An investment group from China has emerged as the buyer in two Detroit real estate deals.

DDI Group, based in Shanghai, purchased both the David Stott Building and the former Detroit Free Press headquarters for $9.4 million and $4.2 million, respectively, said Ryan Snoek, a real estate consultant who coordinated the sale on behalf of the seller, Fort Lauderdale-based Luke Investments LLC.

The group from China bought both buildings, sight unseen, as part of an auction last month to get involved with the city's growth potential, Snoek said.

In fact, DDI was in a bidding war with another investor tapped into the city's upside potential, Quicken Loans Inc. founder Dan Gilbert.

"Once the bidding got above $5 million, it was just (DDI) and Gilbert," Snoek said. "They went at it until the cows came home. In the end, (DDI) won it, but it was just by $50,000."