million bailout and restructuring plan for the debt-ridden Detroit Public Schools, AP reported. The district has been managed by the state for seven years amid plummeting enrollment, deficits and teacher protests. n Tuition and fees for undergraduate students at Eastern Michigan University are going up by 4.1 percent this year, as approved by university regents. n The outdoor art installation “Hamtramck Disneyland” will become the home of an artist residency program and gallery space under a new plan by Hatch Art in Hamtramck, the Michigan Economic Development Corp. and the Michigan State Housing Development Authority. n Charles Pugh, former Detroit City Council president, was charged with criminal sexual conduct in a case from more than a decade ago involving a 14-year-old boy, AP reported. Pugh was awaiting extradition to Michigan after being arrested in New York City. n Dan Gilbert, Quicken Loans Inc. chairman, celebrated a National Basketball Association championship as majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, which defeated the Golden State Warriors in the seventh game of the NBA Finals. Nate Forbes, managing partner of Southfield-based The Forbes Co., is minority owner of the Cavaliers.

CHRISTOPHER DENSLOW

The UAW-GM Spirit of Detroit HydroFest will bring speedy hydroplane boats to the Detroit River in August.

Keith Crain named grand marshal of 2016 APBA Gold Cup K

eith Crain, chairman of Detroit-based Crain Communications Inc., has been named grand marshal of the 2016 APBA Gold Cup hydroplane boat race on the Detroit River. The UAW-GM Spirit of Detroit HydroFest is slated for Aug. 26-28. Both the race and Crain Communications are celebrating their 100th anniversaries in 2016. “With both of these milestones happening this year, it’s truly an honor and pleasure to be chosen to represent this year’s HydroFest as grand marshal,” Crain said in a statement. “After all, Detroit is the motor capital of the world, and anyone who knows me knows I

Author to discuss breast cancer surgery After a 40-year journalism career writing mostly about health care (and competing with Crain’s Detroit Business beat reporters for more than 20 years), Patricia Anstett retired from the Detroit Free Press in 2011, but she kept writing. Her new book, Breast Cancer Surgery and Reconstruction: What’s Right for You (Rowman & Littlefield), has led to a niche — speaking with women and health care providers in town hall formats at many of the hospitals she used to cover. First up: A session from 5-7 p.m. Wednesday at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital. Call (248) 325-3890 or email dk@hfhs.org.

Park West Foundation gets a royal welcome Founder and CEO Albert Scaglione of Southfield-based Park West Galleries Inc. and his wife and corporate secretary, Mitsie Scaglione, were guests of Prince Charles at

a Buckingham Palace event last month, as the couple's nonprofit Park West Foundation is becoming a supporting patron of the global charity Prince’s Trust International. Park West Foundation, founded in 2006 to support programs for orphaned young adults aging out of

have passion for speed and believe there is no such thing as too much horsepower.” As grand marshal, Crain will preside over pre- and post-race festivities; greet drivers, sponsors and dignitaries; and perform other symbolic duties, race organizers said. Crain, instrumental in development of the Automotive News World Congress and North American International Auto Show, also is editor-in-chief of Crain’s Detroit Business and Automotive News. Gold Cup ticket and sponsorship details are available at DetroitBoatRaces.com or by calling (313) 329-8047. foster care, as well as adolescent health and development and educational nonprofits that improve public access to art, said in a statement that the Prince's Trust is a natural fit for its support. The Scagliones were guests at a 40th-anniversary celebration for the U.K. program May 17.

Newsletter publisher, gadfly White dies at 75 Detroit said goodbye to one of its gadfly/watchdogs last week when services were held at Christ Church in Detroit for Bradford White, 75, longtime downtown resident and, for many years, publisher of the irregular newsletter The Observation Balloon. The small-circulation newsletter of about 400 copies carried a $125 annual subscription price. In it, White opined about everything from national politics to local restaurant fare as well as providing insights into the local governments whose public meetings he attended, often tilting at philosophical windmills. What many didn't know is that he was at one time president of the Detroit Writers Society and had reportedly received a Hopwood Prize at the University of Michigan for creative writing. White died May 9 at St. John's Hospital, said Saulius Simoliunas, a longtime friend.


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On Aug. 22, Crain’s Detroit Business will offer an immersion in the economy of food through in-person events, discussion panels and innovative dialogue at Eastern Market. Don’t miss a chance to reach key players in Michigan’s food economy such as owners, executives, entrepreneurs, distributers, growers, and investors with these two distinct sponsorship opportunities. Key players from local food companies will gather to focus on building Michigan’s supply chain and pairing ideas with the visions from major national food companies. An invitation-only pitch event to showcase 12 exciting food companies and give investors a chance to see the up-and-coming companies in the state’s food sector.

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2016 GIVING GUIDE

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