20150511-NEWS--0001-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 5/8/2015 6:07 PM Page 1 Readers first for 30 Years MICHIGAN EDITION This monthly issue reaches 5,000 additional readers outside of metro Detroit Could rail be the newway north? CRAIN’S Page 15 DETROIT BUSINESS May 11-17,2015 HORSE RACING: PHOTO] [ISTOCK IS IT ON THE RIGHT TRACK? PAGE 3 The Bank of America building in Troy is expected to sell for as much as $150 per square foot. Snyder eyes future as his [COSTAR GROUP] profile builds Banking on a big sale Despite Prop 1 fail, guv pitches ‘comeback story’ By Lindsay VanHulle raising his profile. BOA building could score high, brokers say, but will market comply? Crain’s Detroit Business/Bridge Magazine But why is the term-limited Re- LANSING — Gov. Rick Snyder publican governor traveling the By Kirk Pinho ing’s high occupancy rate and rental figures has put an end to rumors that he country to promote Michigan’s eco- [email protected] are positives, going prices aren’t quite in the plans to run for president next year. nomic recovery — and Detroit’s The Bank of America building in Troy is on upper end of that range. Even prominent, But that doesn’t mean he’s not emergence from bankruptcy — if he the market — and when it sells, it is expected Class A office buildings in the region aren’t thinking about his political future. doesn’t eventually aspire to a nation- to be one of the biggest suburban office supporting a $150-per-square-foot-or-high- A packed national travel schedule, al post? building sales in recent memory. er sale price, he said. which is positioned as a way to tout Snyder offered a brief statement Depending on whom you ask, the For example, in downtown Detroit, Dan Michigan’s “comeback story,” is Thursday saying he is promoting 450,000-square-foot building directly east of Gilbert purchased the 1 million-square-foot viewed by political watchers Michigan’s economic success The Somerset Collection on West Big Beaver Kevin Kernen: Not One Detroit Center building for $100 million as Snyder’s effort to gain story to a national audience in Road could sell for between $100 and $150 a sold on office ($100 per square foot) and, along with Merid- name recognition on a na- square foot or $45 million to $67.5 million. building prices ian Health, the 1.1 million-square-foot Com- tional stage. From California See SNYDER, Page 27 Some brokers predict it could be even more. puware Corp. headquarters building on in late April to a New York visit But Kevin Kernen, managing director of valuation Campus Martius for $142 million ($129 per square late last week, Snyder is seem- Rick Snyder: Talking about and financial options for Southfield-based Stout Ri- ingly making traction in at least Michigan’s future, sius Ross Inc., said that although the landmark build- See BANK, Page 26 not his Sleep industry wakes to customer demand By Dustin Walsh down on the job; even mattress and “Sleep is more than just laying on ed revenue of just under $100 mil- [email protected] sleep system makers, such as Bloom- a flat surface; it’s a lifestyle compo- lion in 2014 and expects to surpass Sensors, biomarkers and algo- field Hills-based Reverie, are creating nent,” said Martin Rawls-Meehan, that this year. Rawls-Meehan relo- rithms are becoming part of every- their own customizable, high-tech founder and CEO of Reverie. “People cated the company from Massachu- day health technology — from the devices to keep up with other sectors. are demanding customization and setts to metro Detroit in late 2011. [REVERIE] use of step trackers to connected Reverie, a dba of Ascion LLC, is in- technology from all of their products It employs 150 employees, 40 of Sleep is a component of lifestyle, says diet plans built into smartphones. creasing its research and develop- and, in the bedding category, allows them in Bloomfield Hills. Reverie CEO Martin Rawls-Meehan. The industry of sleep isn’t lying ment spending to carve out its slice us to take the sector to the next The company’s current offerings of the increasingly technology- level.” include an adjustable bed with © Entire contents copyright 2015 heavy but highly competitive $14.2 Reverie, which has manufactured by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved. billion U.S. mattress industry. adjustable beds since 2003, generat- See REVERIE, Page 25 crainsdetroit.com Vol. 31 No 19 $2 a copy. $59 a year. Where can you turn for of construction heavy lifting legal matters? NEWSPAPER 20150511-NEWS--0002-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 5/8/2015 4:13 PM Page 1 2 CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS // May 11, 2015 our evolution and builds on our be an all-write-in competition. MICHIGAN strong platform. We are committed Ⅲ Hal Fitch, who, as director of INSIDE to making this combination a reality.” the Michigan Department of Environ- THIS ISSUE Perrigo Chairman and CEO Joe mental Quality’s Office of Oil, Gas, and BANKRUPTCIES . 7 BUSINESS DIARY . 22 Papa said that while there ultimately Minerals oversees regulation of oil CALENDAR . 24 “is a number at some point” where and gas wells, said the May 2 earth- CLASSIFIED ADS . 25 Perrigo directors would have to con- quake in Kalamazoo County is unre- CRAIN’S LIST . 21 sider selling, this spring’s $4.5 billion lated to fracking or other drilling in KEITH CRAIN . 8 BRIEFS acquisition of a Belgian company the area, MLive.com reported. MARY KRAMER . 15 positioned it with a greater ability to Ⅲ The Michigan Court of Appeals OPINION . 8 Tesla to buy Grand Rapids cilities after the $5 billion deal it grow and remain independent. has ordered the Michigan Public Ser- OTHER VOICES . 9 auto supplier Riviera Tool struck last month to sell its chlorine A deal with Perrigo, which is vice Commission to hold another PEOPLE . 23 business to Olin Corp., Bloomberg domiciled in Ireland but retains hearing concerning the costs RUMBLINGS . 30 Tesla Motors is acquiring one of reported. headquarters in Allegan, would cre- charged to customers who don’t STAGE TWO STRATEGIES . 14 WEEK ON THE WEB . 30 its suppliers of stamped parts, Dow will eliminate 1,500 to 1,750 ate a corporation with 2014 pro- want so-called smart meters from Grand Rapids-based Riviera Tool, jobs. The company, which had 53,000 forma revenue of $15.3 billion and Jackson-based Consumers Energy. Automotive News reported. A Tesla employees at the end of last year, has 70 manufacturing sites worldwide. The meters typically allow utilities to COMPANY INDEX: spokesperson declined to provide been under pressure from the hedge monitor electricity without sending SEE PAGE 29 the price or terms of the acquisition. fund Third Point LLC to split its spe- Visteon to shut Holland an employee to each address. Tesla eventually will rename the cialty chemical and petrochemical unit,move workers to HQ Ⅲ The Michigan State University operation Tesla Tool & Die. It is ex- businesses. The company also an- College of Engineering received a $5 in his advertising campaigns, start- pected to retain Riviera’s 100 work- nounced last fall a three-year, $1 bil- Visteon Corp. will close its Holland million commitment to create the ed his career in car sales at Roy ers while continuing to add jobs. lion “productivity drive” to cut costs operations by the end of the year, Gary A. and Patricia A. Coffman En- O’Brien Ford in St. Clair Shores in the Tesla CEO Elon Musk said at the and push earnings higher. MLive.com reported. The auto sup- dowed Scholarship/Fellowship pro- 1960s, his obituary said. Automotive News World Congress in plier said it hopes to retain about 175 gram. Gary Coffman graduated Ⅲ Southfield-based 123Net Inc. ac- January that the automaker would Mylan to make acquisition of the 240 workers affected by offer- from MSU in 1974 and spent 31 quired T2 Communications LLC in be interested in manufacturing in pitch to Perrigo shareholders ing them jobs in Van Buren Town- years with Dow Corning Corp. Holland, MiBiz reported. The deal Michigan. “It’s not out of the ques- ship, where Visteon is headquartered. Ⅲ Jack Keller, founder of Keller comes as 123Net, a telecommunica- tion,” Musk said. “Maybe Michigan Mylan N.V. remains committed to Visteon acquired its Holland tech- Ford in Grand Rapids, died April 30 tions and Internet service provider, shouldn’t stop us from selling cars acquiring Perrigo Co. plc and plans nical center from Johnson Controls at age 88, MLive.com reported. looked to expand its customer base here. That would be a nice gesture.” to present its case directly to Perrigo Inc. in July 2014 for $264 million. Keller, known as a “great, great guy” and capabilities in West Michigan. In October, Gov. Rick Snyder shareholders, setting up a potential signed a bill that bars Tesla from sell- shareholder fight for control of the MICH-CELLANEOUS Corrections ing its vehicles directly to consumers. company, MiBiz reported. Ⅲ The city of Flint said only one Mylan has financing in place for mayoral candidate, 1st Ward Council- Ⅲ An article on Page 11 of the May 4 edition incorrectly stated the an- Dow to cut up to 1,750 jobs the acquisition, has initiated antitrust man Eric Mays, filed petitions before nual investment in Macomb County by St. John Macomb-Oakland Hospi- after unloading chlorine unit clearance and “is confident that we the April 21 deadline — but he didn’t tal as $100 million. The correct value is $10 million.