Kevyn Orr: Creditors Rejected Offers to Take Airport

During the recently concluded bankruptcy, the city of Detroit offered Coleman Young [[Detroit City) Airport to creditors as part of a proposed settlement. The offer was summarily rejected because Detroit's creditors didn't consider it a viable asset, unlike the delusional city leadership.

Normally, I don't agree with Nolan Finley, but he is spot on about the sorry state of the airport.

"The same old problems dog City Airport — runways that are too short for most commercial airplanes and a really bad neighborhood not conducive to attracting passengers.

In addition, Orr noted the fences around the airport have been stripped away by those who stage illegal drag races in the area, making it no longer secure.

City Airport is an albatross. . . .
Much of its business is from corporate jets, meaning the poorest people in the region are subsidizing a facility used mostly by the richest."

So what to do with an obsolete airport that's an economic drain on the city? A new industrial park, auto factory, college campus, outlet mall, dairy farm, or an expanded cemetery? The biggest obstacle to repurpose the property is city leadership - still thinking they have a potential Midway or LaGuardia airport on the east side.

BTW, if you're interested, there is an ongoing lawsuit [[several have already been settled) illustrating the incompetent management of Detroit City. It can be found here: http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal...3710/272809/22

Free Press article and Finley column.
http://www.freep.com/story/news/loca...club/22417163/

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/opi...port/22428451/

Normally I'd get excited about a large piece of land in the heart of a city getting redeveloped, but there's simply so many opportunities for that in Detroit, that it's going to be a while.