Packard Plant owner to walk away from abandoned ruins

**neavling** · November-27-12, 09:59 AM

Dominic Cristini says he's done with the Packard. Now the city is trying to seize the land for back taxes. This could get interesting. http://wp.me/p2BK9P-U2

Shollin · November-27-12, 10:03 AM

I don't understand why people would want to just own an abandoned building? The Packard could've been turned into a nice mixed use development but the building is likely so bad it can't be salvaged.

**Islandman** · November-27-12, 10:04 AM

"Cristini maintains he owes no taxes because the city won’t provide basic services to protect his property from arsonists, vandals and thieves."

Welcome to what many have to deal with just a damn house. So he doesn't want to pay taxes because his property is not secured with a fence or private security? Hilarious.

**Bad Brains** · November-27-12, 12:15 PM

Wow, another well researched and insightful Packard Plant article plugged for our Motor City Muckraker guy. This really tells us a lot....

**Honky Tonk** · November-27-12, 01:00 PM

Originally Posted by Shollin

I don't understand why people would want to just own an abandoned building? The Packard could've been turned into a nice mixed use development but the building is likely so bad it can't be salvaged.

@ the height of MI's movie career, Dominic Cristini probably made a few nice dollars off of renting the place out to movie companies. In fact, there's another thread about someone filming there just before Thanksgiving. Back when Archer was mayor, I think people used to store store collectible automobiles there. [[as opposed to the collected automobiles there now). I vaguley remember hearing the City tried to commandeer the building for a casino site, but I don't remember all the details, and am too lazy to look them up. Anyway, my guess is with the colapsing of walls and such, the building is even becoming worthless as apocalyptic background. It would take a GOOD some of money to tear it down, and even a bigger sum to make the land environmentally friendly. So he's out of here.

**Scottathew** · November-27-12, 01:03 PM

You've got to pay your taxes... You can't just arbitrarily tell the governments how much you will pay.

**Hypestyles** · November-27-12, 04:29 PM

this is nuts-- has it been hashed out just who owns the entirety of the property yet?!

I'm sick of hearing about this sprawling derelict hulk. I'm for demolishing everything except a handful of intact items/arches/whatever, and shipping those to the Henry Ford Museum. Let it go.. the time for conventional "rehab" is long gone.

**Drexciya68** · November-27-12, 05:11 PM

When I was born in 1968 we lived at 1450 1/2 East Grand Blvd.. right next door to the Packard Plant. I don't remember a time when it seemed like it was ever worth saving? Isn't there also environmental concerns with some of the property or has that even been addressed?

**rb336** · November-27-12, 05:11 PM

what does anyone know about this Cristini jackass beyond the Packard plant?

**downtown_racine** · November-27-12, 05:28 PM

Forget the clean up of stuff you cant see and tear that schitt down. How long did Uniroyal sit polluted ? How many other sites sit polluted ?

Get a demolition company in there while there is still some steel left and that will reduce costs of getting the brick and mortar structure out of there, a responsible company would have probably tore it down free for the hauling if it was complete. Stripped poured concrete structure probably not so much.
I would think most of the face brick is salable and or holding a little value, labor intensive to get but thats low skilled job creation for dead krak headz ?

**Whitehouse** · November-27-12, 06:33 PM

Originally Posted by Islandman

"Cristini maintains he owes no taxes because the city won’t provide basic services to protect his property from arsonists, vandals and thieves."

Welcome to what many have to deal with just a damn house. So he doesn't want to pay taxes because his property is not secured with a fence or private security? Hilarious.

Saywot?? So how is Matty Moroun able to do this with MCS? Investing in it, that's how. Granted, the Packard complex is much bigger of couse

**Bad Brains** · November-28-12, 12:58 AM

Originally Posted by Islandman

"Cristini maintains he owes no taxes because the city won’t provide basic services to protect his property from arsonists, vandals and thieves."

They also don't protect his property from self-proclaimed Muckrakers who trespass and write really bad articles based on gossip on their website

**Gistok** · November-28-12, 01:52 AM

Originally Posted by Bad Brains

They also don't protect his property from self-proclaimed Muckrakers who trespass and write really bad articles based on gossip on their website

Sounds to me like you really have it out for Muckraker.... hmmmm.....

**Bad Brains** · November-28-12, 03:05 AM

I can't help it. I called him out on blatantly false information he posted on his site a long while ago but he refused to acknowledge, change it, or challenge me. To be honest, I thought at first his site was a gag/parody. He's also conveniently silent when he posts one of his articles here. He's just looking for hits.

I don't know why this kind of spam is allowed on this site. He's worse than that Ryan Southen guy who appears once in a while to plug his photos. Southen usually just appears briefly in an already existing thread to spam, this guy is starting his own threads.

**mauser** · November-28-12, 06:30 AM

by law the Wayne County Treasurer should be the one foreclosing. it is [[according to the commercial with the Treasurer on it) illegal for the County NOT to foreclose on delinquent taxable properties. the City of Detroit is too derelict to deal with a property like that, obviously, but the county is not.

if the alleged owner collected fees from Hollywooders, why were they not garnished ? who insures the Hollywooders while they were on site ?

**neavling** · November-28-12, 11:27 AM

Bad brains, I am not looking for hits. I run a nonprofit watchdog site. I posted the article here so others can read it. Unlike you, others found it insightful. It's news when a big plant is about to get foreclosed.

**stromberg2** · November-28-12, 02:34 PM

Southen is a very well respected member of this forum. Stromberg2

**mauser** · November-28-12, 03:47 PM

Originally Posted by stromberg2

Southen is a very well respected member of this forum. Stromberg2

Speak for thyself. No Forum Loraxes, please.

**p69rrh51** · November-28-12, 04:28 PM

Originally Posted by neavling

Bad brains, I am not looking for hits. I run a nonprofit watchdog site. I posted the article here so others can read it. Unlike you, others found it insightful. It's news when a big plant is about to get foreclosed.

With the Packard its not news worthy when the building is on fire [[although it may be news worthy when its not). Its also not news worthy when its about to be taken over for taxes AGAIN. Give us information we don't know!

**Lowell** · November-28-12, 04:42 PM

Great. The City of Detroit is going to spend money it doesn't have to seize the property and spend even more money it doesn't have to tear down one of its biggest tourist attractions?

Seriously though, I would be curious about the numbers of the economic impact the Packard site has generated in terms of movie sets, Banksy art, photographs sold and especially those thousands of tourists from across the country and around the world it has attracted. It has to be in the low millions.

JVB · November-28-12, 04:50 PM

I've always thought it would make a great paintball place. You could never get insurance, but can you imagine how many people something like that would attract?

**Honky Tonk** · November-28-12, 05:02 PM

Originally Posted by JVB

I've always thought it would make a great paintball place. You could never get insurance, but can you imagine how many people something like that would attract?

I agree, and it SURE would, from all over the planet! Lately though, I've been reading more and more, [[I think in Motor City Muckraker), that walls and ceilings are collapsing. This might be the beginning of the end.

**Packman41** · November-28-12, 05:18 PM

Originally Posted by JVB

I've always thought it would make a great paintball place. You could never get insurance, but can you imagine how many people something like that would attract?

The PMCC building DID have a paintball place as a tenant.

But they were forced out by the City of Detroit along with 98 other rent paying tenants when they tried to confiscate the buildings back in 1998. At that time the CofD sent in the Gang Squad to physically remove the tenants that were in place. It was previously reported that in the mid 1990s that Cristini was grossing $200,000 a month in rent.

The City of Detroit took that away from him and then started to demolish the buildings they did not own.

**Honky Tonk** · November-28-12, 05:22 PM

Originally Posted by Packman41

The PMCC building DID have a paintball place as a tenant.

But they were forced out by the City of Detroit along with 98 other rent paying tenants when they tried to confiscate the buildings back in 1998. At that time the CofD sent in the Gang Squad to physically remove the tenants that were in place. It was previously reported that in the mid 1990s that Cristini was grossing $200,000 a month in rent.

The City of Detroit took that away from him and then started to demolish the buildings they did not own.

I KNEW I remembered that story! I heard it was for the casinos, much like what happened to Rivertown. Why did the City stop the demolitions?

JVB · November-28-12, 05:51 PM

Originally Posted by Packman41

The PMCC building DID have a paintball place as a tenant.

But they were forced out by the City of Detroit along with 98 other rent paying tenants when they tried to confiscate the buildings back in 1998. At that time the CofD sent in the Gang Squad to physically remove the tenants that were in place. It was previously reported that in the mid 1990s that Cristini was grossing $200,000 a month in rent.

The City of Detroit took that away from him and then started to demolish the buildings they did not own.

Holy shit. Can you post a couple links on that, I've never heard that story. How could they begin demolition without seizing the property?