For investors and travelers, it's a whole new Detroit

• %22Coming out of bankruptcy allows you to retell your story%2C%22 said Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis.
• Exiting bankruptcy%2C Detroit convention bookings are 200%25 ahead of pace.

Detroit is shaping up to be a destination, a good investment and a growth opportunity in the eyes of the world.

What a difference a quick trip through bankruptcy can make.

HOW DETROIT WAS REBORN: A SPECIAL SECTION

Outsiders are booking conventions, moving businesses downtown, buying bonds and looking to make money by investing in a city expected to grow faster than the U.S. gross domestic product annual growth rate of 2%.

The infusion of visitors and cash — not to mention the international curiosity about what's happening in Detroit — means a welcome new story line for a city that must rebuild itself block by block.

Leading up to the July 18, 2013, filing for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection and during the tumultuous legal roller coaster, the prevailing image continued to be that of a destitute, decaying city.

"It really was bad," said Larry Alexander, head of the Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau. He recalled the difficult days of trying to sell the city as a destination while national news stories focused on past corruption, current blight and crime rates.

It didn't help that the United Nations investigated whether water shutoffs were a civil rights violation. Neither did the wild reports of tens of thousands of stray dogs terrorizing the city.

"There is no question Detroit was the black eye of the country," said Alexander, whose bureau is heavily dependent on the city's image to attract visitors. Going forward, he said, people want to see and invest in the new city that has shed debt and is committed to using its resources to improve the lives of those who live within its borders.

Exiting bankruptcy, convention bookings are projected to increase 140% from 2014 to 2021. After only five major groups booked facilities last year, there were 14 bookings this year, Alexander said, and 16 are already signed up for next year.

"There is a curiosity factor out there. They want to see what Detroit coming back looks like," Alexander said. "We're changing, and it is a helluva story to see how."

It's not that so many people are motivated to help Detroit, Alexander said: "I have not witnessed sympathy." People just want to know Detroit has top-notch facilities to play host to their group.

Alexander is also chairman of the board of the Detroit Regional Convention Facility Authority. A few weeks ago, he joined Cobo Center executives on the road, meeting financial investors and selling bonds to cover the debt for capital improvements, including renovations to the convention center.

"We needed to raise $299 million. Within two hours, we had oversubscribed," Alexander said. The $922 million in bids was more than three times the available bonds for sale. "It tells me people saw this as a pretty good investment."

That includes billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who leads investment firm Berkshire Hathaway. The "Oracle of Omaha" is known for buying low, selling high and instructing investors to never buy something you don't understand.

"We would buy a company in Detroit today, and we would be happy to have the headquarters here," Buffett said during a September visit here as part of the Detroit Homecoming conference. "I like to buy mispriced things."

There is a lot of money among financial investors who want to invest in cities and states, said Matt Fabian, partner in Municipal Market Advisors, an independent research and strategy firm based in Concord, Mass.

"Parts of Detroit are very investible," said Fabian. Traditional general obligation bonds will be tougher to sell in the city because of the risk of default if the city runs out of money and files for bankruptcy again. But investing in water and sewer bonds or Cobo convention debt is attractive.

Sandy Baruah, CEO of the Detroit Regional Chamber, said Detroit's shattered image, followed by the promise of stability and economic growth, makes the city attractive to the international business investment community as well.

"One investor described it as an emerging market that happens to take dollars," Baruah said.

"Detroit is a rare growth area within North America," he said. "It is a prime American site that offers growth potential with low cost, making it a very attractive region."

The chamber supported filing for bankruptcy as the only realistic way to resolve Detroit's systemic issues and become competitive on the world stage again. Baruah was not concerned about the short-term public relations hit. He doubted many were shocked that Detroit was bankrupt given that the city's image was already so poor.

"We are able to get people's attention," Baruah said. "We distract them with the shiny object of bankruptcy. Everyone wanted to know how it would work, so we had an audience we wouldn't otherwise have and we used it to talk about $10 billion in private investment and the downtown filling up.

Dan Gilbert, founder of Quicken Loans, has invested more than $1 billion in the last few years, including renovations to Greektown Casino and its highway access ramp. Mike Ilitch, owner of Little Caesars Pizza, the Red Wings and Tigers, is behind the $450-million investment in a new arena and another $200 million to develop the arena district.

Two new boutique hotels are in the works, there are a number of retail projects and restaurants, housing projects are under way — and a housing market study by the Downtown Detroit Partnership found a 22% increase in demand for residential properties downtown in the last four years.

"People outside Michigan had no clue," Baruah said. He has been able to use analogies from the resurgence of General Motors and Chrysler from their respective bankruptcies to paint a positive forecast for a city with new balance sheets and new resources.

The investment is exactly what the city needs, said demographer Kurt Metzger, who founded Data Driven Detroit. "Detroit lost a little bit of everything," he said — population, retail, development, urban night life, housing density. "You still can't shop downtown."

Fabian said the city must continue to restructure, which is more difficult outside bankruptcy, and improve its schools if it wants to attract families and investors. "The school system is truly terrible, and you can't be a destination for growth with schools that wretched. If the city and state can address schools, that begins to move the chains."

As the chamber talks to those who make long-term investment plans, "People are growing more interested," Baruah said. "We went through bankruptcy so quickly, and there was such a high level of agreement. It was stunning, and it's a selling point."

Alexander agrees: "Detroit is a real good deal right now."

But John Mogk, professor of law at Wayne State University, injects a note of caution. Detroit's decline continued unabated for 60 years, Mogk said, and it will take another 60 years to manage and reverse it, block by block.

Other cities have revitalized their cores. But Detroit faces "scale beyond anything any other city has faced," Mogk said of 139 square miles of neighborhoods in need of investment to improve conditions. A third are "highly distressed," and a third are at the tipping point.

"No other city faced a challenge like that," he said.

Being the Motor City will help. Automotive suppliers from around the world continue to invest here — China's Wanxiang bought Livonia battery maker A123 in December, and Yanfeng USA has expanded to a couple sites and formed a joint venture with Johnson Controls.

Japanese supplier Aisin opened new North American headquarters in Northville Township in July. German supplier ZF recently acquired TRW in Livonia and plans to expand the workforce.

Chinese development firm DDI Group bought three downtown buildings last year, including the original Detroit Free Press building, for $16.4 million and is actively scouting further investment in the city.

And suburban companies are hanging a shingle downtown.

Chrysler added offices downtown, and Fifth Third Bank Eastern Michigan announced last month it is moving its regional headquarters and 150 full-time employees to downtown Detroit from Southfield.

"We wanted to ... be part of the downtown movement and contribute to the remarkable resurgence Detroit is experiencing," said Fifth Third CEO David Girodat. The bank also pledged $85 million in economic development investments over five years, plus the revitalization of Hart Plaza.

Detroit has a low-priced downtown, and investment in downtowns is really booming, Fabian said, pointing to successful resurgence in Cincinnati and Cleveland. But while those other Midwestern cities have downtowns that consist of a few blocks, "Detroit is so damn big and needs so much more to raise itself up."

The city has been adding things most communities take for granted, such as major grocery stores to support the influx of residents to a city now seen as home of the hipster. Whole Foods, an upmarket organic chain, became the first major grocery store to open in Detroit last year, and Meijer opened a store and is building a second one to open next year.

New restaurants keep cropping up. Shinola watches have achieved international acclaim. Fashion designer John Varvatos plans to open a store in downtown Detroit.

Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis has felt Detroit's pain, since the two cities promote themselves as a single economic region and international destination.

"Most people on the outside looking in did not give Detroit much of a chance to climb out of bankruptcy," said Francis, who found himself championing Detroit to the Canadian investment community and making international pitches for events on behalf of the region.

Windsor expects to see an uptick now that the region's image has been polished. "People will want to see and rediscover Detroit," Francis said.

The Detroit chamber is promoting the chance to help shape a prime U.S. location that has been through the worst and emerged stronger. Detroit still boasts the country's busiest border crossing, a high percentage of engineers and PhDs, and three research universities. And the cost of doing business here is among the best in the world, factoring in land acquisition, energy, wages and taxation.

A campaign with the tagline "America's great comeback city" was adopted by the visitors bureau when the bankruptcy filing was still fresh.

"Some felt it was a bit of a risk of overpromising," Alexander said. "But that has not been the case — thank goodness."

Signs of a stronger Detroit

■ Convention bookings are projected to increase 140% from 2014 to 2021. After only five major groups booked facilities last year, there were 14 bookings this year, and there are already 16 signed up for next year.

■ The Detroit Regional Convention Facility Authority needed to sell bonds to cover debt for Cobo renovations and other capital improvements. Within two hours, the amount raised was three times more than the $299 million sought.

■ Outside investors see Detroit as a low-cost growth area within North America, offering possible returns they normally have to turn to emerging markets to realize, but this is in American dollars.

■ Chrysler added offices downtown and Fifth Third Bank Eastern Michigan announced last month it is moving its regional headquarters and 150 full-time employees downtown Detroit from Southfield.

Groups coming to Detroit

Groups requiring multiple hotels that have chosen Detroit to host their upcoming conference or event:

■ Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers — 2014

■ UAW — 2015

■ Automotive Service Association — 2015

■ Youmacon (annual anime convention) — 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018

■ USA Volleyball — 2015, 2017, 2018

■ Communications Workers of America — 2015

■ Evangelical Lutheran Church in America — 2015

■ Pentecostal Assemblies of the World — 2015

■ National Medical Association — 2015

■ American Society of Association Executives — 2015

■ Michigan Distributive Education Clubs of America — 2016, 2018

■ Service Employees International Union — 2016

■ Church of God in Christ — 2016

■ NeighborWorks America — 2016

■ National Baptist Convention, USA — 2015

■ ACN — 2017, 2019

■ Alcoholics Anonymous — 2020