[James Bond Agent 007]

Bad news for Motor City. :(

http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2007/03/05/daily14.html?jst=b_ln_hl

Comerica to move HQ to Dallas
Dallas Business Journal - 10:01 AM CST Tuesday, March 6, 2007
by Chad Eric Watt
Staff Writer

Comerica Inc. says it plans to move its headquarters from Detroit to Dallas.

The $58 billion institution will be easily the largest bank based in Texas. Ranked by total assets, Comerica (NYSE: CMA) is the 26th largest bank in the nation.

It aims to complete the move by this fall.

While its roots are in Detroit, much of Comerica's recent growth has come from newer markets, including Texas, California, Arizona and Florida.

In its 2006 fiscal year, Comerica reported an average loan growth of 8%. Comerica's Sun Belt markets all outperformed that rate, with its California-Arizona region growing at 15%, Texas at 19% and Florida at 25%.

Comerica entered the Texas market in the late 1980s, acquiring the assets of Texas banks that had been declared insolvent by regulators.

In Dallas-Fort Worth, Comerica has a 2% share of the market's deposits -- about $2.6 billion, according to June 30, 2006, data. It has 1% of deposits statewide -- about $3.5 billion.

Comerica is primarily a business bank. More than 80% of its fourth quarter net income came from its business banking segment.

Geographically, 46% of its fourth-quarter earnings came from operations in the Midwest, and 43% came from the West Coast. Texas operations produced $17 million or 9% of the company's quarterly net income.

Comerica says it picked Dallas because of its central location and financial incentives from the city and state. The bank provided no details on what incentives it received.

Comerica's roots in Detroit go back to 1849, and Major League Baseball's Detroit Tigers play in Comerica Park. In announcing the move, the bank says that it will "maintain a significant presence in Detroit."

Comerica has 11,270 employees, including 7,300 in Michigan and 6,000 in Detroit. About 200 workers will move to Dallas over the next three years as part of the headquarters shift. Dallas has been Comerica's Texas headquarters. The bank currently employs 1,351 in Texas.

[illmatic774]

I really don't know what to say. It's like Michigan is a plague. It has to be.



In five years you'll be blown away

[Steely Dan]

had comerica announced it was seekigng a possible HQ relocation, or did this kinda come out of nowhere?

[Cleveland Brown]

^ Out of FUCKING NOWHERE! GODDAMN! SHIT!!! :hell: :hell: :hell: :hell: :hell:

[Steely Dan]

so they didn't even give detroit/michigan a chance to come up with an incentives packages to persuade them to stay, hmmmmm.......... kinda reminds me of how boeing screwed over seattle, they just up and announced that they were moving their HQ and there was nothing seattle/washington could do about it.

still it sounds like the vast majority of workers are staying in michigan, so you lose the prestige of the HQ to dallas, but most of the jobs are staying put in michigan. it's exactly like boeing, they have a FAR larger economic impact on the seattle area where they have thousands of workers, than they do with their HQ in chicago which employs maybe a couple hundred folks.

[Cleveland Brown]

Sorry, this thread was the first I heard of the move, hence my reaction!

Looking at my job prospects back home (Michigan) and elsewhere, it seems like it will be a very long time until I go back :no: Of course moving most of their employees in the next few years could devastate the company, but basically Comerica is saying that its long term strategy is to get out of Detroit, Michigan and the Midwest. They'll remain somewhat over the years, but as an outside business who will exploit the market at will and not a home company.

I think it's time to close my Comerica Account. :hell:

[illmatic774]

They will get eaten up by BoA eventually (Comerica).

This city really can't catch a break. And it had to be so sudden.

[Exodus]

Detroit is truly cursed.

[Detroit5000]

They'll move and get bought out. Banks now-a-days are so unpredictable, they either move or merge. I can't wait for the single mega bank.

[LMich]

This is getting ridiculous. Apparently they hadn't even told the governor of their plans until a few hours/day before they announced this. This is a blow to the pysche of the state more than anything, but that's still a huge blow for a company that was born in Detroit, and has been here for generations.

We really can't catch a break, and I don't think it's for Michigan's lack of trying that companies like Comerica or Pfizer left. In Comerica's case this looks exactly like a case of "The Grass is always greener on the Other Side" syndrome.

And, sorry, but to lose the headquarters to Dallas is an even bigger insult.

[Cleveland Brown]

And, sorry, but to lose the headquarters to Dallas is an even bigger insult.

Why did this quote conjure up images of RoboCop? :haha: Does Comerica = New Detroit Corp.? :borg:

I sort of agree with you, but I think it's indicative of the behavior that led to Detroit's decline. It's the attitude that says things are getting tough, so let's get the hell out instead of sticking out and fighting for what we hold dear. I was suprised too, given that most members of the board of directors are local, with local interests, but alas the board owes fiduciary duties and loyalties to the shareholders and not Michiganders.

[Steely Dan]

but alas the board owes fiduciary duties and loyalties to the shareholders and not Michiganders.

of course, but they never even gave detroit/michigan a chance to come up with a counter-package to persuade them to stay, all they gave michigan was the middle finger.

[LMich]

BTW, I'm never going to refer to Comerica Park by that name, again, even if they do still own the naming rights to the park. From now on it'll be the "New Tiger Stadium" to me, and this is after I said I'd never call CoPa Tiger Stadium. lol The fact that they totally blindsided not only the public, but state leadership, makes me that much more angry.

All I have to say to Comerica, in the eloquent words of former Mayor Young that grace my signature: "Aloha, motherfuckers."

[Detroit5000]

What is weird is that they recently renewed their lease in the Comerica tower for another 12 years. This literally has me stumped.

[BnaBreaker]

Damn. It's one step forward and two steps back for ole Detroit. This fucking sucks.

[DallasTexan]

Atlanta was more deserving... :(

[CGII]

Christ, that's awful.

[sentinel]

This is pretty sad..seemingly no one wants Detroit to have a chance :(

[alex1]

man, detroit really is cursed. horrible news for a place that's starving for good things to happen.

[LMich]

http://cmsimg.freep.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C4&Date=20070306&Category=BUSINESS06&ArtNo=70306018&Ref=AR&MaxW=275&MaxH=300&border=0
(2003 photo by ED HAUN/Detroit Free Press)

Comerica CEO explains decision to relocate HQ to Texas

March 6, 2007

BY TOM WALSH
FREE PRESS BUSINESS COLUMNIST

Amid all of today’s wailing and hand-wringing that will accompany Comerica Inc.’s decision to move its corporate headquarters to Texas, it all boils down to a pretty simple story.

Michigan is not growing. Other states’ economies are growing like gangbusters.

Shareholders invest in growing companies, not stagnant ones. Wall Street rewards growing companies, not stagnant ones, with higher stock values.

In the fourth quarter of 2006, Comerica reported double-digit loan growth in Texas, in California and in Florida. In Michigan and the Midwest, loan volume fell in the quarter, Comerica CEO Ralph Babb told me in an interview this morning.

A decade ago, about 25% of Comerica’s profits came from outside Michigan. Now about 46% of profits come from elsewhere, and it’s clear that Michigan will soon generate less than half the company’s profits.

“Relocation of headquarters is the logical next step for us to accelerate our growth,” Babb said. Comerica isn’t leaving to be a small fish in a bigger pond, either. Babb said Comerica will become the largest Texas-based bank holding company when it makes the move later this year.

Part of the rationale is about perception – Wall Street views a Sunbelt-based bank as a better growth bet than a Michigan-based bank.

Part of the rationale is about attracting and retaining talent. Babb said Comerica has a “talented group of Michigan employees.” But he conceded that recruiting top talent to Detroit isn’t easy. “There is a question, at times, in people’s minds,” he said, about moving here.

Babb said Comerica still has 20 years to run on its naming-rights agreement at Comerica Park and expects no change in that. “We’re very proud to be the home of the Detroit Tigers,” he said.

Predictably, Babb said nice things about metro Detroit and Michigan, and said 7,300 of its 7,500 employees will remain here.

But for how long? Will that number dwindle over time? “The number of employees and the amount of investment over time depends on growth,” Babb said.

There’s that word again. Growth. There’s no place for sentiment, or geographic loyalty for publicly owned companies in the 21st Century. It’s all about growth and perception of future growth prospects.

Nothing personal, Detroit. Nothing personal, Michigan. It’s just business.

Contact TOM WALSH at 313-223-4430 or twalsh@freepress.com.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070306/BUSINESS06/70306018

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I love the last line:

"Nothing personal, Detroit. Nothing personal, Michigan. It’s just business."

Ha!

[LMich]

Move could be huge boost for downtown Dallas

March 6, 2007

FREE PRESS STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES

Comerica hasn’t announced where its new headquarters in Dallas will be, but the move could prove a huge boon for downtown, the Dallas Morning News reported today.

“I'd be surprised if they didn't go downtown," Joel Pustmueller, a partner with Peloton Real Estate Partners in Dallas, told the newspaper. "I'm sure they will want a building with visibility where they could have their name in sight.”

Downtown Dallas already is a regional banking hub with major operations for Bank of America, Chase and others, the newspaper said in a story posted this morning on its Web site. Texas-based PlainsCapital recently announced that it was relocating its bank holding company headquarters and a retail bank to the Victory project on the edge of downtown.

Comerica hasn’t yet announced a specific location for the headquarters that it’s moving out of Detroit, the newspaper reported. But if it settles downtown, it would be one of the biggest such moves to Dallas’ central business district since Blockbuster Inc. relocated from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., in 1997, the newspaper said.

"That's outstanding – it will be a big shot in the arm for Dallas," said John Crawford, chairman of Downtown Dallas, the business and economic development group. "This is a huge opportunity for downtown."

The report also quoted Jon Altschuler of Dallas’ Stream Realty as calling the move “the most exciting corporate relocation this decade. Aside from the obvious impact on the real estate market, this is terrific news for our city.”

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070306/BUSINESS06/70306015

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

*gag* because Dallas needed this so badly, right?

[LMich]

One More...

Kilpatrick: City's looking for a new bank

March 06, 2007

David Josar / The Detroit News

DETROIT-- Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick said he will look for a new bank and fiscal adviser for Detroit, now that Comerica plans to move its headquarters to Dallas.

He did not say how long the search would take.

The mayor's spokesman, Matt Allen, said Comerica is the city's primary bank, and handles hundreds of millions of dollars in annual transactions, such as paychecks for city workers. In the 2006-2007 fiscal year, the city has budgeted expenditures of $3.7 billion.

Kilpatrick downplayed the overall loss of Comerica headquarters Tuesday, saying that while it was disappointing, it would not harm the city.

"Detroit has to keep moving," Kilpatrick said. He added that Comerica will one day realize it made a poor decision to leave the Motor City.

"The city is on the rise. It is the biggest turnaround story in the nation," the mayor told reporters outside his City Hall office. He declined to take any questions.

"I think (Comerica) is going to regret it."

Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano was more pessimistic than Kilpatrick.

"We are disappointed with the announcement of Comerica Bank to relocate its headquarters," he said in a statement. "This is yet another blow to the region and the state. To grow this economy, Michigan must become aggressively competitive on all levels to retain and attract businesses here. The state is in a crisis and there is no time to waste; the time is now."

Detroit has had a long-standing relationship with the bank and in today's world, Kilpatrick said, where a company is based isn't as clear cut as it once was.

Comerica officials said one reason for moving is that more of their business is in Texas and elsewhere outside of Michigan.

"It's a global economy," Kilpatrick said.

He said he heard nothing about the decision to move until he got a call Monday night.

"I got a call at 8. The governor got a call at 8:30. The governor and I talked at 8:45."

As for whether Comerica Park, the home of the American League champion Detroit Tigers, should get a new name, Kilpatrick declined to enter the debate.

"It's between the Tigers and the (club-owning) Ilitches and Comerica."

Comerica agreed to pay $2.2 million a year for 30 years to have naming rights to the ballpark.

You can reach David Josar at (313) 222-2073 or djosar@detnews.com.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070306/UPDATE/703060462

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You have to wonder, what else could someone in Kilpatrick's situation really say?

[mhays]

Washington actually gave Boeing a series of tax breaks and public policy changes that are expected to save them $3 billion over whatever period. That's why we've kept the aircraft production in the Seattle area so far. Well, that plus there's a ton of value in their facilities and local workforce.

If it's just the headquarters operation and a couple hundred workers at Comerica, even if they're highly paid, that sounds mostly psychological.

It is strange that they're leaving now. Five years ago it would have been more understandable. But Detroit, particularly Downtown, is on the upswing. I'd know that even without this board -- I think the concept has entered popular consciousness.

Sounds like the leadership team likes hot weather. If not, their reasoning sounds lame.

There's real strength in being the "home" bank of a major state. They've gotten rid of a lot of customer loyalty in one fell swoop. They won't get the same thing in Texas. And why would Texans be loyal...Comerica doesn't value its hometowns except in relation to shareholder value and maybe the CEO's tan.

[ColDayMan]

Oy...

[STLgasm]

I'm so sorry to hear this bad news. Hopefully they won't take too many downtown dwellers with them...

[vertex]

I put better-than-even odds that these guys move to a Dallas suburb, and not DT. They are positioning themselves for a takeover, and Texas gives them an advantage. Besides, Dallas hasn't been a banking city for 20 years. They lost most of their banks to Charlotte.

[LMich]

I was kind of thinking much the same thing, seeing as how their explanation for wanting to move just doesn't add up. This sounds much like Kmart buying Sears so that Kmart could essentially be phased out, in other words, finding a nice place to 'die' in the house of a wealthy relative.

[STLgasm]

FUCK COMERICA AND FUCK DALLAS.

Don't worry, Detroit. This shit is cyclical. What goes around comes around.

[ExpatADAM]

How ironic and sad that the Chairman of the Detroit Regional Economic Partnership (Joseph J. Buttigieg III) is also Vice Chairman of Comerica. From the Partnership's website:

"The Detroit Regional Economic Partnership serves as the Chamber's business development arm. In this capacity, the Partnership works to develop the region's economic sustainability by attracting people, dollars and jobs to the region."

How do YOU spell hypocrisy?

[JivecitySTL]

FUCK COMERICA AND FUCK DALLAS.

Don't worry, Detroit. This shit is cyclical. What goes around comes around.

^This was my quote. I accidently logged in under Gasm.

FUCK COMERICA. That quote about how "Michigan's economy is lackluster" or whatever that fuckhead said was a riot! Thanks for helping keep it that way!

[Detroit5000]

That's like GM and Ford moving their HQ's somewhere outside the US. Sorry people, but our growth is not in the US anymore, so we are leaving.

[Detroit5000]

Michigan should bankrupt them, since over 50% of their profits come from here.

[trvlr70]

Poor Detroit. I think the city has reached a point of no return.

[STLgasm]

Poor Detroit. I think the city has reached a point of no return.

Have you visited Detroit lately? It is far from the "point of no return"... The city is enjoying a loft/rehab boom as other cities are, albeit at a somewhat slower pace. Detroit is not going to fall off the map-- these hardships will add toughness and character to the Motor City, and it'll survive.

[Arch City]

Poor Detroit. I think the city has reached a point of no return.

St. Louis may be enjoying a real resurgence, trvlr 70, but it has lost companies - May Company most recently - and I don't think people would say that St. Louis is at "a point of no return". Also, I think downtown Detroit has seen more "new" construction in its downtown over the last five years than St. Louis. Plus, St. Louis has several companies "on the bubble" ie they are ripe for relocation or acquistion.

Anyway, Detroit will be fine. St. Louis lost its biggest banks (Boatmen's and Mercantile) to BOA and US Bank, respectively, moons ago and she (St. Louis) is thriving.

[Steely Dan]

^ yeah, chicago lost all of its big bank HQs to outside/foreign ownership as well, and we're still doing pretty good i'd say. it's not that bank HQs aren't missed, they certainly are, but it's not a death sentence for a city either.

detroit will survive.

[DeBaliviere]

Chicken shit move. Fuck Comerica.

[Marcu]

One of the big reasons companies often choose to move their headquarters is an entire company may take on jurisdiction (the power to be sued) in the state where they are headquartered. For all we know, Comerica may have simply moved b/c they did not like the Michigan courts or the Michigan law.

[ColDayMan]

Well, atleast the Comerica Tower will go condo. I suppose that's a plus.

[hoosier]

FUCK COMERICA too!!

As a Hoosier, this reminds me EXACTLY of what RCA did to Indiana. In 1994, it bought the naming rights to the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, and three years later it closes down the Thompson plant in Bloomington to relocate production to Juarez, Mexico, costing Bloomington, IN 1,800 direct jobs and the Southern Indiana region nearly 2,400 positions.

I HATE FUCKING NAFTA!!!

I realize NAFTA has nothing to do with Comerica's move, but still, it pisses me off how corporations force government's to prostitute themselves just for a goddamn building or a few hundred jobs. This bloated corporate welfare MUST STOP!!!!:hell: :hell:

[Navin]

One of the big reasons companies often choose to move their headquarters is an entire company may take on jurisdiction (the power to be sued) in the state where they are headquartered. For all we know, Comerica may have simply moved b/c they did not like the Michigan courts or the Michigan law.

Jurisdiction shopping wouldn't play any role for a company of Comerica's size and reach. For every state they operate in they must seek recognition as a foreign corporation and subject themselves to service of process and therefore jurisdiction. There's no way moving their HQ will have any effect on Michigan courts' jurisdiction over Comerica.

But this really sucks and I sympathize with Detroit. The worst part is they offered no opportunity for Detroit to make a play to keep them. That doesn't seem in the shareholders' best interests. They might have gotten a sweetheart deal.

[bnk]

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll...plate=printart
Daniel Howes: Who will save state when even boosters bail?


As if we needed another harsh reminder, Comerica Inc. is blowing town for Dallas because growth is not here -- it's in the Sun Belt, and companies that don't grow are companies that die.

Wall Street, showing increasing signs of giving up on Michigan and its auto industry, knows it. And so do Comerica's directors, whose decision screams more fiduciary responsibility than corporate irresponsibility, however much this move may feel like yet another business betrayal.

But a bigger question of this painful and symbolically damaging blow is this: If a board of directors that reads like a who's who of Detroit boosters sees good reason to green light a corporate move to Texas by one of the region's staunchest corporate citizens, who, exactly, is going to lead an economic comeback?

Comerica still books 50 percent of its business in Michigan and the vast majority of its employees, for now, will remain here. Its name graces the home of the Detroit Tigers. It claims a long record of civic stewardship and says that will continue. Its CEO, Ralph Babb, is chairman of Detroit Renaissance, and three more directors sit on the Renaissance board, among others.

Comerica is, in short, deep-dish Detroit.

Who's leaving next?

But if this 150-year-old or so institution can make a case to bolt, and if investors reward the move, what's likely to keep Compuware Inc. and Domino's Inc. or private companies like Quicken Loans and Strategic Staffing Solutions, to name four, in a no-growth state with a bad image, an uncertain business tax environment and aimless political leadership?

Answer: Not much, except their own inertia.

"In a world where major corporations are making decisions for shareholders instead of communities it makes me mad, frankly," Gov. Jennifer Granholm told WJR Tuesday. "It's bad. It is bad."

Yes, it is. It signals loud and clear that the people who've been pushing Detroit before Detroit was remotely cool -- Babb and Comerica directors like DTE's Tony Earley, symphony heavyweight Peter Cummings and retail mogul Bobby Taubman -- have concluded Michigan is a large burden for a publicly traded company whose value is set as much by place and perception as it is by its performance.

If this isn't a wake-up call that says the same old ways don't work, I don't know what is. Confidence is a lifeblood that drives investment, and Comerica's decision says it doesn't have much confidence that Michigan in general and Detroit in particular will grow enough anytime soon to help it stay competitive and independent.

Comerica's decision shouldn't be surprising, several directors tell me, because Comerica's rivals based in the southwest trade at price-to-earnings multiples 20 percent to 30 percent higher than Comerica -- just because they're based in, say, Texas and Comerica is based in Michigan.

"Where the population growth is is going to dictate where the economic growth is," Babb told me, reciting Census Bureau statistics that predict one-third of the U.S. population will reside in California, Texas and Florida by 2030. He says recruiting talent to Dallas should be "a little easier" than the hard sell of wooing folks to work in Detroit.

The brutal truth for Comerica, and many of the state's other public companies, is that being headquartered in Michigan is a liability. It harms their ability to raise funds, depresses share prices, increases susceptibility to takeovers, draws questions about exposure to low-growth markets, economic malaise, high costs and, in the case of banks, troubled loans.

The 'Detroit discount' hurts

"Wall Street does discount Detroit companies, generally," one Comerica director told me, saying company policy bars directors from speaking on the record. "Every time I talk to money managers, I spend a lot of time talking about the Detroit economy, the Michigan economy, the automakers."

Added a fellow Comerica director: "The problem is the market perceives us as a Michigan bank and they will continue to until 70 percent of our business is outside the market. Banks, no matter how good they are, cannot get out of the economy they live in."

Comerica officials informed Granholm of the company's decision on Monday. But the "absolutely unanimous" decision, one director told me, "was heavily studied and heavily thought about for a year."

The rationale for the directors and senior management boiled down to trying to position Comerica for growth to better ensure -- but not guarantee -- its continued independence.

Otherwise, chances would increase that Comerica would be swallowed up by a more aggressive rival, which likely would a) eliminate as many as 5,000 of Comerica's 7,500 Michigan jobs and b) focus on the high-growth markets of California, Texas, Arizona and Florida.

That's the theory, at least. And how the move, expected to be completed by October, will play out remains to be seen. So will the promises that the vast majority of employees will remain here, a higher tax state with higher labor costs and difficulty attracting professional talent.

More certain is the blow Comerica's move will have on Michigan's economic psyche because "it's always easier to grow an economy around your corporate-headquartered companies," says Doug Rothwell, president of Detroit Renaissance.

Comerica is another in a growing list of companies that have bailed on Michigan during the Granholm era, marked by dithering on budgets, business taxes, structural reform and an uncanny knack for learning about corporate decampments only when the rest of us do.

Policy, tone, action matter

By her own admission, she didn't know about the Comerica decision until Monday. She didn't know about Pfizer Inc.'s decision to close operations in Ann Arbor and Plymouth until it was too late. She expressed shock when Delphi Corp. filed for bankruptcy, even if many others weren't. She learned of Kmart Corp.'s decision to acquire Sears from me, in a German restaurant.

Even if state economic development efforts were not a factor in Comerica's decision to move -- and several directors say they weren't -- the Comerica decision and Granholm's reaction to it yet again raise troubling questions about the effectiveness of those efforts and the governor's ties, if any, to key business leaders.

Then there's policy. Her Michigan Business Tax reform would increase taxes on financial services firms and insurance companies. With Comerica heading to Texas, could insurance companies, which basically run with people sitting behind computers, be far behind? Maybe.

Legislation passed the state House to retroactively repeal limits on pharmaceutical liability for drugs approved by federal regulators about the time Pfizer said it was leaving. Even if the bill, stalled in the Senate, didn't force Pfizer's hand -- and it probably didn't -- could it have made the decision easier? Probably.

The business environment matters. What the state's leadership, especially its governor, says about business decisions and the reasons behind them matters. How all of it is perceived by would-be investors and existing Michigan businesses matters.

That's the most worrisome thing about Comerica's exodus: Its leaders, long bullish on Detroit and Michigan, have delivered a vote of no confidence, though they aren't keen to admit it publicly.

"There are a lot of good leaders in Detroit and Michigan," says Babb, "who are stepping up."

Really? How long before they hit the road, too?

Daniel Howes' column appears Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. He can be reached at (313) 222-2106, dchowes@detnews.com or his blog at http://info.detnews.com/danielhowesblog.

[Marcu]

No matter how large the short-term incentives and subsidies are, if the business climate in a state is perceived in a negative way companies will bolt. Check out the new Illinois tax proposal (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=126873)thread. When in an anti-business state like Michigan or Illinois, companies always have to watch their back for insane corporate tax proposals to bank roll some new state spending plan. In a state like Texas, the risk of some new tax on business is just not there. And we still wonder why the midwest is losing corporate headquarters.

[Detroit5000]

^ Anti-business? Yeah, if Comerica gave Michigan the chance to act, we'd offer them every thing from tax breaks to millions and millions of dollars and a gold toilet for the CEO. Comerica left because (as you've read) Texas doesn't have a big bank like Comerica, so it is a way for them to get some good PR in Texas and say, "Hey, look, I'm the biggest bank in all of Texas!" Corporate greed at it's finest.

[Marcu]

^ Anti-business? Yeah, if Comerica gave Michigan the chance to act, we'd offer them every thing from tax breaks to millions and millions of dollars and a gold toilet for the CEO. Comerica left because (as you've read) Texas doesn't have a big bank like Comerica, so it is a way for them to get some good PR in Texas and say, "Hey, look, I'm the biggest bank in all of Texas!" Corporate greed at it's finest.

I think you missed my point. I was simply saying that short-term incentives are not enough. The rust-belt is just too anti business. Businesses aren't whilling to cash in short term just to risk some huge tax increase from the state later on.

[Evergrey]

In its 2006 fiscal year, Comerica reported an average loan growth of 8%. Comerica's Sun Belt markets all outperformed that rate, with its California-Arizona region growing at 15%, Texas at 19% and Florida at 25%.

Comerica entered the Texas market in the late 1980s, acquiring the assets of Texas banks that had been declared insolvent by regulators.

This should allow Comerica to become increasingly competitive in this lucrative region and elevate it to a higher tier of banks on the national scale.

[FourOneFive]

Although this will hurt Detroit in the short term, I truly doubt Comerica will be able to stay independent. I'd bet it'll be acquired in the next 2-4 years. Unfortunately, the more a bank grows in states like California, Texas, and Florida, the more attractive they become to larger rivals. JPMorganChase, Wachovia, and US Bancorp would pick up this bank just for its franchise in the aforementioned states, not Michigan.

[ChunkyMonkey]

Hang in there Detroit. I am always sad to hear about a headquarters move from the North to the Sunbelt.

Here in Boston, we've lost a ton of headquarters mostly due to mergers and acquisitions (John Hancock, Reebok, Fleet, Gillette etc.). To fight back, Boston has started to focus more on community-based institutions such as universities and hospitals to be future leaders and supporters of the city. Corporations will come and go but universities and hospitals need the city as much as the city needs them.

[LMich]

I think Daniel Howes nearly totally misses who's to blame, here. He tries to dump this on the governor, when the blame needs to be placed on the leadership we've had for three DECADES, now, for helping us get to this point, from Blanchard all the way to Granholm. Particularly Blanchard and Engler had years to steer us out of the way of this, by doing everything they could to ween us off from what we knew wouldn't be forever high-paying, low-skilled manufacturing jobs. Both of them helped to drive this proverbial car into off this provebial cliff.

The idea that this should be placed mostly on the shoulders of Granholm is down-right ridiculous. Comerica had already made up their mind, and were cowards enough to blind-side the governor and the mayor just hours before their announcement. If one is to believe Comerica's excuse for leaving, than the only conclusion one can come to is that Comerica's move has been years and years in the making.

[hoosier]

No matter how large the short-term incentives and subsidies are, if the business climate in a state is perceived in a negative way companies will bolt. Check out the new Illinois tax proposal (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=126873)thread. When in an anti-business state like Michigan or Illinois, companies always have to watch their back for insane corporate tax proposals to bank roll some new state spending plan. In a state like Texas, the risk of some new tax on business is just not there. And we still wonder why the midwest is losing corporate headquarters.

BULLSHIT. Have you ever lived in Texas? The place is a fucking wreck. A very low quality of life there. They may have the big Fortune 500 HQs but the state has one of the most regressive tax systems in the country. Great if you are rich, horrible if you are anything else.

Not to mention the poor air quality, ridiculously high teen pregnancy rate, poor educational system, etc.

There is a reason why Texas is known as "Mississippi with good roads."

[DallasTexan]

umm, hi.... Indiana?!?!

[SAguy]

hoosier-BULLSHIT. Have you ever lived in Texas? The place is a fucking wreck. A very low quality of life there. They may have the big Fortune 500 HQs but the state has one of the most regressive tax systems in the country. Great if you are rich, horrible if you are anything else.

Not to mention the poor air quality, ridiculously high teen pregnancy rate, poor educational system, etc.

There is a reason why Texas is known as "Mississippi with good roads."

Hoosier you know nothing about Texas.

[LMich]

We're going to get away from the more extreme and bitter bashing. I'm allowing some leeway to express disappointment, as I did myself, but we're going to get away from the rest of this.

[ChrisLA]

I figured this would be on posted, boy was this a surprise to all of us who work for Comerica. There was no mentioned of this, not even a rumor among the employees, well at least not in California. Me and my co-worker was probably the first in the LA area to received the announcement. We received the email around 3:30 in the morning and we are the only two employees in the entire data center in LA at that time.

[hudkina]

I was thinking about switching to Comerica recently because they were the only Detroit-based bank left, but guess who never is going to have my business? And guess who is going to get nothing but negative word-of-mouth from me? I'll never use a bank who cuts-and-runs when the going gets tough...

[ExpatADAM]

Dallas and other Sun Belt cities won't prosper from Detroit's and other Rust Belt cities' misfortunes forever...........the next corporate stop will be Mumbai (Bombay) or other less expensive offshore sites, and the cycle continues.

[HomeInMyShoes]

^You are totally correct. Does anyone know if there is legislation preventing banking corporations from moving out of the United States?

[Marcu]

^You are totally correct. Does anyone know if there is legislation preventing banking corporations from moving out of the United States?

No. Most foreign banks set up US subsidiaries with US hqs. (eg ABN Amro (Lasalle Bank in the US and one of the largest banks in the world) and Bank of Montreal (Harris Bank) are both foreign banks with US hqs in Chicago). So if banks do choose to move while continuing to do business in the US, they would likely set up subsidiaries.

[Trae]

I hope Detroit can come back, but I can't see it now. The metro is barely growing (as is the state).

[Evergrey]

I hope Detroit can come back, but I can't see it now. The metro is barely growing (as is the state).


The average annual growth rate of Total Personal Income for the Detroit Economic Area from 1994-2004 was 3.9% while the National Average was 5.2%. However, Detroit's 2003-2004 TPI growth was only 1.2% while the national change was 6.0%.

Detroit Economic Area's average annual growth rate of Per Capita Personal Income from 1994-2004 was 3.5% compared to the nation's 4.1%. However, Detroit's 2003-2004 PCPI increase was 1.0% while the nation's was 5.0%.

[Trae]

I am saying population. Almost no one is moving there.

[bryson662001]

If only 200 "suits" are moving to Dallas and if they decide to rent a couple of floors downtown somplace I don't see how that is a big help to downtown Dallas.

[Trae]

They are probably going to trickle down the employees little by little. That is how it is done nowadays.

[wheelscomp]

...at least youll never lose GM

[ajmstilt]

my take: this had more to do with Texas not having a personal income tax, and it's tax structure being so regressive. Great if you're Rich, like oh say.. the leaders of a big bank. ...sucks if you aren't rich. (like moi)

...just try to keep in mind most Texans and Dallasites had nothing to do with this. Don't be mad at us, be mad at Commercia

:runaway:

[LMich]

I hope Detroit can come back, but I can't see it now. The metro is barely growing (as is the state).

The metro will continue to grow, if even anemically, and though the state is also growing at a near flat rate, it could be worse. Immigrants are still offseating the loss, and I don't see immigration slowing down.

BTW, Detroit losing Comerica isn't the death knell for the city. It's really just that simple. It's bad news, definitely, and everyone has acknowledged that, but thinking that this is the last blow for Detroit is pretty ridiculous. That Comerica has decided to leave the city does not mean that it brought the sky down with it. BTW, have you been to Detroit in the last 7 or so years?

[Evergrey]

The population growth doesn't mean as much as the Total Personal Income growth or the Per Capita Personal Income growth... which are extremely low right now. If these trends continue, Greater Detroit will see rapidly expanding domestic migration deficits... further inhibiting the region's ability to grow its economy.

Losing Comerica is an indicator of the weak income growth... and Comerica's exodus will contribute to the region's continued malaise.

[LMich]

Evergrey, Trae was talking population growth, and that's who I was responding to.

Luke, not sure about the CEO, but most of the board was local, which makes the blow even more personal.

[NDtexan]

BULLSHIT. Have you ever lived in Texas? The place is a fucking wreck. A very low quality of life there. They may have the big Fortune 500 HQs but the state has one of the most regressive tax systems in the country. Great if you are rich, horrible if you are anything else.

Not to mention the poor air quality, ridiculously high teen pregnancy rate, poor educational system, etc.

There is a reason why Texas is known as "Mississippi with good roads."

Wow, have you ever been to a lovely town in your state named Gary?

There's a reason Indiana's named the Crossroads of America...and you know it.

[Marcu]

my take: this had more to do with Texas not having a personal income tax, and it's tax structure being so regressive. Great if you're Rich, like oh say.. the leaders of a big bank. ...sucks if you aren't rich. (like moi)

...just try to keep in mind most Texans and Dallasites had nothing to do with this. Don't be mad at us, be mad at Commercia

:runaway:

I'm not familiar with the Texas tax system (other than that the don't have an income tax). Can you explain how it's regressive?

[Evergrey]

Evergrey, Trae was talking population growth, and that's who I was responding to.

Luke, not sure about the CEO, but most of the board was local, which makes the blow even more personal.

I know you were... and I'm saying that raw population growth is not as important an indicator as personal income growth. In addition, cumulative years of languishing personal income growth will have a disastrous impact on the population growth in the future. Detroit has been the worst-performing major economic area for a few years running now, and it looks like it's going to get worse before it gets better.

[austlar]

I'm not familiar with the Texas tax system (other than that the don't have an income tax). Can you explain how it's regressive?

There is no personal income tax. State revenue is generated by property taxes, sales tax (7 1/2%), and gasoline taxes. This has a greater impact on poor and middle class taxpayers than it does on wealthy taxpayers who have a smaller percentage of their gross imcome subject to some form of state taxation.

[Marcu]

There is no personal income tax. State revenue is generated by property taxes, sales tax (7 1/2%), and gasoline taxes. This has a greater impact on poor and middle class taxpayers than it does on wealthy taxpayers who have a smaller percentage of their gross imcome subject to some form of state taxation.

Are there any attempts to mitigate this by, for example, having a very low sales tax on food items? SInce poor and middle class people spend a higher percentage of their income on food, having a lower sales tax on food would help balance the system.

[coddat]

There is no sales tax on food in the State of TX. The cost of the food is also much less expensive. The are also sales tax free weekends in August to help with buying back to school clothes.

[LyndaleHoosier]

I understand that people are angry/upset, but this seems to be something that happens all over America now. Minneapolis lost Norwest HQ to Wells-Fargo (San Francisco) when Norwest was the one to buy Wells-Fargo in the first place. Stuff happens.

[the pope]

Are there any attempts to mitigate this by, for example, having a very low sales tax on food items? SInce poor and middle class people spend a higher percentage of their income on food, having a lower sales tax on food would help balance the system.

Isn't it NY city (or state) that either adds or ups the sales tax once a transaction reaches a certain point (i.e. 100 bucks?)

[TXlifeguard]

...these hardships will add toughness and character to the Motor City....

Hahhaha. That made my day.

'Cause that's exactly what Detroit needs- more 'toughness'.

What were those 'per 100,000 people' violent crime stats again?

Hahhaha. Stop it please. My sides are hurting. Seriously.

[BTinSF]

Here's the Wall Street Journal's (expectedly conservative) take:

MoveOnoutofMichigan.org
March 9, 2007; Page A14

Comerica Inc. was founded in 1849 in Detroit and the Detroit Tigers play in Comerica Park, but this week the bank holding company announced it is moving its headquarters to Dallas -- where, it said, the bigger growth opportunities are. Consider it one more vote of confidence in the state the national expansion forgot, and especially in Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm's economic agenda.

Re-elected last year, Ms. Granholm recently rewarded the voters by announcing some $1 billion in new fees and tax increases. The plan would charge Michigan residents higher levies for almost every activity inside the state with a moving part. She would tax trucking, shopping, smoking, hunting, fishing, drinking beer and liquor, using a cell phone and, yes, even dying.

Her plan does complete the phase-out of the state's hated "single business tax," which the Tax Foundation has called one of the most anti-growth business taxes in the nation. She should have stopped right there. Instead the Governor wants to create a new corporate income tax as well as a new 2% excise tax on upwards of 100 business services. The net effect would be to raise Michigan's overall business tax burden. She'd also impose a 5% death tax on estates valued at more than $2 million -- which is a sure way to encourage even more Michigan retirees to relocate to Florida.

The Governor says all of this is essential to close an $860 million budget deficit, but the levies are part of what has become a vicious cycle for Michigan: Poor growth causes lower revenues, so raise taxes, which leads to even poorer growth, so raise taxes again. The state has lost some 362,000 jobs since 2000 and the jobless rate in December was 7.1%, second highest in the country after Katrina-ravaged Mississippi's 7.5%. The national rate is 4.6%.

A new analysis by economist David Littman of the Mackinac Center reveals that the per capita income in the state fell to its lowest level in 75 years in 2005, relative to the national average. (See the recent trend in the nearby chart.) All of this is in contrast to the growth Michigan experienced in the 1990s, under former Governor John Engler, who succeeded in cutting income-tax rates and the welfare rolls.

It's true that some of Michigan's current woes are due to the secular decline of the U.S. auto makers and their unionized lack of competitiveness. In essence, the U.S. auto industry has been gradually relocating to more hospitable, right-to-work states. But that's all the more reason for Michigan to improve the business climate for other industries, though this is exactly the opposite of what Ms. Granholm plans.

Meanwhile, her budget would increase spending by 2.2% and pay off the teachers unions that support her with a new $178 per pupil spending increase, most of which would be absorbed by the bureaucracy and never see a classroom. This continues the state's lack of spending restraint; between 1995 and 2007 Michigan spent an aggregate $14 billion above the rate of inflation and state population growth, according to a Mackinac study.

Public-employee unions are especially powerful in the state, and Ms. Granholm bows to their every wish. One result is that, according to the Governor's own Financial Advisory Panel, the state has amassed a $35 billion unfunded liability in its public-school health and retirement benefits. The state spends a whopping $1,200 per student per year on teacher and administrator benefits.

Republicans lost the state House last fall, but they still control the Senate and are vowing to fight the Governor's tax increases. We hope they succeed lest the state continue to lose taxpayers and business to more favorable climes.

URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117340918862931786.html

[BTinSF]

I understand that people are angry/upset, but this seems to be something that happens all over America now. Minneapolis lost Norwest HQ to Wells-Fargo (San Francisco) when Norwest was the one to buy Wells-Fargo in the first place. Stuff happens.

There is a considerable difference between a bank being bought by one from elsewhere and one simply deciding to pull up stakes and move. I frankly have never heard of one just moving before.

[LMich]

And, again, a bank that was born and grew up here, and one over 150 years old. The economic punch is just one of the many gut punches that have occured, but this is very symbolically painful in a state that seems to hear nothing, as of late, but bad news story after bad news story. It's a big deal, though far from the end of the world, but the stress being on the "big deal" half of that.

[Debauchalapolis]

There is a considerable difference between a bank being bought by one from elsewhere and one simply deciding to pull up stakes and move. I frankly have never heard of one just moving before.

Wells Fargo didn't buy Norwest Bank. Norwest Bank bought Wells Fargo and in the process took on the Wells Fargo name and moved its headquarters from Minneapolis to San Francisco.

[alexjon]

Well, this certainly is a smugfest.

[Detroit5000]

Wow, Halliburton is moving from Texas to Dubai.

[LMich]

Our national economy is basically a bunch of open doors that shut once you go through them, chutes and ladders, and one-way railways. Before you know it, Comerica will have been bought-out by some Dubai-based banked and devoured, entirely. Places like Texas just happen to be the last stop on this railroad before they leave the country. lol

[alexjon]

Our national economy is basically a bunch of open doors that shut once you go through them, chutes and ladders, and one-way railways. Before you know it, Comerica will have been bought-out by some Dubai-based banked and devoured, entirely. Places like Texas just happen to be the last stop on this railroad before they leave the country. lol

Whatever cheers you up, dude

[LMich]

Cheers me up? Hardly. I do wonder how much longer it will take the likes of Exxon-Mobile to "move where the growth is."

[Marcu]

Are headquarters anything more than bragging rights? Shouldn't we worry about number of employees?

[DallasTexan]

Lilton, alexjohn is correct. Even if Comerica were to be purchased by a foreign banking entity, its headquarters would stay in North America. See HSBC, LaSalle, Compass, RBC Centura, and Charter One for examples.

[LMich]

Lilton, alexjohn is correct. Even if Comerica were to be purchased by a foreign banking entity, its headquarters would stay in North America. See HSBC, LaSalle, Compass, RBC Centura, and Charter One for examples.

I'm not sure where I ever said that it wouldn't. I don't make much of a difference between a move and buyout, in terms of the psychological impact, anyway. I've witnessed in my own hometown a bank buyout with shuffling and firing of workers of the bought bank. It's not Michigan National, anymore, in any form, so I don't much care what it calls itself these days, and neither do most others, in town. It's still a piece of history lost, either way, regardless of the minor economic impact.

[PhillyRising]

Cheers me up? Hardly. I do wonder how much longer it will take the likes of Exxon-Mobile to "move where the growth is."

They already have. I used to work for them. My old job is now in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada at Imperial Oil offices. They sent jobs from offices in Houston to Guatamala..Hungary and South America. In fact....most of the jobs they have sent out of the country were formerly done in Texas. Have a problem with your computer? You'll be talking to some hoser in Moncton instead of Billy Ray in Dallas like it used to be when I was employed with them.

I just wonder how much longer it will be before another city tries to pry Comcast from Philly. New York tried but failed....

[the pope]

god, who would want comcast?

i kid.

[ManageMich]

Maybe we should start a letter writing campaign to get Penske Corp to move their HQ downtown to replace Comerica and demonstrate to the rest of the metro that downtown Detroit is the place to be?

[DallasTexan]

Nah, Penske just moved to Little Rock like 15 minutes ago.

[alexjon]

I'm starting to think that this anger isn't about comerica at all.

[the urban politician]

I'm starting to think that this anger isn't about comerica at all.

^ Why don't you just say what you're trying to say instead of annoying everyone with passive-aggressive insinuating posts

[bnk]

Whatever cheers you up, dude


Where is Halliburton? Bueler? Anyone?

[Crunked Up]

I was in Detroit for a week during the North American International Auto Show and do not see what would make Comerica want to stay there as opposed to leaving for Dallas.

I saw nothing in the city that made me think "I gotta move here."

For people who've lived there for years, the little changes that have occured may be great, but from an outsider, the city seemed on the decline.

I, honestly, didn't see anything that would make me want to visit the town, other than an impressive number of pre-WWII buildings.

[Michi]

I saw nothing in the city that made me think "I gotta move here."
How about touch, smell, taste, or feel? Any of those make you think, "I gotta move here?"

If you want to change the subject about how much you dislike Detroit, make a new thread.

[alexjon]

^ Why don't you just say what you're trying to say instead of annoying everyone with passive-aggressive insinuating posts

Well, this seems to be another way to vent out a "woe is us" victim complex, hurling your own feelings of inadequacy on other cities because, pfft, nobody does it better than (insert your own city/region here).

(Insert other city here) is just a pile of crap cobbled together by freeways, anyway, and (insert state here) is full of (money-driven voodoo science stats from shady "news publication").

Detroit is great, Houston is great, Comerica is still doing business in Detroit, and Halliburton is still doing business in Houston-- all is right in the world, a few shuffles are happening, is all.

And besides, Houston has such a massive economy that Comerica is only a speck on their map.

[LMich]

Sorry, this isn't about Houston. Comerica is moving to Dallas.

Alex, let us have our pity party, and have a release our bitter feelings, so we can move on, ok? :)