Manny "Matty" Maroun ... slumlord & bully at the expense of the City and the Region?

I am curious about Manny “Matty” Maroun and his activities and holdings.

Everything I’ve ever come across about Maroun suggests that he is a self-absorbed bully who is consumed with his own narrow interests regardless of the negative consequences for anyone and everyone else.

His recent spate of deceptive political-style bridge ads are both galling and, in my opinion, reflect on the main local broadcast TV channels as complicit in Maroun’s deceptions, as those television broadcasters essentially *prostitute* themselves for his advertising dollars while simultaneously selling out the region’s best interests.

Further, the “bone” he recently threw Detroit, an offer to tart-up the old Michigan Central Station, was a slap in the face. The guy is a fucking SLUMLORD. He should be keeping up his properties regardless!

Are we really this uncritical and stupid?
Maroun is counting on it.

I am curious about what is known of his other properties along the Detroit River. I understand it’s a huge amount of property. This could certainly explain, in part, why we don’t have the sort of attractive recreational and mixed-use development along the river that one would expect with such a beautiful natural resource.

What other parcels does he own?

What else do we know about this guy’s dealings and holdings? ... any input would be most appreciated.

Here is a link to a piece about Maroun in general ...
http://blockyourid.com/~gbpprorg/jud...oit_secret.htm

and another link to a forum thread from 2007 which gives a pretty good background on his plans [[at that time) for a second bridge.

Though from 2007 this is an *excellent* read with some forum posts following it.

http://urbantoronto.ca/archive/index.php/t-3880.html

Here's one aspect that's still in play about his bridge activities ...

I used to get a huge earful from a friend of mine, back when Maroun prevented the old Mclouth steel facility on the Detroit River in Riverview from being taken down and the area made into mixed use residential.
He successfully prevented the area’s greenfield initiatives and that large section of the riverfront is still a huge, abandoned chunk of industrial blight bracketed by attractive municipal development on it’s north end; the Wyandotte Golf Course [[a *really* sweet golf course along the river!) ... and on the south end by parks and neighborhoods in Trenton.

Through sheer bending of the legal process with money and lawyers, he managed to successfully claim to be a railroad because he had found some unused railroad tracks on the property. Railroads get many exemptions from local control, and his stated intentions at the time were to use the enormous piece of riverside property as a truck depot and potentially as a deep water port to bring Canadian garbage into the U.S. by ship.

That friend of mine who lives in Trenton says people are still waiting for the other shoe to drop on the truck depot issue and fear that if he does actually manage to screw the State and force a second bridge under his ownership, the downriver area will suffer a massive blow as thousands of semi trucks make their way from the bridges to the old Mclouth property.

Along these lines, here is another post from last year when Maroun lost the court case that would have allowed him to send all his truck traffic [[an estimated 10,000 semi-trucks per day!) through the neighborhoods and side-streets near the Ambassador Bridge, and instead required him to make ramps directly onto the freeway.

http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthr...ghlight=maroun

Maroun really doesn't give a rat's ass who he screws.

I wonder if my friend might be right? ... the Trenton/Riverview/Wyandotte area might be about to get stomped into a grease pot by Maroun if he gets his way with the bridge.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tony Codfish

Though from 2007 this is an *excellent* read with some forum posts following it.

http://urbantoronto.ca/archive/index.php/t-3880.html

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Good read. The part that kills me was when he says that people should be grateful because he's buying properties, and then states that he's paying 25-50% above market value. Yeah, well it's easy to get property pretty cheap when you drive down the values by letting everything in site fall to ruin, isn't it?

Bottom line is this guy is pathetic. He could have easily built his empire without doing so at the expense of good buildings and good people, but for guys like him, you can never have enough.

I hold him personally responsible for a good portion of the cities decline, and if his bridge becomes worthless and toll revenues dry up because of the DRIC, are you really going to feel bad for him? All he'll have is enough money to last generations. Money that came largely from the backs of good people, good businesses, and good buildings that were unfortunate to come between him and his greed over the decades.

Anybody who's pushing to recall Snyder like I saw in the some of the other threads, take a second to realize that he actually has the balls to stand up to this guy and go nose to nose with him. That alone should count for something.

Unlike other wealthy individuals from Detroit, I have never heard of “Matty” Maroun being involved with any charities. Does this billionaire care about anyone but himself? Does anyone know of anything positive that Matty has done to benefit Detroit or it's people?

Ok I know this is just small but..It has been driving me crazy...as a Canadian that comes across most weekends..for weeks Maroun has left the toll using Canadian $ at $4.75 and the US at $4.00. The Canadian dollar has been worth more than the US dollar for more than a month. The toll at the Port Huron bridge the dollars are equal. I know it is just .75 cents but with all the Canadians crossing I can't even imagine how much extra he is making from the exchange. It is as if he is getting even with us because of wanting to build another bridge. Whatever..I swear even if I have to go out of my way I will use that bridge so he doesn't get my toll.

No known charitable involvements.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 9606 Prest

Unlike other wealthy individuals from Detroit, I have never heard of “Matty” Maroun being involved with any charities. Does this billionaire care about anyone but himself? Does anyone know of anything positive that Matty has done to benefit Detroit or it's people?

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The family gave $1 million to Liggett School.

Why do we have multiple threads on the same subject/person, or very similar/related subjects and/or person?

We already have a thread on the bridge and Matty. We've got multiple posts about the Woodward light rail line, we've got multiple posts about land-use policies, etc...is everyone that posts here really that ADHD scattered brained?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NorthEnder

Why do we have multiple threads on the same subject/person, or very similar/related subjects and/or person?

We already have a thread on the bridge and Matty. We've got multiple posts about the Woodward light rail line, we've got multiple posts about land-use policies, etc...is everyone that posts here really that ADHD scattered brained?

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If you see a duplicate thread, report it and the mods will combine them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NorthEnder

Why do we have multiple threads on the same subject/person, or very similar/related subjects and/or person?

We already have a thread on the bridge and Matty. We've got multiple posts about the Woodward light rail line, we've got multiple posts about land-use policies, etc...is everyone that posts here really that ADHD scattered brained?

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@Northender

You ask “is everyone that posts here really that ADHD scatterbrained?”

Here’s a question for ya pal ... “are you *really* that inane and pissy?”

An advanced search on “maroun” for posts since the first of this year and sorted by date of last post reveals a grand total of 2 that mention him in the subject line of the thread and NONE which are about maroun personally and specifically

The two which mention him as the subject are
a thread from a year ago about maroun loosing the court case about the bridge ramps ...
and a thread about his family trying to do some PR damage control.

Any other mention of maroun is incidental in threads about other topics and *none* are about maroun’s business dealings in the overall ... which is what *this* thread is about.

This thread is specific to a couple things:
I asked for posts listing his various business activities
I asked about riverfront properties that he owns
I gave a couple links to some interesting background reading
I noted that the old Mclouth steel plant location might still be intended as a truck depot.

This and only this thread seeks to list in one place his business dealings and holdings in general. Otherwise than that one would have to read all over the place for anecdotal information on maroun.