DETROIT — Rock Ventures and its real estate arm, Bedrock Real Estate Services, have purchased two downtown properties — 1505 Woodward Avenue and 1265 Griswold Street -— adding 84,000 square feet to its growing real estate holdings. In nearly three years, Rock Ventures has acquired more than 40 properties totaling nearly 8 million square feet of commercial and parking space in Detroit’s urban core.
“Detroit’s bankruptcy does not deter our downtown Detroit investment strategy,” said Matt Cullen, president and CEO of Rock Ventures. “We are as bullish as ever on the future of Detroit and will continue to invest in properties we believe strategically fit our mission to transform the city.”
The 1505 Woodward building is located on the northwest corner of Woodward Avenue and Clifford Street. The eight-story, 48,000 square foot structure was designed by renowned architect Albert Kahn and built in 1931. Its original tenant was the Richman Brothers clothing store.
The 1265 Griswold building, located at the southwest corner of Griswold Street and Grand River Avenue, borders Capitol Park.The 36,000 square foot, six-story structure was originally known as the Bamlet Building and was built in 1897 by architectural firm Spier & Rohns.
Bedrock Real Estate Services brokered the acquisitions and will oversee renovations, management and leasing of the currently unoccupied mixed-use spaces.
“Demand for state-of-the-art retail, office and residential space in Detroit continues to grow,” said Jim Ketai, Bedrock’s managing partner. “Our plan is to transform these abandoned and neglected buildings into creative, thriving spaces to accommodate the growing demand of businesses that are joining the ‘Opportunity Detroit’ mission and locating their operations downtown.”
