Designation Detr@it
VP Of Miscellaneous
to
Harry Kirsbaum
I
Odd title means Quicken Loans' David Carroll
has his hand in many projects.
Contributing Writer
f David Carroll, 50, of West Bloom-
estate company that negotiates leases
field ever retires from his position
for property Downtown, and account-
at Quicken Loans, they should
ing, property management and admin-
promote from the inside because
istrative staff.
the search for his replacement could be
"We're a pretty miscellaneous floor,
very confusing.
too," he said.
How does one describe the job title
A Long History
"Vice President of Miscellaneous Stuff'
Carroll, who's been married to Michelle
to an outsider?
for 17 years and has one child, grew
"We don't really have titles," Carroll
up across the street from Gilbert in
said.
Southfield in the Twycking-
Quicken Loans chairman
ham neighborhood, and
and founder Dan Gilbert
they
have been friends since
gave it to him during a
they were 4 years old. Car-
meeting about eight years
roll had his bar mitzvah at
ago as a joke that stuck.
Congregation Shaarey Zedek
Carroll said he put it on
and attends the Southfield
his business card as a way
synagogue.
to make fun of banks and
"David's got his hand in
government with their fancy,
everything, from facilities
'Third Deputy Vice-Adminis-
to legal work to compliance
trator of the ... ' titles."
work, to operations, to the
But the title is reason-
Detroit stuff that we're do-
ably accurate. He has been
ing now," said Gilbert.
David Car roll
working behind the scenes
"At some point it oc-
doing a little bit of a lot of
curred to us, the best name
things starting with Gilbert's
for a title that describes him best and
first company, the mortgage firm Rock
communicates it to the world is VP of
Financial, since he moved back to
Miscellaneous Stuff.
Michigan from Chicago in 1991.
"He has a high level of energy. He's
"There were 60 people in the compa-
the most loyal guy you'll ever meet
ny when I started; now there are 7,000
in the world. He cares deeply about
in the family of companies," Carroll
people and always wants to do the
said from his office on the 10th floor of
right thing," Gilbert added.
the Compuware Building in Detroit.
"I consider him a sort of a consiglio-
Photos taken with President George
re, if you will, probably as good as Tom
W. Bush, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and
Hagen [the trusted attorney/adviser in
Gov. Jennifer Granholm, as well as pho-
The Godfather films].
tos of the 1968 Detroit Tigers, hang
"David is just day-in and day-out do-
on one wall of the office. A window
ing the right thing."
ledge is populated by some 75 cartoon
Carroll said his job has evolved.
bobble-head dolls, which can be seen
"When I started, I was a conservative
from the street.
guy coming out of a Chicago law firm,
The people outside the glass wall
there were 60 people here, and Gilbert
of his office in the "Bullpen" are with
and his partners were focused on sales
Bedrock Real Estate Services, the real
and marketing. There was no employee
'
[ SPONSORED SECTION BY: Quickenloans"
Engineered to Amaze'
David Carroll works on the 10th floor of the Compuware Building in
Downtown Detroit.
handbook or human resources depart-
ment or legal department or back end."
Carroll himself became the human
resources, legal and operations depart-
ments at first, but now the company
employs about 20 attorneys.
Carroll works closely with Detroit real
estate people. He was the point person
when the company began thinking of
moving Quicken headquarters to De-
troit in 2005. They moved in 2010 with
much fanfare — and big results.
Gilbert now owns about eight build-
ings in the Downtown Detroit area,
and, according to Crain's Detroit Busi-
ness, he is the second-largest private
real estate owner behind General
Motors.
All Things Detroit
"When we first decided to contemplate
moving to Detroit, David was the
person who took on the task of getting
to know the city officials and explored
all the things necessary to make the
move, including incentives and taxes
and a myriad of other things," said Bill
Emerson, Quicken Loans chief execu-
tive officer. "Fortunately for David, as
the move got closer, we added more
people to get involved in the Detroit
VP Of Miscellaneous Stuff on page 37
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September 20 • 2012
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