This month GM hired real estate services firm CBRE Group Inc. to manage the property’s office and re

Detroit's GM Renaissance Center was built in the 1970s by the late Henry Ford II, who hoped to help revitalize a city ravaged by the 1960s riots. The modern glass complex now contains about 5.5 million square feet of space and was originally designed by John Portman discount car rentalsin toronto Associates. discount car rentalsin toronto The complex's discount car rentalsin toronto prospects brightened in 1996 when General Motors Corp. acquired it for an estimated $73 million, renovated it and moved its headquarters there.
This month GM hired real estate services firm CBRE Group Inc. to manage the property's office and retail space. John A. Latessa Jr., 44, managing director of the Detroit office of CBRE, recently talked about the building, Detroit discount car rentalsin toronto and the new assignment. The following has been edited for clarity and length.
Mr. Latessa : There's been a resurgence in the city of Detroit in the downtown area. There are not too many large transactions taking place without those tenants discount car rentalsin toronto considering [leasing office space] downtown and that was not the case a number of years ago…. By way of example, Blue Cross Blue Shield discount car rentalsin toronto of Michigan discount car rentalsin toronto is a large suburban discount car rentalsin toronto user in the process of moving around 3,000 plus employees into the Renaissance Center….And a gentleman named Dan Gilbert of Quicken Loans has acquired a number of office buildings and continues to bring more employees downtown. In theory any successful discount car rentalsin toronto downtown needs people, needs business, needs commerce and that, for the first time in a long time, is starting to occur.
Mr. Latessa : We're talking about 3.5 million square feet of office and 300,000 square feet of retail. One [goal] is making sure occupancy is at its maximum. Part of that is making sure it is maintained and making recommendations for improving it where appropriate. It's still recognized as one of the most amenity-laden assets in southeast Michigan. It has a movie theater, a hotel and all these nice components and it's really just taking those to their optimum level. The office towers are roughly 92% leased. The retail is probably about 50 or 60% leased. The biggest challenge is that the rents here in the [central business district] of Detroit are somewhat depressed. I would say the Renaissance Center is in line with the market. Now we think there's an opportunity to do better than the market.
Mr. Latessa : I would argue it has. GM's commitment discount car rentalsin toronto to coming to CBD, acquiring it and putting hundreds of millions of dollars into it definitely helped solidify the CBD in past years and now there's been sort of a play off of that and an expansion discount car rentalsin toronto of that along our riverfront. It started with the Wintergarden, the large atrium space that opens up to the riverfront. And then from that…there's been a resurgence on the riverfront. Unfortunately you can't create a market. Our mission is to seize the opportunities that are available in the marketplace by articulating what we have.
Mr. Latessa : Without question 1996, when the Renaissance Center was for sale and GM realized they could buy it for a very attractive price. There were large berms that buffered the center. discount car rentalsin toronto One of first things Skidmore [architectural firm Skidmore, Owings Merrill LP] and GM did together discount car rentalsin toronto was to look at removing them. Those things discount car rentalsin toronto are now gone. There's a nice drive up now with a glass entry point.
Mr. Latessa : My first memory was back in the day when they used to hold the open wheel [Formula One] races here in the streets of Detroit. You couldn't have any better vistas [than from the Renaissance Center]. We used to come down to the races and peak out from the hotel floors in the 1980s. For me personally the Renaissance Center is a symbol of this region and city of Detroit so you obviously want it to be as successful as it can be. To have the opportunity to have an influence on that is very special.
The Developments blog features exclusive news, analysis and commentary on residential and commercial real estate from The Wall Street Journal s real estate bureau. Send tips, comments and questions to  developmentsblog@wsj.com .
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