DETROIT BUSINESS MAIN 10-02-06 A 1 CDB 9/29/2006 6:26 PM Page 1 ® http://www.crainsdetroit.com Vol. 22, No. 40 OCTOBER 2 – 8, 2006 $1.50 a copy; $59 a year ©Entire contents copyright 2006 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved THIS JUST IN Grand Prix Redico buys former Compuware HQ Redico L.L.C. was in the process of closing Friday on the purchase of the for- return revs mer Compuware Corp. head- quarters in Farmington Hills. Redico plans to lease a large portion of the build- ing at 31440 Northwestern Hwy. to Trott & Trott P.C., a tourism push law firm focused on resi- dential mortgage foreclo- sures, bankruptcy and re- lated specialties. Trott & Events drive momentum Trott President and CEO REBECCA COOK David Trott confirmed the BY BRENT SNAVELY Workers at U.S. Steel’s Great Lakes Works plant in Ecorse walk through the building where CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS deal late Friday. molten iron is converted to giant steel slabs that weigh 25 tons or more. The complex, built in As news leaked out Thursday that the Grand Prix 1987, includes the 190,000- would be returning to Detroit, six cruise ship representa- square-foot headquarters tives were meeting with the Detroit Metro Convention & Vis- and a more than 40,000- itors Bureau to showcase Detroit as a potential port for ad- square-foot annex with ditional Great Lakes ships to dock. health club, cafeteria and Although those executives have not yet made any deci- day-care center space. sions, the bureau said the timing of the Grand Prix an- Trott said the law firm nouncement was perfect. and affiliated businesses “This just demonstrates that there are positive, excit- plan to move in next spring ing things taking place and this is just another example and will use the annex. The of that,” said Michael O’Callaghan, executive vice presi- firm has an equity stake in dent and COO of the bureau. the deal as well, he said. This is the first group visit by cruise industry mem- “It’s a great building,” Trott said. Trott & Trott’s See Prix, Page 33 current headquarters is at 30400 Telegraph Road in New investment, recovering steel industry buoy Bingham Farms. The property was likely Great Lakes Works, but union, community disputes still loom to sell for less than $20 mil- lion, said Steve Morris, BY BRENT SNAVELY ■ Significantly re- principal at GVA Strategis in CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS INSIDE duced the plant’s acci- Game plan Southfield. Previous nego- dent rate while in- ■ Efforts at Great tiations to sell the head- ince taking over Great Lakes Works creasing production three years ago, U.S. Steel Corp. has Lakes Works quarters had it valued at control, eliminate by more than 56 per- S breathed life into a steel plant that cent. Firms have too few tickets, about $23 million, he said. pollution. Dale Watchowski, presi- was slowly dying under the strained fi- Page 32. U.S. Steel also has dent and CEO of Redico, de- nances of its previous owner by increas- ■ Dearborn- completed a number too many ‘friends’ clined to comment. ing production and investing in plant re- based Kenwal of smaller projects, Compuware vacated the pairs. plans two such as pouring a Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel acquired processing former headquarters for its concrete floor in one BY TOM HENDERSON the 1,100-acre Great Lakes Works in centers in the new $400 million down- of the steel plant’s AND BILL SHEA Ecorse and River Rouge, as well as other South. Page 32. town Detroit headquarters buildings and paint- CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS in mid-2002. steelmaking assets previously owned by ing a number of walls. — Jennette Smith bankrupt National Steel Corp., in May 2003 It also has begun putting a new inventory “Tiger fever” is not a feline as part of a $1.1 billion deal. system in place. strain of Asian flu, but it is an Since then, Great “We took an idle facility, we re-estab- affliction that could manifest Wayne State doctors, DMC Lakes Works General lished the production of steel out of this itself this continue contract talks Manager Fred Jauss facility, we have steadily improved the ECONOMIC week in De- said, U.S. Steel has: productivity over the three-year period troit. ■ Eleventh-hour negotia- Decided earlier and currently are running at the highest HOMER By now, tions between Wayne State this month to begin a productivity levels that have ever been the Detroit Tigers University physicians and $30 million project to Potential achieved from a two-blast furnace opera- $71.1M know when and The Detroit Medical Center refurbish its hot strip tion (at Great Lakes Works),” Jauss said. boost to where they’re play- aimed at beating an Oct. 1 mill. Even so, differences with the union Detroit, ing in the post-sea- Ticket to game: contract update deadline ■ Spent about $64 and legal battles with the community re- Page 31. son. Last week, $35-$110; for the Accreditation Council million to install new however, the lack reschedule catered Jauss main. Other challenges also persist. U.S. lunch: $100; for Graduate Medical Educa- air filters and environ- of certainty was wreaking at least Steel continues to battle a class-action temp to cover work tion last week produced a mental equipment to comply with a Feb. lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Detroit minor planning havoc for those phones: $200; 14, 2005, consent order with the Michigan holding tickets for games one See This Just In, Page 2 Tigers in the Department of Environmental Quality. See Steel, Page 32 See Tigers, Page 33 playoffs: Priceless. House Party brings many CRAIN’S LIST to Detroit neighborhoods, Largest business insurance NEWSPAPER Page 3 agencies, Page 16 DETROIT BUSINESS MAIN 10-02-06 A 2 CDB 9/29/2006 6:54 PM Page 1 Page 2 CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS October 2, 2006 offices in Chicago, Farmington New Detroit basketball team Martinez will direct Comeri- Gross managing principal and THIS JUST IN Hills, Cleveland and Washington ca’s Hispanic business and com- CEO, succeeding Thomas Ernst, that provides valuation and liti- to have tryouts this weekend munity outreach. She joined the who is continuing as chief strate- ■ From Page 1 gation advisory services and in- Detroit is getting another in- bank after 10 years at Ford Motor gy officer. Ernst has led the firm Co. vestment-banking services. carnation of an American Basket- , where she had been commu- since 1982. — Brent Snavely nity relations program manager joint letter assuring ongoing ball Association team this fall, with Gross also is president and and liaison of Hispanic communi- talks, but no contract. the Detroit Panthers, owned by for- founder of Cornerstone Advisory The two sides reported that ty relations. Oakland Commerce Bank CEO mer Lion NFL quarterback Char- Group and president of The Alterna- “good-faith negotiations between Martinez replaces Enrique lie Batch, planning to host 18 tive Board-Detroit, positions he will the parties are in progress and Carrillo, who left the bank in take VP job at Fifth Third games in the River Rouge High maintain. will continue until an agreement May to become group vice presi- School gymnasium. is reached,” Donna Dauphinais, Rob Naudi has joined South- dent at Bethesda, Md.-based Chevy Ernst will be focused on map- medical school Dean Robert field-based Fifth Third Bank Eastern Previous Detroit ABA teams Chase Bank. ping the firm’s expansion into Mentzer’s chief of staff, said in an Michigan after 11 months as presi- since the old ABA merged with — Tom Henderson new markets and services out- e-mailed statement. dent and CEO of Farmington the NBA in 1976 have included side of Southeast Michigan. Ford The council had demanded the Hills-based Oakland Commerce the championship Detroit Dogs Ford & Earl names CEO & Earl has practices including ar- update as part of a review that Bank, an affiliate of Lansing- coached by George Gervin in chitecture, interior design, mar- could shut down of Wayne State’s based Capitol Bancorp Ltd. 2000-2001, and more recently the Troy-based design firm Ford & keting, graphics and exhibits. 69 residency programs. Naudi will be vice president 2004-2006 Detroit Wheels. Earl Associates has named Tom — Jennette Smith — Michelle Martinez and leader of the bank’s western A Panthers free-agent tryout Oakland County small-business camp is scheduled for Friday, ORRECTIONS Grant Thornton to buy lending team, which focuses on Saturday and Sunday in the Wee- C unit from Stout Risius Ross companies with up to $10 million ber Gym at 1411 Coolidge, River ■ The photographer’s credit was omitted from the 40 Under 40 fea- of revenue. The bank has five Rouge. For information call ture in the Sept. 25 issue. The photos were taken by Glenn Triest. Chicago-based Grant Thornton small-business teams in South- Willie Donwell at (248) 645-2276. ■ An editorial on Page 8 of the Sept. 25 issue should have said that the L.L.P. is planning to announce to- east Michigan. The home schedule isn’t set yet Engineering Society of Detroit was a co-founder of the Da Vinci Awards day that it has acquired Stout “Being president of a small although a pair of home-and- with the Michigan chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Risius Ross Inc.’s Farmington ■ bank was a great opportunity, but home games with the Benton Lisa Yarema’s last name was spelled incorrectly on Page 19 of the Hills-based Restructuring & Per- I’ve got a better fit at a bigger Harbor-St.