New Bedrock CEO Matt Cullen Talks Investment, Hudson Development
Bedrock Detroit’s Matt Cullen talks Downtown development, Riverfront improvements, neighborhoods and equity.
Last month there was a staffing shakeup within Dan Gilbert’s group of Detroit-based companies. Now, born and bred Detroiter Matt Cullen is at the helm of Bedrock Detroit as the new CEO as well as Chairman of the casino gaming company JACK entertainment, and he’s still Chair of the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy.
Cullen joined Detroit Today host Stephen Henderson to discuss the state of the company’s initiatives in the city and the future of the city.
Click on the player above to hear Bedrock’s Matt Cullen in conversation on Detroit Today.
On neighborhoods
“Now, I think a lot of us, certainly following the mayor’s leadership, are expanding our focus on the neighborhoods,” says Cullen, who adds that “[Bedrock] has a variety of different roles throughout the neighborhood. We are spending a lot of time on the educational system and looking to be supportive of them.”
On Hudson’s site
“I think there was sort of an unfortunate framing around the discussion of incentives. There is no risk for the city or the county or the state,” Cullen says. On whether or not the project was too ambitious: “I don’t know if it’s too ambitious, we are really working to refine the project… we need to finish defining the ultimate scope. It’s a little too early to say whether it was too ambitious.”
The future of Bedrock
“There’s always these challenges, you can’t get retail until you get rooftops. I think what Dan [Gilbert] did, and again I’ve had a lot of hats on during this renaissance, Dan came down and said ‘I’m going to take it all on at once, put significant resources toward public space, support retail that the market wasn’t ready for right at the time, bet on infrastructure, put the resources behind all of that.’
It provided a catalyst. It’s very different now, any kind of renaissance. It feels much broader. It was quasi-philanthropic. It’s different now. There’s people showing up everyday, opening restaurants. The market is changing now to the point that capital is very mobile and people believe that employing their capital in Detroit is an attractive outcome.”
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