Latest / Black Fridays: Business Growth for Entrepreneurs, Creators & Professionals / Build a Business That Lasts: Lessons From a Detroit Architect - Ep. 195 w/ Rainy Hamilton Jr.

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Build a Business That Lasts: Lessons From a Detroit Architect - Ep. 195 w/ Rainy Hamilton Jr. · Black Fridays: Business Growth for Entrepreneurs, Creators & Professionals

0:00
[SPEAKER_02]: I built a practice that's now 33 years in running.
0:03
[SPEAKER_02]: That we've had our fingerprints over so much of Detroit.
0:07
[SPEAKER_02]: We've done projects worked on Ford Field, MGM, casino, and resort here at Detroit.
0:14
[SPEAKER_02]: Now that the tech show part is really the easy part.
0:17
[SPEAKER_02]: Managing the business and running the business is the challenge.
0:21
[SPEAKER_02]: Here she who owns the property is King McQueen.
0:24
[SPEAKER_02]: So I would encourage all of your viewers and listeners to you.
0:28
[SPEAKER_02]: Invest in the real estate is good for black man and owner property in downtown Detroit.
0:52
[SPEAKER_01]: My work in professionals, creators, entrepreneurs, I need you out of tap the enter.
0:56
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1:05
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1:12
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1:13
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1:16
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1:23
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1:31
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1:35
[SPEAKER_01]: Now let's go ahead and get back into the episode.
1:37
[SPEAKER_01]: Would I go Black Friday's family and welcome back to another installment of Black Friday's podcast before we get into today's episode and you do it that like button, subscribe, drop a comment, send some videos to fans for his love for us, so we keep this thing going.
1:48
[SPEAKER_01]: Now that we got that business out of the way, I want to introduce you all to somebody who has literally played a role in building the city of Detroit, Rick Bot Brick, the president and owner of Hamilton Anderson and Associates to Mr. Randy Hamilton during a high noon of the day.
2:03
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm doing just fine.
2:04
[SPEAKER_02]: Glad to be here.
2:06
[SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely.
2:06
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for being here and it's been a work that we've been putting together for a while.
2:11
[SPEAKER_01]: It's all very full of to have this conversation with someone who is esteemed as you are in an architecture or space given the limited amount of visibility that people that looked like us have in that space.
2:23
[SPEAKER_01]: And so I would love to be able to start with understanding your journey.
2:27
[SPEAKER_01]: So over the years you've had a chance to touch so many different
2:31
[SPEAKER_01]: amazing projects throughout the city of Etrek and I'll work with so many amazing people organizations, but I would love to know for you, when did that start in terms of your creativity understanding that you had a passion for design and that architecture could actually be a real day for you like what around what age, when did that spark kind of hit you?
2:52
[SPEAKER_02]: Sure, the Zellin and that great question, I had a fondness for art going back to elementary school.
2:59
[SPEAKER_02]: I remember my mother Tony that I did a water color, I went to Mark Twain, which was in South West Victoria, and did a water color, they thought it was so well done that they put it in the showcase in the school, and I remember seeing it in the showcase, and then going through middle school and drafting, I excelled.
3:17
[SPEAKER_02]: and my counselor saw that I had the ability to both work with my hands and the visualize and draw things and actually shop class in middle school when we were the first class of the ward to Charles drew middle school and had a shop class and built a model yacht and all kinds of with them.
3:33
[SPEAKER_02]: So the hands on the building and the arcs part of that kind of all kind of
3:41
[SPEAKER_02]: So when to cast Tech High School, you will pretty well have high schools on her.
3:44
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, absolutely.
3:45
[SPEAKER_02]: And they have an architectural program there, and I from the ninth grade tenth grade walking in the door to start to the architectural program and then graduated from cast about to you, it was the Detroit Mercy School of Architecture.
3:58
[SPEAKER_02]: But I have your program on the bachelor's degree, so it's been kind of a lifelong thing since childhood.
4:03
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, engaged in designing and building, and I see things differently.
4:07
[SPEAKER_02]: I see in three dimensions, right?
4:09
[SPEAKER_02]: So it is kind
4:11
[SPEAKER_01]: And for you, as you maturate approach with Journey, do you feel like that the passion kind of ruins you elevated and learn things as the advancement of that creativity or that initial passion that you had started to elevate or where you always kind of able to send of yourself based on the knack that you had at the youth and then being able to use that as fuel to keep doing.
4:35
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, the passion continues to grow, and it doesn't weighing.
4:40
[SPEAKER_02]: It's innate.
4:41
[SPEAKER_02]: And I still enjoy models.
4:43
[SPEAKER_02]: One of the things that my mother did when I was in elementary school, middle school, she and dolls me with model kits from my hobby store.
4:51
[SPEAKER_02]: And as I put together cars and earplanes and helicopters,
4:55
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think that model building led me to architecture.
4:59
[SPEAKER_02]: So I still dabble, my hobby is model borrowing.
5:03
[SPEAKER_02]: So anything that grows over sale, so trains I love.
5:06
[SPEAKER_02]: I still have a layout in my home that takes up the entire basement and I'm along to model train club.
5:12
[SPEAKER_02]: So it doesn't, it doesn't subside.
5:14
[SPEAKER_02]: It just continues to deteriorate.
5:16
[SPEAKER_02]: It drives me every day.
5:17
[SPEAKER_02]: So the models, the hands-alone, the perfectionism, and also the critical eye.
5:25
[SPEAKER_02]: One thing's about alignment or organized things from building blocks to just furniture.
5:31
[SPEAKER_02]: You want to organize a space.
5:34
[SPEAKER_01]: And speaking of that passion, continue to grow.
5:36
[SPEAKER_01]: So you leave, you a D, and which are the very architecture, and then you actually have worked with Spears prior to starting Hamilton, and I said, associate's what was the turning point for you to say.
5:48
[SPEAKER_01]: You know what?
5:49
[SPEAKER_01]: I think I'm good doing this to somebody else.
5:51
[SPEAKER_01]: I think I can give it a try being able to do it, oh, my mom.
5:55
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, I spent 11 years at Schursmoglmer's, two of the owners of that company, going to my professors in college,
6:02
[SPEAKER_02]: So they drafted me as soon as I graduated, and I stayed there for 11 years and went over to one of the larger companies the smick brew that time was called smickish mary grills S.H.
6:10
[SPEAKER_02]: and G.
6:11
[SPEAKER_01]: and state your three years and it's a major large projects.
6:15
[SPEAKER_02]: And at that point, I just realized that I could do this on my own and potentially do it my way and then have a focus on long Detroit and do things that would have been official to the city of Detroit and in the residents.
6:30
[SPEAKER_02]: So I grew to a point working for a small company in the larger company, taking that experience and started my own practice in 1990.
6:37
[SPEAKER_02]: It's $3.994.
6:41
[SPEAKER_01]: and in terms of operating your own architecture firm for folks who may not be familiar, like you think architecture, you think build this and you people, and simplest terms, people think you should drop build this, but could you talk about what is like to run an architecture firm and it also, some of the services and things that you will actually do.
7:00
[SPEAKER_02]: Sure, we are architects and landscape architects, stage time has been a sure as well, the words.
7:08
[SPEAKER_02]: One partner was a architect, although it was an architect and a landscape architect.
7:11
[SPEAKER_02]: So you can't really design the building without design the site.
7:15
[SPEAKER_02]: So those two disciplines will go hand in hand.
7:18
[SPEAKER_02]: So for me, it was how do you, how do you do work that's based in the tree?
7:25
[SPEAKER_02]: And at that time, the tree was relayed a ghost house.
7:29
[SPEAKER_02]: So I started my home and then discovered quickly that I couldn't have employees or had those employees come in even if I'm taking a sit there, right?
7:38
[SPEAKER_02]: So we moved downtown found a loft office and that's what we are today.
7:42
[SPEAKER_02]: We're on Randall Street in the Randall City of Philadelphia.
7:46
[SPEAKER_02]: But the doing the architectural part is really the easy part, managing the business and running the business is the challenge.
7:55
[SPEAKER_02]: It's always about finding the next project.
7:58
[SPEAKER_02]: It's being competitive with your fees.
8:01
[SPEAKER_02]: It's the managing the consultants that are working with you.
8:04
[SPEAKER_02]: We outsource engineering.
8:06
[SPEAKER_02]: So some cases we won't have one or two consultants working with.
8:09
[SPEAKER_02]: There's another case if you may have a team of
8:12
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, 20 consultants working with us.
8:14
[SPEAKER_02]: We were one of the architects that led the redevelopment of the Hudson site for the Hudson's tower.
8:19
[SPEAKER_02]: And we had consultants from all around the country, even international consultants working under our contract to pull that project off.
8:25
[SPEAKER_02]: So, the business of architecture, you will later more complicated piece.
8:30
[SPEAKER_02]: The actual practice of architecture is relatively straightforward.
8:35
[SPEAKER_02]: The other challenge today is that most projects in Detroit are budget challenge.
8:42
[SPEAKER_02]: And so it's always about how to design something that the client you have for.
8:46
[SPEAKER_02]: So we always have that at the top of our mind that we have to become a client's business partner.
8:54
[SPEAKER_02]: Because how do we, how do we craft a design?
8:56
[SPEAKER_02]: It's kind of have a positive impact on your, on your bottom line.
9:00
[SPEAKER_02]: So we eat a class, we want to be a business partner.
9:03
[SPEAKER_02]: Over one of the year Taylor, you're going to come to us, you want to suit me, you're going to tell us, you're going to have notion but what the material should be, what's it cut?
9:12
[SPEAKER_02]: Why the pal, small pal, pleaded pants, cuff pants or even that?
9:17
[SPEAKER_02]: And then we help to design your suit as well.
9:20
[SPEAKER_02]: And so we'll design a client's project for them based on their program.
9:24
[SPEAKER_02]: The things that they want to see can do then.
9:25
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
9:27
[SPEAKER_01]: I think that that level of partnership is extremely important to be in the consultant part of architecture to be able to partner with someone and say, hey, I know this is how you think about doing it, but that's not going to work or might want to rethink this because I'm sure there are people in the practice and in the industry that whenever you want, I draw it up and make it happen however it needs to get done, but the actual consultant of sure is very key in terms of being able to
9:54
[SPEAKER_01]: get to Amazon all day.
9:55
[SPEAKER_01]: Everybody's going to be able to benefit from.
9:57
[SPEAKER_02]: Sure.
9:57
[SPEAKER_02]: And one of the things I've been proud of so so on, we don't just give you one alternative.
10:03
[SPEAKER_02]: There's usually more than one solution to a design problem.
10:06
[SPEAKER_02]: So we'll look at four, two, three, four, five, sometimes six.
10:10
[SPEAKER_02]: And now with AI.
10:12
[SPEAKER_02]: really explore pretty quickly so we can give you a dozen of different scenarios for your project design.
10:19
[SPEAKER_02]: And then we can then help you to evaluate each one.
10:22
[SPEAKER_02]: We can talk about the cost of each one and then help the client to take the right solution.
10:27
[SPEAKER_01]: So it's a team process and we really try to
10:30
[SPEAKER_02]: And, you know, a lot to be said about listening, and then the ability to sketch and draw and to develop concepts that are creative and most important on budget, but it's always a challenge.
10:38
[SPEAKER_02]: Exactly.
10:39
[SPEAKER_02]: And then using clients have big ideas, big themes, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas, big ideas,
10:56
[SPEAKER_01]: And so I have plenty of more questions for you, but before you get into those, I want to introduce you to my favorite part of Black Friday, which is Freestyle Friday.
11:09
[SPEAKER_01]: Sure, so Mr. Hamilton, if you want to know, we will need you to wrap right now.
11:13
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, rap, y'all really had a moment at come up with some some lyrics.
11:17
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, you could freeze that out.
11:18
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, I'll say this.
11:20
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, I've been working on some lyrics for a song that if our current administration, if our current leader of the, of that state thinks that he's going to run for a turn,
11:33
[SPEAKER_02]: My song is going to be, I'm bringing bomb a back.
11:39
[SPEAKER_02]: Those who might have got beat operas don't know how to add it.
11:44
[SPEAKER_02]: And I'll stop there for sure, and I'll tell you to love just a little bit.
11:47
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, just no.
11:50
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for that, this snippet, the streamer you are, just as well.
11:54
[SPEAKER_02]: And it goes to the, is that Justin Timple, like, that has that song, I'm bringing sexy back.
11:58
[SPEAKER_02]: Yes, yeah.
12:03
[SPEAKER_01]: So if you're on my free spot for out is really just record for our questions to get a little to know a little bit more about to sure got a couple of dollars for you And the first I want to start with young writing and we'll love to know if you go back to that high school version of you if he could meet you today What would he and yeah, I found this talk to him what you think that he would be amazed by or sci-fi I can he would be amazed by how far I've come
12:30
[SPEAKER_02]: I think when I left Smith proved to start my own practice and told my former boss that I just want to be a small practitioner working on my house a couple projects along the way and he said to me, no, Rene, you're the law, meaning you're going to be a success.
12:47
[SPEAKER_02]: So, the young self would, I didn't be amazed that I built a practice that's now 33 years in running.
12:54
[SPEAKER_02]: That we've had our fingerprints over so much a Detroit.
12:59
[SPEAKER_02]: We've done projects worked on Ford Field, MGM, casino, and resort here at Detroit.
13:16
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I don't know.
13:17
[SPEAKER_02]: Rainy was shy, he, bit of an introvert, smart, was teased and bullied in elementary school and middle school.
13:28
[SPEAKER_02]: So I think he would be surprised with how far he has come.
13:32
[SPEAKER_01]: That's amazing.
13:33
[SPEAKER_02]: I'll be 70 on the 22nd of this month.
13:36
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you very much.
13:37
[SPEAKER_02]: Thank you.
13:38
[SPEAKER_02]: So I think he would be pleasantly surprised.
13:41
[SPEAKER_01]: That's what's up.
13:43
[SPEAKER_01]: And if you could take people on a tour of Detroit, architecture, or tour of Detroit, to in properties, or hidden gems that we have, but they are not in that U-touch or your business as tough, what three places would you take people to?
13:57
[SPEAKER_02]: That have not been touched yet.
13:59
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, wow.
14:02
[SPEAKER_02]: that's still being discussed with the euro website.
14:05
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, that comes to mind.
14:06
[SPEAKER_02]: Does that mean there's plans for that to be something we would relate to ethics, I think?
14:11
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's a work ratio.
14:13
[SPEAKER_02]: I still think our member front is poised to be locations for multifamily, high-rise, mid-rise, living opportunities.
14:24
[SPEAKER_02]: So that will do one.
14:27
[SPEAKER_02]: Another one would be, one of the things that was really surprising when I was working that's an instrument I did some a concept for the traditional chamber.
14:40
[SPEAKER_02]: And I called it Rails to Trails, medium of train lover, the wind of the Rosemar, didn't really want to sell a rubber track, so it was active.
14:49
[SPEAKER_02]: Over the years, we became the band in the right away, and I drew images that show let's transform this old band in the right way into a trail with paths so people could walk or jog.
15:04
[SPEAKER_02]: And lo and behold, it's become the Joel Lewis Greenway.
15:08
[SPEAKER_02]: I've got to try and find little sketches, but I think they were tossed long ago.
15:19
[SPEAKER_02]: I like that the groom is here, he's willing to let me look cool.
15:22
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, so those two properties come along the right way the other the other one is Come a young airport.
15:29
[SPEAKER_02]: I think I think we should continue to best so that people there when I'll turn left to born out to Metro if you're able to be able to have access to on private passenger planes that you couldn't believe the ability of destination from the city.
15:46
[SPEAKER_01]: Yep, and not to city airport.
15:47
[SPEAKER_01]: That's city airport, not far ahead.
15:49
[SPEAKER_02]: All right, city airport.
15:51
[SPEAKER_02]: That could be cool.
15:51
[SPEAKER_02]: I think the, uh, be nice to have the, um, Tuskegee Erdogan at that location too.
15:58
[SPEAKER_02]: What's your ability, cool?
15:59
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, for sure.
16:00
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, for sure.
16:01
[SPEAKER_01]: That's on WMAs and Tour, no doubt.
16:03
[SPEAKER_02]: That'd be great.
16:04
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
16:05
[SPEAKER_01]: We talked a little bit about music.
16:06
[SPEAKER_01]: What, what you have more attention?
16:08
[SPEAKER_01]: Where are you listening to current?
16:09
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, I listen to a lot of gospel, um,
16:14
[SPEAKER_02]: Kurt Franklin's one of my favorites.
16:16
[SPEAKER_02]: So my morning routine, uh, use the hourly as scripture.
16:21
[SPEAKER_02]: I have a, the Bible app on my phone.
16:24
[SPEAKER_02]: So I've finally met that the first thing I go to, not social media.
16:27
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
16:28
[SPEAKER_02]: But, um, so I'll read that.
16:30
[SPEAKER_02]: And then I'll, I'll listen to my favorite.
16:34
[SPEAKER_02]: And in more than getting ready for work, just to give my head on straight, you know, about the day, it was always challenges and try to only take on as much as the day brings and that take on stuff tomorrow.
16:47
[SPEAKER_02]: I put to just, you know, pray for enough strength to get through the day and to do it in a way that, you know, God would be honored.
16:54
[SPEAKER_01]: Amen to that.
16:56
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for partying in the freestyle for our pleasure.
16:58
[SPEAKER_01]: Sure.
16:58
[SPEAKER_01]: Sure.
16:59
[SPEAKER_01]: Sure.
16:59
[SPEAKER_01]: Sure.
16:59
[SPEAKER_01]: Sure.
16:59
[SPEAKER_01]: Sure.
16:59
[SPEAKER_01]: Allow us a little bit more into your world.
17:02
[SPEAKER_01]: And so if I could go back to the questions, one of the things that I had, that I know from our research in terms of the landscape of architecture is that they are, I believe, the dares on the 2% representation of like people.
17:15
[SPEAKER_01]: in the industry and I just want to know throughout your many years of working in space and being able to develop your own business to the standpoint of where it is now, where you're heading into the future, what I guess how does that impact the work that you do in terms of the lack thereof of a speak of like architect, that's in the pool.
17:39
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, the one thing that we do is we try to go into the elementary schools and middle schools.
17:44
[SPEAKER_01]: In fact, we just did a career day at CAS.
17:46
[SPEAKER_01]: No, no.
17:47
[SPEAKER_01]: Like a few months ago.
17:49
[SPEAKER_02]: So we've tried to expose the youth to architecture and one of my colleagues, my four is becoming hip-hop architect and the country may be across the world.
18:03
[SPEAKER_02]: We also are members of no model, which is a national organization, military and architects.
18:07
[SPEAKER_02]: We have a pipeline line that we work at every year to make sure that we're getting kids in that pipeline to become an architect.
18:15
[SPEAKER_02]: So we try to make sure we have every touch to use and get them exposed to the profession.
18:21
[SPEAKER_02]: But you're right.
18:22
[SPEAKER_02]: It's a percent of the half.
18:24
[SPEAKER_02]: There are black architects.
18:26
[SPEAKER_02]: And I know at one time, the Americanist of Architects largely majority architects.
18:31
[SPEAKER_02]: There was 45, 60,000 members strong.
18:36
[SPEAKER_02]: Out of that, 600 architects might be African-American.
18:39
[SPEAKER_02]: So we had a client one time, one of the investors in the IBM, who challenged us and said that he heard that really had his white voice.
18:49
[SPEAKER_02]: So we hadn't come into the office and then we told him that,
18:53
[SPEAKER_02]: Let's say there are 600 architects in the country.
18:56
[SPEAKER_02]: Let's do that across 50 states.
18:58
[SPEAKER_02]: So maybe there's 10 plus or minus like architects in every state.
19:02
[SPEAKER_02]: We hard to think that Hamiltonianism would have all 10 or 12 that might be in Michigan working for us.
19:10
[SPEAKER_02]: So we in light and 10 law and just to shear struggle that is to try to find people color that are in the professor.
19:17
[SPEAKER_02]: So it's still a challenge.
19:19
[SPEAKER_02]: And we're working at it.
19:20
[SPEAKER_02]: Fortunately, the number of women in architecture is grown, and when we applaud that, we have a large number of women that work in our office.
19:28
[SPEAKER_02]: But it's still a challenge.
19:30
[SPEAKER_02]: So we're castling, trying to expose the U-dark architecture.
19:34
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's challenging if they have a passion for it, but it's so rewarding.
19:40
[SPEAKER_02]: When you've been walked through a building or a landscape, we're all wrong ran off street.
19:46
[SPEAKER_02]: I purchased a building that we're in in 2019 from the city of Detroit after I go shading for a number of years.
19:54
[SPEAKER_02]: But we're redeveloping the alley, and it was broken downstairs everywhere and ran and fest it in the light.
20:01
[SPEAKER_02]: Now, when you look at it, there's a whole new alley floor, we're putting in the planters, we're putting in an outdoor furniture, so we're making a walk on the lalley, I'm talking behind the belt here, so with the notion that the business that back up to that alley can now have access from the alley, and we're envisioning a speed-easy, the basement of the Grand Box Center building, or you're not five times seeing it in the back door, you know, four.
20:25
[SPEAKER_02]: a show or performance.
20:27
[SPEAKER_02]: So it's, um, so that that's really the sweet part of the architectures be able to go out and see what you've accomplished or to go back to projects to see that there's still being used.
20:39
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
20:40
[SPEAKER_02]: And speaking of like architecture,
20:42
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, the industry of like architecting it would be in one yourself and it'd be from the city to trade and have an opportunity to work on some of the cool projects in the city.
20:52
[SPEAKER_01]: What's that feeling like to be able to like you mentioned is fulfilling it to be able to see your project to come into a Ferration.
20:58
[SPEAKER_01]: But I think I'm sure there's a different level when it's like you know what the city had been through.
21:03
[SPEAKER_01]: You experience the city firsthand and live through it and then
21:07
[SPEAKER_01]: being able to be a part of the revitalization or re-energization if that's a good word, but being able to re-indigulate the city, how does that have to do?
21:18
[SPEAKER_02]: That feels great.
21:21
[SPEAKER_02]: And I know when we first moved downtown, 1994, we'd leave the office of five or five or six and there'd be no winding downtown, no buildings were dark.
21:33
[SPEAKER_02]: Now you leave it by the clock and you've got fixins, which is a tune in the building that we own.
21:39
[SPEAKER_02]: People are sitting outside, they're inside, you know, fixins is open, open seven days away.
21:44
[SPEAKER_02]: So the seed that life on the street, you know, we've had the inner build draft here,
21:49
[SPEAKER_02]: A wife and I will sometimes stay at the round downtown on a Friday night, come back downtown on Saturday and we'll leave, you know, in a clock, 10 o'clock, and drive a woodwork, and there's peak along the street.
22:01
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, we have shops at downtown, retail at downtown.
22:04
[SPEAKER_02]: So it's like night and day.
22:06
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, it's really a dream come true.
22:09
[SPEAKER_02]: I remember when we completed the Detroit School of Arts, some years ago, DSA.
22:14
[SPEAKER_02]: We were at a holiday party and one of the representatives from the trip home schools called me a sigh and said, Rainy, you know, you all ever have done an amazing feat to bring this 100, 25 million dollar high school online.
22:31
[SPEAKER_02]: What you need to do is stop at snowboard roses.
22:35
[SPEAKER_02]: Now.
22:36
[SPEAKER_02]: It just take brick and just ask in the success of that project.
22:41
[SPEAKER_02]: 125 million dollar high school, seven stores that we designed.
22:45
[SPEAKER_02]: Ponyroll is just this side of the mirror.
22:50
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, I know what we can do.
22:53
[SPEAKER_02]: I know our table of doing.
22:55
[SPEAKER_02]: But to pool that off, 125 million dollar high school, 75 million dollars for brick and more, and a $50 million for technology.
23:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Unheard of.
23:05
[SPEAKER_01]: So wonderful school.
23:06
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, the songwriter, singer, a laa, was a graduate of the choice school of arts.
23:14
[SPEAKER_02]: Evie, yeah.
23:15
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's a bunch more to they got they got like a nice little list of because people obviously people talk about our high school just sure So cats, but we got a we got a long list, but DSA I was talking I got friends with the DSA and then you start running off some of the names that they kind of talk about and yeah, they got a nice little record to our people that came up sure sure.
23:36
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and in terms of the
23:41
[SPEAKER_01]: The landscape of the city of Detroit and its evolutionary account of where it's headed, what is everything that you would say to creators, young creators, whether architects or build something in a different regard, how they could be able to go after whatever it is that they're pursuing and going to get it to be able to find themselves in a position like yourself to be able to look back and be able to see their impact on the city or their community through their
24:12
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, a couple things from the mind, some are totally long ago that, you know, God is not creating any more land.
24:20
[SPEAKER_02]: So every parcel that's out there is you need.
24:25
[SPEAKER_02]: Another very successful gentleman told me that, here she who owns the property is King of Queen.
24:31
[SPEAKER_02]: So I would encourage all of your viewers and listeners to you.
24:35
[SPEAKER_02]: invest in a real estate, and they can start with you just buying your first home, first home I owned, I bought it from HUD.
24:42
[SPEAKER_02]: I had a net oil, $12,500, I think was the one we did.
24:46
[SPEAKER_02]: $24,000 and it was right next to my mother.
24:49
[SPEAKER_02]: The family that lived there, I think they would turn it over, some kids wouldn't weigh in.
24:53
[SPEAKER_02]: So, if fell in to disappear, they'd fell back on the list for a bit, so I bought the home, I had a bit on it, and I invested in it, and did most of the work myself, and then sold it.
25:06
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, down the road for $35,000, and then bought a large amount.
25:11
[SPEAKER_02]: So I tell people, you know, put your dollars to the other and your nickels, dimes, quarters, and invest partier, but invest in real estate.
25:23
[SPEAKER_02]: And we don't have to live in a dilapidated city.
25:28
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, as much as we can control, we should work to beautify it.
25:32
[SPEAKER_02]: Because when we beautify it, you're at increased value.
25:34
[SPEAKER_02]: You're at increased value, you're at increased equity.
25:37
[SPEAKER_02]: And then you have leverage.
25:38
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, you start with one property and then you move to the next one.
25:42
[SPEAKER_02]: So invest in real estate and use your skills and talent to do that.
25:47
[SPEAKER_02]: And then Fugar neighborhoods, you know, I said, you know, when first gas started, people said, we're in a, why are you moving to downtown, and you try to tell us, I said, no, the trees don't come back.
25:59
[SPEAKER_02]: And people are going to come back to the city in droves, you know, and they're going to invest.
26:04
[SPEAKER_02]: And I love people, people will frown and fall for score to Dan Gilbert and team.
26:11
[SPEAKER_02]: But heck, if I have Mr. Gilbert's resources, I will do the same thing.
26:16
[SPEAKER_02]: because the Detroit line line is a good investment.
26:18
[SPEAKER_01]: For sure.
26:19
[SPEAKER_02]: I've been betting on it.
26:21
[SPEAKER_02]: I still bet on it.
26:22
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
26:23
[SPEAKER_02]: It took me six years plus to buy the building that ran in the or days and I was scratch my heads at why am I doing this.
26:29
[SPEAKER_02]: And then I come back to the notion it's good for black man on the property and downtown Detroit.
26:35
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
26:36
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, we're in the Julian Madison, don't you?
26:39
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
26:41
[SPEAKER_02]: Sharon Madison is one of a few black business people actually on the property in downtown Detroit.
26:46
[SPEAKER_02]: So it's good for Sharon, it's good for me.
26:48
[SPEAKER_02]: It's on the property in downtown, it's good for the community to see it.
26:52
[SPEAKER_02]: So we're talking about it, it's good for the community to see it.
26:55
[SPEAKER_02]: And at the time, Doug and most mayor, so it's a feather in the mayor's hat to offer this property to it after the American Detroit.
27:05
[SPEAKER_02]: So,
27:05
[SPEAKER_02]: I'd ask those two questions and come back to, let's say the course, let's get it down.
27:10
[SPEAKER_01]: For sure.
27:11
[SPEAKER_01]: And speaking of real estate, what does it like for you as an organization to be able to go out and be it on these opportunities or to be able to land a deal and seal it?
27:23
[SPEAKER_01]: Could that be mentioned?
27:24
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm sure it takes a certain amount of patience, because you say you were
27:29
[SPEAKER_01]: six years and just, you know, I'm sure the larger project the longer days can take.
27:34
[SPEAKER_01]: So what does that typically look like for you all being able to actually land, Dr. Nick?
27:38
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's a long hard role.
27:41
[SPEAKER_02]: And I, I won't try to try to kid you on it.
27:45
[SPEAKER_02]: It was, it's very challenging.
27:48
[SPEAKER_02]: You would think that um, with our, at that time, 25 years of business on your belts
27:59
[SPEAKER_01]: No.
27:59
[SPEAKER_02]: That downtown development authority offered us purchase funds to buy the building, investing short-stepped up and offered us really relevant funds to get fixes in as the major Timeline the Brown floor.
28:12
[SPEAKER_02]: So it took a while to go through all of that approval process.
28:17
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
28:18
[SPEAKER_02]: the invested trade application was a 100, a checklist of 100 items that we had to go through and fill out.
28:26
[SPEAKER_02]: So, invested trade stepped up and supported us downtown development authorities stepped up, each one economic growth stepped up and helped us to get it down.
28:35
[SPEAKER_02]: So, my heck goes off to those entities to be supportive of our vision, which was to try to invest and do good things in the city of Detroit.
28:43
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
28:44
[SPEAKER_01]: And as you see, continue to see the vision for Detroit, what might be some things that the city might be missing that would be a great architectural investment.
28:56
[SPEAKER_01]: What there is, I believe you said, landscape architecture or yeah, sure.
28:59
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
28:59
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
29:00
[SPEAKER_02]: I think I agree with what's good in public.
29:02
[SPEAKER_02]: We need more housing.
29:06
[SPEAKER_02]: just in general and across the board, not any affordable, but we need, I don't think there's been a high-end home built and Detroit that I can pick of in a long time.
29:17
[SPEAKER_02]: So we need housing, we need hotel rooms, and we need other businesses to come in joyous.
29:25
[SPEAKER_02]: and to support, you know, we need the distances to come into the city, we've got one of the office space.
29:31
[SPEAKER_02]: So how do we get those buildings activated and, you know, that boosts up the detached revenue and so forth?
29:37
[SPEAKER_02]: So we need to continue to market Detroit and attract people to come and to be here.
29:44
[SPEAKER_02]: And I still believe in the face-to-face conversations and the face-to-first collaborations.
29:50
[SPEAKER_02]: So, I'm a proponent of having places like where you're located here to feel people come together and work together.
29:57
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, you can work together remote from home, and you've come from the future, you're living in a better room with the Donas.
30:03
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
30:04
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's get face-to-face in it.
30:05
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
30:06
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
30:07
[SPEAKER_02]: We're a social base.
30:09
[SPEAKER_02]: And we need that community,
30:13
[SPEAKER_02]: family environment, but that needs to come together in detail.
30:17
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, it's often as possible.
30:20
[SPEAKER_02]: So I subscribe to that.
30:22
[SPEAKER_02]: So I want to see the city continue to attract other businesses to come in and locate here.
30:28
[SPEAKER_02]: We have
30:29
[SPEAKER_02]: you know, we have a hundred and thirty nine square miles of one time thirty nine square miles was baking dilapidated empty.
30:37
[SPEAKER_02]: So we've got land here.
30:38
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
30:40
[SPEAKER_02]: To do things including industrial.
30:42
[SPEAKER_02]: So I think Detroit's still in the bet.
30:44
[SPEAKER_02]: want to international war away.
30:46
[SPEAKER_02]: Yep.
30:47
[SPEAKER_02]: One of the world's largest supplies of first of all.
30:50
[SPEAKER_02]: We don't have force fires.
30:53
[SPEAKER_01]: We had a first tornado.
30:55
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it was like 1997.
30:57
[SPEAKER_02]: Yep.
30:59
[SPEAKER_02]: He has some rumbles for work praise, but no real series of quakes.
31:02
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
31:06
[SPEAKER_02]: So we're in a good position.
31:08
[SPEAKER_02]: Again, you know, first water.
31:10
[SPEAKER_02]: Great lakes.
31:11
[SPEAKER_02]: The beauty of Michigan.
31:13
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
31:14
[SPEAKER_02]: So I'm here for the long haul.
31:17
[SPEAKER_01]: Saying, saying, I'm right here with you.
31:19
[SPEAKER_01]: And you the person person to talk to about this because I think about sometimes I've arrived around the city and I was talking about, we haven't.
31:27
[SPEAKER_01]: Talking about why we have the conversation about the, so you see like a bright abandon doing this, all the type of stuff in every city has that issue, but would you trade?
31:37
[SPEAKER_01]: It's cities like we have the land and then there's opportunity to develop, but then like still a lot of things are abandoned or still the rules and things like that and I thought about it.
31:47
[SPEAKER_01]: I might well, the city initially back in the day where many years ago was built for X amount of people and X amount of people live for anything more.
32:07
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, it's going to be a long road to get to where we're, I mean, we had a million people in Detroit, in 2003, in Detroit, proper, something like that.
32:18
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
32:18
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't know if we'll get there in our lifetimes, but I think that we can step up and get the banded and they can properties, especially structures that are dangerous.
32:31
[SPEAKER_02]: We can get those demolished and we can get those parcels consolidated.
32:35
[SPEAKER_02]: And I say, take down the old stuff, plant wildflower seeds, and just let it live hell of a beautiful until there's an eat.
32:45
[SPEAKER_02]: Right?
32:45
[SPEAKER_02]: And then do strategic investment where we were going to expand.
32:49
[SPEAKER_02]: Not just kind of haphazard.
32:51
[SPEAKER_02]: So, you know, people would criticize former administrations that we're only investing in downtown.
32:56
[SPEAKER_02]: I'll like to leave.
32:58
[SPEAKER_02]: You got to, you got to fix the head and the torso and heart of the lawns first.
33:03
[SPEAKER_02]: Then you can work towards the activities.
33:05
[SPEAKER_02]: Right?
33:05
[SPEAKER_02]: But you got to fix the heart, and hand your grain, and get that functioning before to support the nymphs.
33:11
[SPEAKER_02]: So, I think we're on the right track and we've invested in the downtown, so now we're strategically invested in the neighborhoods, and not take a bucket of money and throw it equally at everything.
33:23
[SPEAKER_02]: Focus that money in targeted areas those that on the board line will be a good or better and that's there So they can become worried instead of on the ones that are on the way down You work with those property owners Work out way they can be relocated In a positive way, so they're satisfied and then take that area and mock ball that sort of speak on two we need to use it
33:51
[SPEAKER_02]: Urban firing is an idea, but let's consolidate.
33:55
[SPEAKER_02]: Let's take down all the dilapidated structures and just clean up and just beautify it.
33:59
[SPEAKER_02]: Could be wildfire seeds and plant materials that are watering and just let it look beautiful too.
34:05
[SPEAKER_01]: We need it again.
34:06
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and I grew up in just what's the district going now, but the school grab Mariefield area, sure.
34:11
[SPEAKER_01]: It just knocked down man.
34:12
[SPEAKER_01]: After a lot of these years, and this is this sitting there being doing it.
34:16
[SPEAKER_01]: And so, and then I also know the city is working all like a strategic neighborhood that's playing like right now.
34:22
[SPEAKER_01]: And the next day was sent an area and they're trying to add to a business tour or she like, you know, developing those types of playing.
34:29
[SPEAKER_01]: So that's what I love to see.
34:30
[SPEAKER_01]: And then I like what you said in terms of being able to
34:33
[SPEAKER_01]: Every area of the city has different needs and the different personality as to how that community operates Figure out what's going to be beneficial for our community because they they might not be looking from the high rises in a certain area But if you could if we could get a community garden out of the same we help with to us or we can get a nice community sitting in a foster community You know, no those days are healthy and and make funds available.
34:56
[SPEAKER_02]: There can be granted to homeowners to let them do basic home maintenance
35:03
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, a lot of our properties, a lot of our homes have deferred maintenance, you know, but it's expensive to replace it roof, right, or to replace the site aid, or to upgrade electrical.
35:13
[SPEAKER_02]: I know, and all the young architect, the city had a program where there was a matching program and you use miniature information, I think it was based on income, but they've granted, you know, 20,000,000 hours, and they don't have their input.
35:28
[SPEAKER_02]: We'd help the target, what's best, how the investment in that $20,000 is, in some cases, we spent at an effort structure.
35:35
[SPEAKER_02]: So we didn't get to the cosmetic stuff, even broken sewer, you know, hot water tank, furnace, rupture, and so forth.
35:42
[SPEAKER_02]: So I'm going to wait and make some dollars available to homeowners that they can invest in at properties and stay in them.
35:50
[SPEAKER_02]: It's a challenge.
35:51
[SPEAKER_02]: It's a challenge.
35:52
[SPEAKER_02]: And then, you know, we, um, I said, we should be putting money into education, not taking Morgana education.
35:59
[SPEAKER_02]: Yes.
36:00
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, but we need to, we need to continue to educate our people, uh, so that we can, we can discern for ourselves what's the true, maybe, because there's so much coming out of on social media and, and the news, it's hard to discern what's, what's, what's where I know, what's correct.
36:16
[SPEAKER_02]: Right.
36:17
[SPEAKER_02]: So we have to continue to educate ourselves so we can,
36:19
[SPEAKER_02]: to start in the right path.
36:21
[SPEAKER_02]: Make the right choices.
36:22
[SPEAKER_02]: Absolutely.
36:23
[SPEAKER_02]: Right?
36:23
[SPEAKER_02]: Yep.
36:24
[SPEAKER_02]: Looking forward to November.
36:26
[SPEAKER_01]: Exactly.
36:27
[SPEAKER_01]: Exactly.
36:27
[SPEAKER_01]: And in terms of, you had mentioned earlier.
36:29
[SPEAKER_01]: In terms of education, you mentioned earlier.
36:32
[SPEAKER_01]: You would encourage people to get some type of property, some type of land, anything like that.
36:38
[SPEAKER_01]: Do you have any tips on ways to be able to do that in a city and Detroit in terms of people being able to figure out how they're going to get in like I've lived away for four years, I came back home up on my first house to share in a roséal part and not too far from where I grew up at it's always blessed to be able to have opportunity like that and some people might not even know like where to start, but you know, do you have any tips or got it for us on that?
37:03
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, in some cases, the property has been in the family for a little while, so maybe it belonged to your grandparents or your parents, and maybe they're elderly, how do you transfer that property ownership now?
37:20
[SPEAKER_02]: And then the new person, the new owner, can work to improve it.
37:25
[SPEAKER_02]: And then one of the advantages of the social media, there's YouTube channels on basically how to fix and do it.
37:31
[SPEAKER_02]: Most of everything.
37:33
[SPEAKER_02]: So you can take on home improvement projects yourself.
37:37
[SPEAKER_02]: But see if there's property that you're family else or has all that can be transferred to your imagination.
37:44
[SPEAKER_01]: and then start there, start there, or pull it with your buddies and your friends.
37:50
[SPEAKER_02]: You can put together some money in and invest in a property.
37:52
[SPEAKER_02]: You need.
37:53
[SPEAKER_02]: Especially if it's on, or Jason, to an era pin that's doing it well, you know, chart find that.
38:00
[SPEAKER_02]: It's hard to do one new home or one rehab home and there's nothing else around it.
38:06
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, so you're isolated.
38:07
[SPEAKER_02]: That's hard.
38:09
[SPEAKER_02]: So, try that these should teach you about where you're going to invest.
38:13
[SPEAKER_02]: And then, you know, ask for advice, there's the, um, uh, read, which is the real estate African American developers.
38:22
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm sure.
38:23
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know.
38:24
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, but they, you know, they have mostly meetings.
38:27
[SPEAKER_01]: And they do a bus tours too.
38:29
[SPEAKER_01]: They do bus tours.
38:30
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
38:30
[SPEAKER_02]: So, uh, reading is R. E. A. D. I think, you know, um, go with that and attend one of their meetings.
38:37
[SPEAKER_02]: You'll meet a host of people that are in that space of the government and find one and partner
38:42
[SPEAKER_02]: or ask one of them to be a mentor, so but I think success can come through real estate investing.
38:52
[SPEAKER_01]: That's great.
38:53
[SPEAKER_01]: That's great advice and great guide is.
38:54
[SPEAKER_01]: And what love to know, the years that you spent in architecture space and helping to revitalize parts of Detroit and then bring new life to the city so to speak.
39:07
[SPEAKER_01]: What would you say you want your legacy to be moving forward?
39:10
[SPEAKER_01]: So whenever you decide, like I, you know, I'm good, I'm gonna sail off into the sunset and enjoy my time.
39:18
[SPEAKER_01]: And the family, what would you ideally want to legacy?
39:21
[SPEAKER_02]: that Hamilton worked to make the city of Detroit and other urban areas like Detroit, better for the residents and the occupants and those that worked in the city.
39:33
[SPEAKER_02]: That the work that he did touched everybody that is there.
39:38
[SPEAKER_02]: I received my scholarship, but they gave me a lot of things to get this to architects and I had to write my application and the concept was the work that we have done touches everybody that doesn't say any or visit the city.
39:52
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, which you come and you go to, um, people allowed to go to the singles, so you can go to AMG.
39:58
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, uh, for education, we've done, president of university, charge mercy, my a lot of, uh, done work for the triple schools community district.
40:07
[SPEAKER_02]: We've done work for Wayne County, uh, college district, um, so four field people, uh, the native football fans have come and watched the lines where I lose.
40:17
[SPEAKER_02]: So the work that we've done has touched summoning people.
40:22
[SPEAKER_02]: and positive way to make life better for those that live working play here.
40:27
[SPEAKER_02]: So that's my legacy that we use our energy of our talent to make the choice about a place.
40:35
[SPEAKER_01]: And what's next in your crystal ball and I treat the sheriff for our Hamilton and the same and the associate is for yourself.
40:41
[SPEAKER_01]: What are you anything you look forward to as you can share with us?
40:44
[SPEAKER_02]: Sure, I am looking forward to the talk to really about the ground break for the truck pilot to try to get us and move back into the city where we're using the warehouse for the headquarters and on the get straight.
40:56
[SPEAKER_02]: So that's happening October 1st.
40:58
[SPEAKER_02]: And then I've watched some property.
41:00
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm putting my money where I'm off this.
41:01
[SPEAKER_02]: And I'm on the property.
41:02
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm going to develop 7 or 8 new condos for sale product.
41:07
[SPEAKER_02]: at the little higher end, after far from where we're here, so we want to move that forward.
41:15
[SPEAKER_02]: So that that's next.
41:17
[SPEAKER_01]: Harvey.
41:18
[SPEAKER_01]: Perfect.
41:19
[SPEAKER_01]: Mr Hamilton, I appreciate you for coming on podcast today.
41:22
[SPEAKER_01]: I know it's going to be very interview number one.
41:24
[SPEAKER_01]: You want to cast.
41:25
[SPEAKER_01]: So you're right.
41:25
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
41:27
[SPEAKER_01]: But no, in Austria, it's this, I really look forward to the conversation that you know what to hear your expertise firsthand in terms of the development of the city where things have came from, where they're going.
41:38
[SPEAKER_01]: And also being able to get some wisdom from you as to how people could be able to get a slice of a pie so it's the themselves and also going to be more about architecture and your journey in that.
41:50
[SPEAKER_01]: So we're very appreciative for you.
41:52
[SPEAKER_01]: Join us today and come to the podcast.
41:55
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, thank you for inviting me to the pleasure.
41:57
[SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely.
41:58
[SPEAKER_01]: And everybody watch it listening.
41:59
[SPEAKER_01]: We're going to have to watch our song.
42:01
[SPEAKER_01]: Peace.