New York City and Washington, D.C., be damned: Dan Gilbert continues to think Amazon made the wrong decision in not picking Detroit and Windsor for its so-called "second headquarters."

The billionaire founder and chairman of Quicken Loans Inc. and Rock Ventures LLC implied that brass from the Seattle-based company that, as of Thursday, had a market capitalization of $806 billion, didn't visit the city as it was mulling responses from more than 200 in North America late last year and early this year.

"We tell everybody, you just can't understand what's going on here unless you're on the ground," Gilbert said last week in an interview. "It doesn't matter what you say, or the videos you send."

Amazon last month selected the NYC-DC hydra as its HQ2 following a more than year-long process that was riven with criticism from some who saw it as nothing more than the company pitting cities against each other in a race for massive tax incentive packages. The splashy 243-page Detroit-Windsor bid package, which also included a hype video, didn't make the shortlist of 20 cities from which Amazon ultimately made its final selection.

"I think they would have made a better choice coming here," he said.

But, Gilbert understands business is business.

"They are a private company and can do whatever they want, and best of luck to them."