Australian Software Company Buys Pontiac's Phoenix Center - Moving HQ There. But wait

**Lowell** · January-13-17, 10:12 AM

Pontiac's Phoenix Center was, like the Renaissance Center for Detroit, envisioned as massive project to trigger rejuvenation of downtown Pontiac. Like the Renaissance Center it was a massive failure. RenCen was eventually bought for a song by GM and is becoming the major downtown player as originally hoped for.

Not so for Phoenix center that has languished and become another crumbling liability tied up in litigation. "BoonEx has told the city it would relocate its North American headquarters from Atlanta to two office towers connected to the Phoenix Center." Pontiac City Council has approved the sale.

Sounds great, right? So help me out. Why doesn't this smell right? I can find little about this company and searches for corporate profiles yield scattered information. Some say it has less than 50 employees. It doesn't even show up in a search of the Georgia Department of Economic Development or Metro Atlanta Chamber sites. And they are relocating to TWO towers?

Is this a redux of the Silverdome deal?

In a deal that is to close Feb. 13, the city would sell the parking deck for $3 million but gain no money because of liens outstanding on the structure, which the city has failed for decades to maintain, attorneys at the meeting told city officials, the Free Press reported.

Mayor Deirdre Waterman said the deal is a "win-win for the people of Pontiac" because it releases them from lawsuits with the owners of Ottawa Towers, which could've ultimately cost the city more than $20 million, the Free Press said...

The city has been tied up for several years in lawsuits with the owners of Ottawa Towers — Michigan-based Ottawa Tower II LLC and North Bay Drywall Inc. Profit Sharing Plan and Trust. The lawsuits center on the city's bid to demolish the Phoenix Center.

The deal would offer several benefits for a city trying to emerge from troubled times, Waterman said. BoonEx would pay the city $3 million for the structure, Waterman said, putting an end to the city's ongoing litigation. Pontiac would also save $2 million in demolition costs, she said. Finally, BoonEx would help breath new life into the city and help establish it as an up-and-coming tech hub, Waterman said.
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...ftware-company

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**401don** · January-13-17, 11:56 AM

From a quick search I think you may be on to something. Their main product appears to be Dolphin social-networking software. The reviews are not good. I also found two that stated for this company to misrepresent itself as U.S. based is a total scam.

**Johnnny5** · January-13-17, 01:10 PM

Lowell, You're definitely on to something! I spent about 20 minutes searching Boonex online and this looks really shady! Their connection to Atlanta appears to be nothing more than a desk in one of those shared short term office rentals and a P.O Box which is also used by "The School for Jocks", "Hair by Jaque". "Life Acting Ministry" and a few others companies.

I'm not sure how the Australian company comes into play, but that business appears to be linked to a single family home in the middle of New South Wales, Australia.

**Danny** · January-13-17, 03:02 PM

Well let's see what those Aussies can do to save Downtown Pontiac from becoming an instant ghetto. Will be bring jobs and regional businesses to Pontiac like Dan Gilbert brought his businesses practices to his personal Disneyland. Or will those Aussies let po'folks in Pontiac down!!

**MrMichigan** · January-13-17, 03:07 PM

https://www.boonex.com/about

Seems legit. Wonder if they're hiring more, or perhaps using the offices as a workspace for developers.

**Johnnny5** · January-13-17, 03:28 PM

Originally Posted by MrMichigan

https://www.boonex.com/about

Seems legit.

Dig a little deeper.

**Johnnny5** · May-28-17, 10:59 PM

Anyone have any updates on this sale? It appears as if the Pontiac City Council approved it in February, but I don't see any more details online.

I did notice that "Boonex" has updated their website and it now mentions that they only employ about a dozen people. I'm not sure what their use would be for multiple office towers and a massive parking structure.

**canuck** · May-29-17, 11:45 AM

Yes, that is a familiar story. This sounds like the move from California to Vancouver by Valeant Pharma headquarters that ended up in Laval, Quebec. Valeant is a troubled company with a history of overburdened acquisitions. The CEO was ousted, his executive council probably never set foot in Laval but for tax purposes and large money transfers to offshore accounts, Canada is a lot easier on corporations.

**Scottathew** · May-30-17, 09:41 AM

I did a news search for: "Boonex" -Pontiac

This would yield any news results containing "Boonex" as long as they don't have the word "Pontiac".

I found surprisingly little about them. I would also have concerns. Their North American spokesperson lives in Detroit at an address that is involved with a company named "Liaison International".

I'm having a hard time connecting all the dots.

**Richard** · May-30-17, 01:45 PM

Cnet had them at # 14 for social media platforms.

They seem to take widgets to compile a platform,kinda like Linux.

In theory I guess one could take a add on widget that seems harmless enough and embed a code that pulls certain key words and sends those directly to a Monitoring site to gain intelligence.

We already do that but if somebody else wanted to implement that program into a system internationally as they are providing platforms in that capacity already it would be a nice situation.

It would be really hard to connect the dots if somebody was in the business of hiding the dots.

But that would be considered a conspiracy theory and may not apply.