Change Echoes Through Radio Market
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20111205-NEWS--0001-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 12/2/2011 6:54 PM Page 1 ® www.crainsdetroit.com Vol. 27, No. 50 DECEMBER 5 – 11, 2011 $2 a copy; $59 a year ©Entire contents copyright 2011 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved Page 3 Imported More indictments, lawsuits in price-fixing morass to Detroit? Dave Blaszkiewicz Chrysler hunts and the mission of office space Downtown BY DANIEL DUGGAN Detroit CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS Partnership: After sparking national interest in Detroit with its Super Bowl ad- ‘Drive vertising campaign, Chrysler Group change’ LLC reportedly is close to taking of- fice space in downtown Detroit. Real estate sources say the Auburn Hills-based automaker Inside has been looking for downtown of- fice space since the “Imported State takeover? How about from Detroit” TV commercial first ran in February. (See related item bankruptcy? Page 4 in Rumblings, Page 26.) Gualberto Ranieri, senior vice president of communications for Chrysler, declined to comment. This Just In Real estate sources said the com- pany is close to a lease in the Dime Chrysler leases distribution Building, the historic building ac- quired by Quicken Loans Inc. space in Redford Township founder Dan Gilbert this year. In one of the biggest indus- Gilbert is rumored to have person- trial real estate deals of the ally lobbied Chrysler CEO Sergio year, Auburn Hills-based Marchionne on the deal. Chrysler Group LLC signed a Quicken Loans Vice President of 400,000-square-foot lease in Communications Paula Silver de- Redford Township. clined to comment when contacted The deal brought the by Crain’s. 800,000-square-foot building Chrysler reportedly is looking CLOSER LOOK from 35 percent occupancy to for a small amount of space — Ⅲ Time line: More than two 87 percent occupancy, accord- 20,000 square feet, which typically decades of developments, ing to a statement from Farm- would hold 80 people. Page 22 ington Hills-based Premier Eq- The company has been taking Ⅲ Orchestra Place: Cummings uities, the real estate additional office space in the re- as conductor, Page 23 investment company run by gion this year because its 4.4 mil- David Friedman, which owns lion-square-foot headquarters the building with Southfield- building is full. This year, it leased based General Development Co. 210,000 square feet nearby on En- Chrysler will now use the trance Drive in Auburn Hills, one space for parts distribution. of the biggest leases of the year. The building near Tele- Chrysler’s deal continues a recent graph Road and I-96 was once trend of companies taking small used by Dearborn-based Ford amounts of space in Detroit to aug- Motor Co. for logistics. How- ment their suburban operations. ever, it has been largely va- Saginaw-based Rehmann LLC re- cant for the past few years. cently opened a 3,000-square-foot The largest industrial deal office in the Dime Building in a of the year was the renewal move to accommodate growing of 632,000 square feet of space business opportunities in the city. by U.S. Manufacturing Corp. in Change echoes through radio market It complements the company’s of- Macomb Township, accord- ing to Washington, D.C.- fices in Troy, Farmington Hills based CoStar Group. and Ann Arbor. To dial in revenue, stations flop formats, cut jobs However, the Chrysler Likewise, Birmingham-based deal represents the biggest Sachse Construction opened a 1,100- BY BILL SHEA as what’s going on today,” said been on the Greater Boston Radio new lease of the year, top- square-foot office in the Guardian CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS Dick Kernen, vice president of in- Inc.-owned station since 2001 and ping the 320,000-square-foot Building earlier this year, in part, dustry relations at Southfield- a presence on lease by Tognum America Inc. to accommodate the firm’s con- Since Dick Purtan retired in based Specs Howard School of Me- Detroit radio in Brownstown. struction contracts for most of March 2010 after 45 years on De- dia Arts and a 50-year veteran of since 1967. — Daniel Duggan troit’s airwaves, local radio has the radio industry. Harper was See Chrysler, Page 21 been in turmoil from format Purtan was one of the last lions unavailable to shifts, station ownership chang- of local radio, a longtime veteran talk last week es, job cuts — but also has been who still drew both a big audience because of an growing revenue. and a big salary at oldies station illness that It’s a confusing landscape, but WOMC 104.3 FM in an industry kept him off the one beginning to grow barren of beset by cutbacks. air as well, but veteran stars behind the micro- There is about to be one fewer radio industry Harper phone. Non-air talent also is be- lion in the pride: On Dec. 23, long- watchers say ing pared to save money. time morning drive-time radio his departure is the latest event in NEWSPAPER “I have been through a lot of host Jim Harper will retire from changes, but nothing as close to Detroit’s WMGC 105.1 FM. He has See Radio, Page 24 20111205-NEWS--0002-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 12/2/2011 6:25 PM Page 1 Page 2 CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS December 5, 2011 MICHIGAN BRIEFS Does this make horse sense? Cut Grand Rapids is not the only area attracting attention from track season to boost demand Kalamazoo Promise: 6 years, $30M, 2,300 students news media outside Michigan: Ⅲ The Reading Eagle compared If you’re a horse and like to race, the Pennsylvania city’s problems these are not good times. In metro Six years after the Kalamazoo Promise made na- dents eligible for Promise scholarships have en- to those of Flint — No. 1 appears to Detroit, Pinnacle Race Course in tional headlines with its commitment of free college rolled in college for at least one semester, which is be that Reading is the only city in Huron Township gave up its horse- tuition and fees, no one still says where the money higher than the 71 percent rate for public high the nation with a population over racing license this year. The thor- comes from. But the program can say how much has school graduates statewide. In all, about 85 percent 65,000 that has a higher percent- oughbred race course closed in No- been spent — more than $30 million — and the num- of Promise students who started at a four-year uni- age of residents living in poverty vember 2010 because revenue ber of Kalamazoo Public Schools students who have versity have either earned degrees or remain in than Flint. The coverage looked at wasn’t covering costs. benefited — more than 2,300. school. Flint’s struggle with vacant prop- And now in mid-Michigan, Figures show that about one-third of the students To qualify, students must live in the school dis- erty and downtown revival, Sports Creek Raceway in Swartz who started college on Promise scholarships have trict and attend it at least through high school. The among other familiar urban chal- Creek has cut its racing days to 16 dropped out, at least temporarily, the Kalamazoo scholarship covers up to 100 percent of tuition and lenges. from 32, with the season ending Gazette reported. Since 2006, about 90 percent of stu- fees at any Michigan public college or university. Ⅲ In a more positive take on Dec. 31. The reduction is an at- Flint, National Public Radio looked tempt to create more demand, Last week, Gentex broke ground Thursday, university officials said in some ways, the two cities are at how the Fisher Body 1 plant — track manager Chris Locking told on a 125,000-square-foot expansion they had reached a tentative agree- alike. Both have about 200,000 resi- made famous by the 1936-37 sit- The Flint Journal. and sought rezoning of additional ment on a new three-year contract dents, a waterfront, a university down strike — has become the new But Executive Director Richard land for possible growth. The expan- after 14 hours of negotiations facil- and nightlife. Both have preserved home of Diplomat Specialty Pharma- Kalm of the Michigan Gaming Con- sion is one of five planned by Gentex itated by Judge Paul Chamberlain some of their older buildings. cy Inc. Diplomat made news when trol Board, which regulates horse in Zeeland and Holland Township, of Isabella County Circuit Court. But the CBC contends Windsor it landed a major piece of mail-or- racing in the state, said of the less- Bruce Los, vice president of human In confirming the agreement the lacks one thing that Grand Rapids der business from Pfizer Inc. is-more approach: “If the demand resources, told The Holland next morning, the president of the has: young professionals. CBC (Michigan Briefs, Nov. 28.) was there, there would be more Sentinel. Los said Gentex has posted CMU Faculty Association, Laura Frey, Windsor coronates the Michigan Ⅲ Chicago public radio station days.” Kalm said gamblers find compounded annual growth of 19 said the vote would take place the city as “a model of millennial suc- WBEZ reported that in northern wagering easier to do at casinos. percent over the past 19 years. first week of the spring semester, cess.” Michigan, “food is becoming a In August, Gentex said it planned which starts Jan. 9. In a statement, Perhaps weary of having heard main attraction for tourists, and With $160M expansion, Gentex to spend $160 million on expansions the university said details of the this a thousand times before, The food-focused tourism is creating in the area.