Yes, you really have to wonder who bamboozled who.

According to this WXYZ investigative report the City of Allen Park never got an appraisal before buying the building for $25 million.
http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/...worth-far-less

“So you still think you got a good deal,” Action News Investigator Heather Catallo asked of Allen Park Mayor Gary Burtka. His response: "Yes, we did get a good deal.”
But did they? Our investigation is raising questions about whether or not the city drastically overpaid for the property they’ll be paying off for the next 30 years.
Despite the size of the purchase, Allen Park officials admit they never had the property or building appraised. Experts we talked to called that highly unusual, especially for a purchase this large. Most people would never dream of buying a home without having it appraised, but Mayor Burtka disagrees.

The expert selected by WXYZ, the president of the commercial board of Real Estate for the State of Michigan, said, “I would view this property, at the point of time of the sale, could have been as low as $5.2-$5.5, could be as high as $7.5 to $8 Million.”

Now lets do some comparison shopping. The developers of the Raleigh Studios in Pontiac bought a 368,000 sq. ft. building [[built in 1999) from GM for $3.7 million or $10.05 per square foot. The expert believes the former Visteon Building is worth between $6.50 and $10.00 per square foot.

The question to ask is why Allen Park paid $31.25 per square foot. Who's zoomin who?

Guess the tax payers of Allen Park have to decide.