Donald Trump has media-bashing company on Twitter. Dan Gilbert swipes at a Crain's Detroit Business writer over a cover article about him.
The downtown developer accuses Kirk Piho of "twisted apples to oranges peculiar math" because the journalist challenges this assertion by Gilbert last week: "It costs the same to build a skyscraper or building in New York City, Chicago, as it does in Detroit."
Pinho's article calls that claim "dubious." Gilbert reacts in a late-night tweet, saying the reporter is among "Fake Debunkers."
This may seem like a debate between two construction finance nerds, but when the co-founder of Bedrock Detroit bickers publicly with a leading Detroit development writer, it's a conversation worth noting.
Bedrock and other companies owned by Gilbert, the billionaire founder of Quicken Loans, have spent more than $450 million to buy more than five dozen downtown properties since 2011, Louis Aguilar of The Detroit News calculated last spring. Upcoming projects include development of the former Hudson's site on Woodward Avenue and a 10-acre development with GM east of Renaissance Center.
Gilbert's statement about building costs came during a WJR interview by Paul W. Smith. Pinho tells what's behind it and why it's questionable:
One of the arguments Dan Gilbert has used to push for a new tax incentive for sweeping developments is that it costs just as much to construct a new building in Detroit as it does in three of the biggest and priciest real estate markets in the country.
Whether that's actually true isn't entirely clear.
Gilbert's team says its calculation includes all components of new building — minus the cost of land — ranging from materials to permitting and insurance costs. Yet data from a well-known construction cost estimator puts Detroit's per-square-foot rate for new office construction well below New York City, Chicago and San Francisco, and construction laborer wages in those markets — a key variable from city to city — are more than 10 percent higher. . . .
So what data is Gilbert using when he says a skyscraper in Detroit costs as much to build as one in New York, Chicago or San Francisco?
It's not known. Detroit-based Bedrock LLC, the real estate development, ownership and management company Gilbert co-owns, declined to provide specific calculations used to come to that conclusion.
The front page coverage, posted Sunday morning, sparks that day's 10:17 p.m. Gilbert tweet quoted above.
That prompts exchanges with Free Press reporter Joe Guillen and early Monday with Ron Fournier, a veteran journalist who became associate publisher of Crain's in September and editor this month:
A good reporter writes a balanced piece (https://t.co/9O2oR0SwHP) and Gilbert attacks his credibility. https://t.co/8snKUhYkDf
— Joe Guillen (@joeguillen) December 19, 2016
It's not so funny when it's you,(or one of your ilk)is it?The twisted trash that gets published today as 'news' is OK?Calling you out isn't? https://t.co/mXvlyqZGuo
— Dan Gilbert (@cavsdan) December 19, 2016
Hi, Dan. Kirk's story was fair and deeply researched. If you or your team would like to share your math, we'll share it with our audience. https://t.co/43J1RcCWKA
— Ron Fournier (@ron_fournier) December 19, 2016
Calling us out is fine. Calling the story twisted trash is wrong. Appreciate the attention you're drawing to it tho. https://t.co/cx9ZLQNntr
— Ron Fournier (@ron_fournier) December 19, 2016
Curious, @cavsdan, why your team wouldn't provide your math. @kirkpinhoCDB will take your call today https://t.co/FZKQHRHaTS pic.twitter.com/osK4XND64W
— Ron Fournier (@ron_fournier) December 19, 2016
In a follow-up[ tweet, Gilbert says Bedrock will provide figures suporting his statement. "We will do so, Ron," he tells the editor at 8:48 a.m. Monday.
Pinho also earns a defense from national business writer Micheline Maynard, a Forbes contributor who adds context:
This well-researched @crainsdetroit story has been attacked by @cavsdan. A few observations. https://t.co/DftqbZxjqS
— Micheline Maynard (@MickiMaynard) December 19, 2016
Having lived/reported in Boston, New York, Chicago as well as Detroit, the complexities in those cities add costs Detroit doesn't have.
— Micheline Maynard (@MickiMaynard) December 19, 2016
A big one is density. New construction in other places has to wedge itself into a crowded footprint. Detroit isn't as dense.
— Micheline Maynard (@MickiMaynard) December 19, 2016
Density creates its own issues: moving material. Zoning ordinances (noise, for one). Ease of operating. Labor costs go up.
— Micheline Maynard (@MickiMaynard) December 19, 2016
In a tweet four weeks ago, Fournier describes Gilbert as part of "the downtown oligarchy." That didn't provoke a challenge.