Detroit’s Method Development isn’t the biggest developer working in this Midwest city. But that doesn’t mean it can’t compete with the likes of Bedrock and Olympia Development of Michigan, giants in the Detroit-area commercial real estate development community.
How does Method, which got its start in 2015, do this? Amelia Patt-Zamir, who along with Rakesh “Rocky” Lala co-founded the company, said that Method Development relies on technology that keeps it nimble and focuses on identifying the right adaptive-reuse projects, one that Method knows will not only attract a steady stream of tenants but will also bring new energy into often-struggling Detroit neighborhoods.
And for the last decade? This approach has worked. Method Development has carved its own niche while helping to fuel Detroit’s commercial revitalization.
“Our bread and butter have always been adaptive reuse projects,” said Patt-Zamir, co-founder and principal of Method Development. “I’ve always thought that the greenest buildings are the ones that already exist. I do think that Detroit is positioning itself as a city of the future. Sustainability is key when you are looking to the future.”
But how to make a mark in this space when you are competing with far larger developers? That’s where technology comes in.
Amelia Patt-Zamir, co-founder and principal, Method Development Group. (Photo courtesy of Raj Mehta Photography.)
The tech advantage
Method Development relies heavily on the real estate development management software developed by Brooklyn-based tech company Northspyre.
With this software, Method can optimize its pipeline, scale its operations and compete with Detroit’s bigger developers.
“There is only a handful of Gilberts and Fords,” Patt-Zamir said. “How do emerging developers play at the same scale when they don’t have access to the same technology that those bigger companies have?”
The emergence of proptech, and companies such as Northspyre, have provided a boost to companies such as Method, Patt-Zamir said. Method employees use Northspyre’s management software to track budgets, set schedules and streamline project timelines.
“As an emerging developer, your software options are basically Excel and Google Sheets,” Patt-Zamir said. “Having access to a cloud-based program that streamlines all our invoicing and budgeting is a big benefit. It’s a budgeting software program that you can update live, rather than a static Excel sheet.”
As Patt-Zamir says, Excel doesn’t have a scheduling tool or a built-in inbox. Northspyre’s software does.
“Our controller can go in, approve an invoice and put it into a draw schedule,” Patt-Zamir said. “Our software acts as a command center for us. It has allowed us to streamline the back-of-the-house to help create a nimble company that can compete against bigger companies even if we don’t have a huge accounting department.”
Big projects
Armed with tech and skilled employees, Method Development since its founding a decade ago has not hesitated to make an impact in Detroit, taking on several big projects during its relatively short history.
One of the most important? The Detroit Design District Lofts at 2857 E. Grand Blvd. in the heart of the Detroit Design District, a neighborhood made up of some of the city’s most creative businesses.
The loft building was once home to the Maurice Fox Ford Sales and Service Station. The new development consists of a single-story 5,700-square-foot building and a three-story 24,700-square-foot property.
Floors two and three of this second building are home to the Detroit Design District Lofts, 18 industrial-style residential lofts. The lofts are a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments. The property also boasts ground-floor retail.
Method Development is also converting the Kaul Glove Building at 1441 Brooklyn St. in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood. The 20,000-square-foot four-story building once served as the home of the Kaul Glove company, which manufactured gloves that were distributed to automotive companies.
Method is partnering with Civic Companies to redevelop the building into a boutique office space.
In 2023, Method Development began the reactivation, too, of The Merchants Building at 206 E. Grand River Ave. in downtown Detroit. Method plans to convert the 1922 building, which has been vacant for decades, into a boutique hotel featuring a rooftop bar.
Patt-Zamir said that she and her fellow Method Development staffers are equally passionate about all of their projects. Patt-Zamir, though, points to the Detroit Design District Lofts in the city’s Milwaukee Junction neighborhood as one that has already made a positive impact on its surrounding neighborhood.
“When you talk about Detroit being the arsenal of democracy, the industrial heartland of the nation, that is the Milwaukee Junction neighborhood you are talking about,” she said. “That history is what drew me and my partner to this neighborhood when we moved back to Detroit.”
Patt-Zamir said that artists are now living in the industrial buildings in this district. Trendy restaurants have moved into the area. Retailers have followed.
“We have been at the forefront of reestablishing a neighborhood,” Patt-Zamir said. “Our role wasn’t only about completing an adaptive reuse. It was also about working with the community. We worked closely with the Vanguard Community Development organization here to make sure that everything we were doing was in tune with what the neighborhood wanted.”
The key to a successful adaptive reuse? It’s what happened in the Milwaukee Junction neighborhood, Patt-Zamir said.
Developers can’t just transform a building according to their own vision. They must first make sure that the conversion is also something that the community supports and wants, too.
“You have to make sure that you are bringing the community along,” Patt-Zamir said. “You do not want to replace the community. That’s what’s been so rewarding about the Detroit Design District Lofts. It has made a positive impact on this area.”
The Merchants Building is the largest project that Method Development has taken on to date. This conversion will also serve a need in Detroit. The city’s urban core needs more hotel rooms. Once this project is complete, it will add 120 more to the city’s stock.
Method hopes, too, to make the first floor of The Merchants Building accessible to the public, offering a lobby that includes retail and other uses that will bring more energy to the neighborhood.
“Our vision for the hotel is to create a lively ground floor so that people feel there is a reason to go there for a work lunch or a break in their day even if they are not staying in the hotel,” Patt-Zamir said.
Patt-Zamir says that she is excited to see the revitalization taking place now across Detroit.
She grew up in the metropolitan Detroit area before moving to New York City, where she began her career at JLL in its Capital Markets Group. During her time here, Patt-Zamir’s team originated nearly $1 billion commercial real estate debt and equity financing.
Patt-Zamir later joined the acquisitions team at Clarion Partners, where she managed the underwriting and due diligence for the closing and financing of nearly $500 million across 2 million square feet of residential, retail and office developments.
But Detroit kept pulling at her. And she made the decision to return to the Detroit area with business partner Lala to form a company that could help fuel Detroit’s rebirth.
“We were talking about returning to Detroit when we realized that the revitalization of the area was already taking place. If we didn’t act quickly, we would miss out,” Patt-Zamir said. “It is so exciting to see what is happening in Detroit now. And it’s exciting to be part of it.”
