We heard it
through the
grapevine …
BY MARK B. SOLOMON, EXECUTIVE EDITOR–NEWS
SITE SELECTION
specialreport
ECONOMIC CYCLES COME AND GO, BUT GEOGRA-
phy is forever. For the city of Detroit, whose cycle has fol-
lowed the “to hell and back” trajectory, its future as a major
North American logistics player could hinge on whether
transportation and logistics users view its location on the
continent’s map as a blessing or a curse.
Detroit sits at the nexus of U.S.-Canada trade, with its
proximity to Toronto, considered the gateway to Canadian
commerce. It is located near four of the five Great Lakes as
well as the U.S. transcontinental railroad system that connects with Great Lakes port traffic. It is home to three major
U.S. interstate highways: I-75, I-94, and I-96. Between 1,000
and 1,450 acres of land are located near urban areas ripe
for industrial development, a rarity among large metropolises, according to WSP| Parsons Brinckerhoff, a New
York-based engineering and professional services company
that last year prepared an extensive report for the Michigan
Economic Development Corp. outlining Detroit’s potential
as a logistics center.
As the North American hub of auto production, Detroit
has a superb automotive logistics infrastructure backed by
the highly skilled employees needed to keep the automotive
supply chain humming. The city and the state of Michigan
are well positioned to attract high-tech investment as vehi-
cles become embedded with more technological features
than ever before, according to Walter Kemmsies, managing
director, economist, and chief strategist of the ports prac-
tice for Chicago-based real estate and logistics services giant
JLL Inc. In an era when cars are becoming computers on
chassis, a company like General Motors Corp. will find itself
competing as much with Microsoft Corp., the Seattle-based
software behemoth, as with rival carmakers, Kemmsies said
in a phone interview.
Agriculture is one of Michigan’s core industries, owing
to the rich coal-black soil that naturally occurs statewide.
Building a new logistics complex in Detroit could help sup-
port growing U.S., North American, and global demand for
foodstuffs, experts said.
In addition, the city’s core downtown area is thriving,
thanks in part to large investments made by Dan Gilbert,
founder of mortgage firm Quicken Loans, and Mike Ilitch,
founder of pizza chain Little Caesar’s. Both firms are head-
quartered in downtown Detroit.
The core area’s resurgence has, to some degree, spilled
over into increased demand for all types of commercial and
industrial space. As of the end of the second quarter, ware-
house and DC space in metro Detroit had a 93.67-percent
occupancy rate, according to CBRE Group Inc., a commer-
cial real estate company. Vacancy rates across various cat-
egories are at all-time lows, and the metro area represents
We bet you’re wondering how we knew, but there are reportedly plans afoot to
turn Detroit into a regional logistics hub. But don’t go dancing in the street just yet.
We heard it
through the
grapevine …
