Peruvian Developer Pays For Detroit's Packard Plant. Says He'll Live On Site.
Wayne County Chief Deputy Treasurer David Szymanski said that on Thursday, Peruvian developer Fernando Palazuelo made the final payment of the $405,000 he bid for the sprawling, decrepit, Albert Kahn designed Packard Plant on East Grand Blvd in Detroit. Palazuelo was the third highest bidder, but when Texas doctor Jill Van Horn’s winning $6 million bid vaporized and Chicago developer Bill Hults only came up with 10% of his $2 million bid, the county accepted Palazuelo’s price. Palazuelo, who is originally from Spain, claims to have had a successful track record of redeveloping distressed properties in Lima, Peru.
Now that the the moneys have been deposited with an escrow agent, the developer has access to the 3.5 million sq ft property for an environmental assessment that actually began last week and will be completed by the end of the year, Szymanski said. Once that assessment is done, the funds will be released to the county from the escrow account and the deed will be recorded. Palazuelo will then be able to apply for a brownfield credit to help pay for site remediation. The county owned the property due to a property tax foreclosure on the previous owner.
Palazuelo’s plans for the 40 acre site include attracting automotive parts suppliers to the parts of the complex that have not yet deteriorated as well as the construction of a go-kart track. The developer’s sons were competitive kart racers when they were younger. He also says that he plans to personally live on the property, hoping to have an apartment completed by April, once the area is secured.
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I have a suspicion that this has something to do with the path to US permanent residency that can be had for investing $500,000 in economically depressed areas.
For years I've wanted to see the historic but decrepit Packard plant. My guess is there's no need to rush to Detroit. Demolishing that thing will cost more than the vacant ground will be worth.
What's he going to do with Allan Hill? http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/07/garden/making-a-home-in-an-old-packard-plant.html?_r=0
Detroit needs drastic solutions if it's ever going to turn around. Like, for example, declaring it a special economic zone (similar to what was done to Shenzhen, China in 1980 when it was a swamp)and allowing immigrants access to extremely fast, efficient and inexpensive residency/citizenship, combined with right-to-work laws. Watch the world's oppressed yet driven pour into the city, take advantage of cheap properties, and rebuild it from the ground up. The city is bankrupt and has very little to no viable options otherwise.