One broker told me downtown Detroit is dead and walked away mid-conversation

I was at a coffee shop on Woodward near Campus Martius last Tuesday, talking to this older guy who had been leasing space in the Fisher Building since the 80s. He straight up said "this whole revival is a bubble, these rents at $30 a square foot won't last another 18 months." Then he got up and left me standing there with my cold latte. Has anyone else run into these old school Detroit guys who are totally convinced the city is still heading for a crash?

2 comments

2 Comments

christopherwilson9d ago

Had this happen to me a couple years back when I was looking at a space in Eastern Market. Old timer told me I was wasting my time and walked off while I was asking about parking. Found a different spot a few blocks away that worked out fine. Some people just got burned by the 2008 stuff and can't see past it.

shane_fisher379d ago

Yeah it's like there's this whole group of people who got hit hard by the recession and now they see every attempt to do something new as a setup for failure. @christopherwilson I've noticed it with older neighbors too, they'll tell you not to bother fixing up a house or starting a small business because "the market will just crash again." It's like they can't separate what happened back then from what's happening now. The 2008 crash really broke something in a lot of people's heads when it comes to taking chances. And honestly I get why, but it also stops them from seeing opportunities that are right in front of them. Kinda sad when you think about all the cool stuff that never gets tried because someone told you it wouldn't work.