Chemical Bank CEO Talks Moving To Detroit And Sponsoring The Marathon

“This is as important of a decision as we’ve made in our company’s history,” says Thomas Schafer of Chemical Bank.

Gus Navarro

Chemical Bank is set to join the crowd of businesses moving into Downtown Detroit.

This summer, the bank announced that it will be building a new skyscraper near Comerica Park.

Maybe even bigger than that news is the fact that Chemical has asked for none of the incentives or abatements from the city that usually accompany big development projects.

That’s maybe a turn toward more stability for Detroit.

Chemical bank is also now the lead sponsor of the Detroit Free Press Marathon, which happens this Sunday.

Thomas Schafer, the president and CEO of Chemical Bank, joins Detroit Today with Stephen Henderson to speak about the marathon and the decision to move downtown.

Schafer says that with the decision to move the bank’s headquarters to Detroit, “it was important that we take a leadership position for the growth of the city by literally owning the building and building it.” 

Chemical Bank could have sought tax incentives from the city. However, they did not. 

“This is as important of a decision as we’ve made in our company’s history,” says Schafer. 

Click on the audio player to listen to the full conversation. 

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    Dynamic and diverse voices. News, politics, community and the issues that define our region. Hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Stephen Henderson, Detroit Today brings you fresh and perceptive views weekdays at 9 am and 7 pm.