A local construction firm has become the newest buyer to pick up a building out of Dan Gilbert's Detroit real estate portfolio. Jarbou Ronnisch Construction has acquired the Capitol Square Building at 1265 Griswold St. in the Capitol Park neighborhood, a six-story red brick structure built at the end of the 19th century.
The purchase was first reported by Crain's Detroit Business, which described Jarbou Ronnisch as the latest firm to acquire a building owned by Gilbert. The outlet's report, authored by Kirk Pinho, included a photo of the Capitol Square Building that was provided by Jarbou Ronnisch Construction itself. Beyond identifying the building and its new owner, the report did not disclose the purchase price, closing date, or how the deal was financed.
A Separate Capitol Park Sale Raises Questions
The sale comes amid a flurry of activity around Gilbert's Capitol Park holdings. A separate report from Crain's Detroit describes Bedrock, Gilbert's real estate company, selling a Capitol Park building at 1250 Griswold St. that was built in 1917 — a different address and construction date than the Capitol Square Building at 1265 Griswold St. It's not clear from the available reporting whether these are two distinct Capitol Park properties or whether one of the addresses is in error, and neither report resolves the discrepancy.
That same Crain's report framed the sale as unusual, noting in its subheadline that Gilbert “just did something he very rarely does” by parting with a Capitol Park property. The report did not specify how many prior sales Gilbert or Bedrock have made in the neighborhood, so the “very rarely” characterization should be read as the outlet's own description rather than a tallied figure.
Gilbert's Broader Footprint in Capitol Park and Beyond
Bedrock has been active in Capitol Park well beyond this latest transaction. Earlier reporting from Crain's Detroit detailed Bedrock LLC's purchase of the Herman and Ben Marks Furs building at 1211 Griswold St. in the same district for $3.85 million, underscoring the company's steady accumulation of property along Griswold Street.
Gilbert's presence downtown extends well past Capitol Park. According to Bloomberg, Gilbert has made a $6 billion bet on Detroit's comeback through his Rocket Cos. ventures, and he helped bring the NFL draft to the city, an event that drew more than 800,000 people to downtown streets. Bloomberg's reporting also notes that General Motors agreed in mid-April to relocate its headquarters from its riverfront towers to Gilbert's Hudson's Detroit complex, another sign of the scale of real estate movement tied to his holdings downtown.
For now, the Capitol Square Building adds Jarbou Ronnisch Construction to the list of buyers reshaping ownership along Griswold Street, even as basic details of the deal — and the relationship between the two Capitol Park addresses now in the news — remain unconfirmed.
