DETROIT (WXYZ) — Renaissance Center Tower 600 in downtown Detroit has a new owner. It sold at auction back in March. The total cost? North of $9.4 million. The deal was finalized Thursday.
The new owner of Tower 600 beat out about 10 investors to secure the winning bid. He says its great location on the riverfront, its views and the future of downtown Detroit made it an opportunity he could not pass up.
“We’re committed to Detroit. We love Detroit. We appreciate all the transformation that’s happened especially in the last 10 years,” the new owner Dr. Mahomoud Al-Hadidi said.
Hear more from the new owner Dr. Mahomoud Al-Hadidi in the video player below:
And now, Al-Hadidi will play a part in it. The retired pulmonologist from metro Detroit heads up the investment group Stockbridge Enterprises, which bought the tower. He says pulling the $9 million trigger on it was a no-brainer.
“Growing up in my career, the Renaissance Center has been an icon — I’d like it to stay. It is going to be the icon of our city and we are going to make sure it stays that way,” Al-Hadidi said.
So, what’s Al-Hadidi's plan for the tower? Office space for corporations, relocating his firm Stockbridge Enterprises there and building high-end apartments.
“They will not be small apartments, they will be 3,000, 4,000 square foot and bigger, and it will be for high-end residents with spectacular view, amazing security, access to Detroit, access to the riverwalk,” Al-Hadidi said. “It’s going to be a dream for someone to live there and I might be one of them.”
The tower is one of two buildings just east of the Central Five Towers, anchoring Detroit’s iconic skyline.
The deal comes as General Motors works with real estate magnate Dan Gilbert’s Bedrock Detroit for a $1.6 billion redevelopment plan for the Renaissance Center. It calls for the demolition of two of the original towers and revamping the remaining trio for a combination of housing, hotel and office space.
Al-Hadidi welcomes those plans, saying they would only increase the value of his tower, but if they don’t come to fruition, it won’t stop his efforts.
“There’s a lot of excitement going on in downtown Detroit right now. There’s a lot of energy, there’s a lot of investor appetite for the redevelopment of the Renaissance Center and I think the sale of Tower 600 proves that,” Jared Friedman, co-CEO of Friedman Real Estate, said. “It’s great to see a new owner who’s engaged and reinvesting capital into that building and he has some pretty cool plans for that.”
The prior majority owner of Tower 600 was based in California. We asked Al-Hadidi what it means for the property to be back in local hands.
“We appreciate outside investors, but this is our city and we own our city and we’re committed to our people and our city,” Al-Hadidi said.
“I think it’s really good. Keep it close to home, Detroiter Keith Bryant said.
Al-Hadidi says it will take one to two years to get those high-end apartments in Tower 600, but the leasing of office space will happen much sooner.
