Bedrock buys Stroh River Place site on Detroit riverfront

Candice Williams
The Detroit News

Dan Gilbert’s real estate firm Bedrock LLC has purchased the 300 River Place commercial building, a move that expands its presence along the Detroit riverfront, the firm announced Friday.

Bedrock finalized the purchase from The Stroh Companies Inc. this week for an undisclosed price. The 500,000-square-foot building, known as Stroh River Place, sits in the Rivertown Warehouse District, east of downtown Detroit.

300 River Place is a 500,000-square-foot office building along the Detroit riverfront.

“The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy and other major stakeholders have done an incredible job of providing an abundance of activity and growth along the riverfront,” Kofi Bonner, CEO of Bedrock said in a statement. “We are excited to formally join the Riverfront community and expand on their efforts to make Detroit’s Riverwalk one of the city’s most memorable places for families to gather, friends to play and people to work.”

The purchase includes 735 parking spaces and 4.4 acres of undeveloped land at 2743 Wight, 2748 Franklin and 2615-2655 Atwater. The property sits along the 3.5-mile Detroit Riverwalk.

This isn't Bedrock's first purchase outside downtown Detroit. In the fall, the firm bought an industrial property, the former Sakthi Industrial Campus along West Fort, just west of downtown. In 2019, it opened the Assembly, a $39 million mixed-use building for retail, office and residential space in Corktown. The property is a short distance from the east Riverfront.

“This acquisition puts us in a position to provide a unique offering relative to our existing portfolio, and provides tenants interested in the city of Detroit with direct access to a district where we see a lot of potential,” said Sam Hamburger, Bedrock's vice president of acquisitions.

“We always have our eyes on the market, looking for opportunities to expand our portfolio in meaningful ways," he said. "This acquisition leverages years of hard work by the Stroh family, the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, and other stakeholders, and includes multiple assets that we will utilize to further our mission, focused on Detroit’s riverfront.”

Bedrock's purchase includes 300 River Place, River Place Parking Garage and 4.4 acres of undeveloped land.

The building was formerly a manufacturing and research facility the Parke-Davis & Company built in phases from 1928 to 1939. The Stroh Brewery Company purchased the building in 1979 and renovated it into a mixed-use campus.

“The Stroh family has been an integral part of Detroit’s business community since 1850,” said John Stroh III, chairman and CEO of The Stroh Companies.  “Our family is proud of the presence we have created along the east riverfront these past 40 years. I am delighted that Bedrock has decided to acquire Stroh River Place and continue the legacy we built. It would be safe to say that no other investor in Detroit is better equipped with the critical mass and vision to carry 300 River Place into the future."

Bedrock said it will maintain its current tenants while filling vacant space. Tenants include the Belle Isle Conservancy, Michigan Minority Contractors and the Associated Press.

cwilliams@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @CWilliams_DN