Another major downtown Detroit skyscraper has been sold, and — surprise! — the buyer was not Dan Gilbert.

Triple Properties, the Toronto-based real estate firm that already owns the Silverdome in Pontiac, bought downtown’s historic Penobscot Building last week for a price estimated to be in the $5-million range.

The seller was Capmark, an investment firm that obtained the title to the Penobscot in a foreclosure action against the former owner, the Northern Group.

“We have witnessed a tremendous amount of start-up activity in Detroit these days,” said David Friedman, president and CEO of the Farmington Hills-based real estate firm Friedman that negotiated the sale by Capmark. “We look forward to this building once again playing a significant role in fueling future growth.”

The 47-story Penobscot was built in the 1920s during the golden age of Detroit skyscraper building from a design by noted architect Wirt Rowland of the firm Smith, Hinchman Grylls. The building has changed hands several times in the past 20 years.

Gilbert, founder and chairman of Quicken Loans, has engaged in a buying spree of downtown’s historic office towers in the past year, snapping up the Chase Tower, First National, Dime Building, and others. But the Penobscot was not among them, although Gilbert’s real estate advisers were among the potential buyers who scouted the Penobscot in recent months.

The building is about 45% to 50% occupied with tenants including Strategic Staffing Solutions and Wayne County Friend of the Court.

Bob Mihelich, a broker with Southfield-based CBRE who represents Triple Properties, said Triple’s owner Andreas Apostolopoulos plans to offer office rental rates in the Penobscot of about $10 per square foot — below the general market asking rate of $14 to $20 per foot.

“By doing that it would hopefully draw some people who either want to switch, move, or come downtown,” Mihelich said Friday. “The idea is to lure people in with very attractive rental rates and then (Triple) will spend some money to dial up the suites.”

The Penobscot is actually three interconnected buildings sharing the same name.

There are smaller buildings built in 1905 and 1916 joined to the skyscraper built in 1928. Until the Renaissance Center was built in the 1970s, the Penobscot was Detroit’s tallest building.

The Penobscot is expected to require updating to its windows and other infrastructure.

A successful revitalization of the Penobscot would notch another positive step forward for downtown’s financial district, which in recent months has seen several older buildings get new life through Gilbert’s efforts to refurbish them and move in employees from Quicken and related companies.

Contact John Gallagher: 313-222-5173 or gallagher99@freepress.com

A star moving into a new neigbourhood always creates a stir. It wasn’t any different when Deepika Padukone moved from her Bandra apartment to her palatial abode in a Prabhadevi luxury highrise.

And now, a little over six months since her house-warming party and just a couple of months after pictures of her new home was splashed across a luxury interior décor magazine, we have heard the actress wants to sell it off.

Some sources attribute her decision to her break-up with Sidhartha Mallya early this year. Real estate professionals in the area have apparently already started looking for prospective buyers for Deepika’s house.

Our source reveals, “Talk is that Deepika is not too keen on continuing her stay in this spacious apartment on the 30th floor of the exclusive residential address. In fact, a couple of real estate professionals are wooing prospective buyers saying the house has been done up as per the actress’ wish and every aspect of the plush interiors have her personal touch.”

Shadows from the past

The fact that Deepika purchased this apartment during her days of dating Sidhartha and her subsequent break-up with her beau may indicate that the actress perhaps is not comfortable harbouring memories of both of them together in this house.

Next is where?

Her father and former badminton champion, Prakash Padukone had accompanied her when she got the agreement for this house registered. Now question is, if she really sells this house, where will the actress move to next?

Thomas Lavender was happy to learn Friday that he had qualified for $15,000 from the Neighborhood Lift program to make the down payment on a home in Las Vegas.

That’s a small hurdle compared with finding the right house for his budget.

Even with 30-year mortgage rates at historic lows and home prices down 60 percent from their peak, buying a house in Las Vegas is not as easy as some people think.

Lavender, who attended a workshop presented by Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, said he wants to buy a home near his mother, sister and uncle around Craig Road and North Fifth Street, which is not in the Las Vegas city limits.

“I looked at two homes and on one house, they paid cash and on the other I got outbid,” said Lavender, a 34-year-old father of four. “I want my kids to grow up in Vegas and have a house to grow up in. I’m keeping an open mind. If I find a home and it’s comfortable and affordable and my kids like it, I’ll live just about anywhere.”

Lavender was among more than 1,100 prospective homebuyers who registered for the two-day Neighborhood Lift workshop, which continues today from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Riviera. For registration and information on what to bring to the workshop, visit www.neighborhoodlift.com.

The program is designed to attract qualified homebuyers to neighborhoods struggling with high inventory of unsold homes. Neighborhood Housing Services of Southern Nevada is offering as much as $15,000 in down payment assistance grants to prospective homebuyers who meet income guidelines of up to 120 percent of annual median income, or about $79,200 for a family of four.

The home must be purchased within Las Vegas’ city limits and must be owner-occupied for at least five years for the grant to be forgiven, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage regional sales manager Sandy Streator said. Buyers also have to qualify for a first mortgage.

“You don’t need perfect credit,” she said. “You need at least one year of good credit. You can have mistakes in the past.”

The down payment grant can be “layered” with other programs such as the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, so that someone could get an additional $20,000 to pay down the cost of the home, Streator said.

Robyn Yates of Windermere Prestige Properties said she’s been talking to her agents about the Neighborhood Lift program.

“It’s an incredible program if they can find a house and if they can qualify. You have to have a job and good credit rating,” Yates said.

She said banks would rather lend to owner-occupants, which is better for the community as a whole, but they’re getting multiple offers from cash investors. Most of the foreclosure deals are gone soon after listing.

“It’s just so different in Las Vegas and goofed up,” Yates said. “In terms of deals, buyers should look at short sales. Generally, there’s less competition than foreclosures. If you can wait, you’re more likely to get the property. There is no silver bullet.”

Eduardo Ramirez pays $700 a month to rent a two-bedroom apartment around Lake Mead and Jones boulevards and wants to get back to being a homeowner. He’s looking for something in the $120,000 price range around Buffalo and Vegas drives.

“You come out better in the long run buying a house instead of renting and throwing away your money,” the 66-year-old retiree said. “I had a house before, but unfortunately, the situation with my marriage didn’t work out and I end up back to square one, back to zero. But I’m 66 and still kicking.”

Contact reporter Hubble Smith at hsmith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0491.

How would you like Gauri Khan designing your house or Sachin Tendulkar as your new neighbour? Well, this is not mere lip service but is actually made possible for you by Pune developers. Branded homes fall in this category.

Branded residences are an emerging concept in luxury housing wherein developers tie up with celebrities, international luxury hospitality, lifestyle brands and Pune is certainly getting a fair share of such projects.

“Pune’s residential market has seen some significant high end project launches over the last few 15 – 18 months of which as many as four to five branded luxury projects that are designed by celebrity and celebrity designers. These include Glitterati designed by Gauri Khan by Kolte Patil Developers, YOO Philippe Starck – Panchshil and One North designed by Twinkle Khanna and Panchshil developers,” says Shveta Jain, Director, Residential Services, Cushman and Wakefield India.

Adds Shveta that the main reason is to create a USP for the property and an endorsement from a well known designer or a celebrity gives the project visibility and acceptability amongst the audiences.

On choosing Gauri Khan to design for the brand, Yogesh Mehra, Vice President Business Development, Sales Marketing , Kolte Patil Developers says, “I personally don’t believe in getting a brand ambassador who has no relation with the real estate industry. We wanted some celebrity designer who could be associated with the brand, whose designs weren’t exposed and there was an element of excitement for the buyers to see what was offered to them and Gauri fitted the bill perfectly.”

Elaborating on the designs, Mehra avers that Gauri takes the more of classic and traditional approach. “She gives us suggestions like using neutrals colours on the walls that will adapt to everybody’s lifestyle and use lot of colours and accents in soft furnishings, curios and art.”

Talking about her stint, Gauri Khan says, “After seeing ‘Mannat’ that I have designed, when they approached me, I was glad to be on board. For me designing a friend’s house doesn’t excite much because it’s more on a personal level. Associating with a developer is a job where I have my deadlines and have to work according to a budget which is very exciting and challenging . I have always been inclined towards painting and doing interiors. And in this project also, I will strive to make the house, a home by introducing the elements that people want.”

While some celebrities are actively involved in creating the actual product, many others are pure brand ambassadors . Inclusion of a brand ambassador either in the form of a celebrity or a celebrated designer is able to create better brand recall and value for the buyer.

Sachin Tendulkar is the brand ambassador of Amit Enterprises Housing Ltd. On this note, Kishor Pate, CMD, Amit Enterprises Housing Ltd says, “When celebrities design or endorse a residential project, they are not merely entering into a marketing arrangement with the developer. They keep their own brand image firmly in mind and will therefore not strike up such associations arbitrarily. There is a vigilant vetting process at various levels involved to ensure that the project indeed lives up to the celebrity’s brand.”

Buyers into such properties are therefore assured of very high standards that go beyond the usual marketing claims and are, in fact, further tied into the qualities that the celebrity stands for and believes in. By the same coin, there is considerable responsibility on the developer to deliver such standards at every stage and aspect of his project.

“The USP these residences offer are extremely evolved amenities and facilities , a designer brand address and in many cases superior project management ,” says Sanjay Bajaj, Managing Director – Pune, Jones Lang LaSalle India. It is worth mentioning that the demand for such homes is directly wired into the wealth-creation potential of an economy. “The potential growth of this sector in Pune and other cities will be in tandem with the way in which the Indian economy swings,” concludes Bajaj.

Another major downtown Detroit skyscraper has been sold, and — surprise! — the buyer was not Dan Gilbert.

Triple Properties, the Toronto-based real estate firm that already owns the Silverdome in Pontiac, bought downtown’s historic Penobscot Building last week for a price estimated to be in the $5-million range.

The seller was Capmark, an investment firm that obtained the title to the Penobscot in a foreclosure action against the former owner, the Northern Group.

“We have witnessed a tremendous amount of start-up activity in Detroit these days,” said David Friedman, president and CEO of the Farmington Hills-based real estate firm Friedman that negotiated the sale by Capmark. “We look forward to this building once again playing a significant role in fueling future growth.”

The 47-story Penobscot was built in the 1920s during the golden age of Detroit skyscraper building from a design by noted architect Wirt Rowland of the firm Smith, Hinchman Grylls. The building has changed hands several times in the past 20 years.

Gilbert, founder and chairman of Quicken Loans, has engaged in a buying spree of downtown’s historic office towers in the past year, snapping up the Chase Tower, First National, Dime Building, and others. But the Penobscot was not among them, although Gilbert’s real estate advisers were among the potential buyers who scouted the Penobscot in recent months.

The building is about 45% to 50% occupied with tenants including Strategic Staffing Solutions and Wayne County Friend of the Court.

Bob Mihelich, a broker with Southfield-based CBRE who represents Triple Properties, said Triple’s owner Andreas Apostolopoulos plans to offer office rental rates in the Penobscot of about $10 per square foot — below the general market asking rate of $14 to $20 per foot.

“By doing that it would hopefully draw some people who either want to switch, move, or come downtown,” Mihelich said Friday. “The idea is to lure people in with very attractive rental rates and then (Triple) will spend some money to dial up the suites.”

The Penobscot is actually three interconnected buildings sharing the same name.

There are smaller buildings built in 1905 and 1916 joined to the skyscraper built in 1928. Until the Renaissance Center was built in the 1970s, the Penobscot was Detroit’s tallest building.

The Penobscot is expected to require updating to its windows and other infrastructure.

A successful revitalization of the Penobscot would notch another positive step forward for downtown’s financial district, which in recent months has seen several older buildings get new life through Gilbert’s efforts to refurbish them and move in employees from Quicken and related companies.

Contact John Gallagher: 313-222-5173 or gallagher99@freepress.com