Billionaires Buy Out 70% of Downtown Offices and Remake Detroit (2)

For Rocket Cos. founder Dan Gilbert, a $6 billion bet on Detroit’s comeback is starting to pay off.

General Motors Co. agreed in mid-April to move its headquarters from an isolated pair of towers on the Detroit River to Hudson’s Detroit, a shiny glass and gold complex that the billionaire built in the heart of downtown. Less than two weeks later, more than 800,000 people packed the streets for the NFL draft, which Gilbert helped land thanks to his relationship with the league’s commissioner.

And in a downtown where not long ago few dared to walk around after dark, longer-term residents are arriving as ...