NY, unknown local firm buy Fisher and Kahn buildings - The Detroit News
Detroit — A New York firm and an unknown local real estate developer won the online auction for the landmark Fisher and Albert Kahn buildings with a bid of $12. 2 million, according to a real estate source. The firm HFZ Capital Group is a real estate investment and development company that manages more than 5 million square feet of Manhattan real estate, according to its website. Crain's Detroit Business is reporting HFZ intends $70 million to $80 million in upgrades in the buildings and would convert some of the top floors of the 30-story Fisher into residential. Many potential bidders explored converting part of the Fisher Building into residential, said Anne Galbraith Kohn, a senior vice president with CBRE, a commerial real estate service firm. Galbraith Kohn said various potential bidders had contacted her about the sale of the buildings. The buildings sold for $31 million in 2001. The Fisher and Kahn buildings are opulent art deco examples of how much money flowed through Detroit when the area was the unrivaled auto manufacturing center of the world. The financial struggles of the Detroit buildings that led to the auction in some ways reflect the struggles of the New Center neighborhood, just north of the Wayne State University campus along Woodward. The economy of the New Center area is dominated by the Henry Ford Health System, the Detroit Public School system,. Source: www.detroitnews.com
