Anyone pissed the Michigan Land Bank is going to sell the State Fairgrounds for a $1?

[Scott]

As it stands currently, the State Fairgrounds is slated to be sold to the Magic Plus group for a $1. The plan to is to develop a mixed use site. At the community meeting they held, it all looked very cookie cutter.

People from all over visit downtown and midtown because there are great things to do. Why not develop something great here to in Uptown? It would make getting the light rail further up Woodward more doable.

I guess I'm frustrated with the lack of vision and am afraid we are going to end up with a crappy strip mall like they have a few miles down the road in Highland Park. A mall like that is NOT something I think people should be greeted by when entering Detroit via Woodward.

[Pam]

I'm still pissed they are selling it period.

[mikefmich]

I'm still pissed they are selling it period.

I'm with you....and that the fair is gone after so many decades.

[Pam]

What are they going to do with the designated historic buildings on the site?

[Junkin4Life]

What are they going to do with the designated historic buildings on the site?

Transfer them to the Greenfield Village

[jolla]

Why not develop something great here too in Uptown?

If you think that would make money, you should invest in something great. These investors think bland will sell. That area is one step above blight, so I think what they're doing is great.

[Rolfsy]

Wish i could have caught that meeting. Any links to the proposed plans?

I thought part of the bargain was to keep the main 4-5 buildings and repurpose them.

[detroitsgwenivere]

Hmph. Too bad nobody living in the neighborhoods adjacent to this proposed development was aware of this "community meeting."

But you can be sure that Palmer Woods, 8 mile business association, and Perfecting Church is all over this thing.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

[Packman41]

As it stands currently, the State Fairgrounds is slated to be sold to the Magic Plus group for a $1. The plan to is to develop a mixed use site.

What troubles you? The sale price or what they intend to develop there?

The $1 sale price seems about average for land in the CofD. IIRC the site of the Kern Block was sold to Compuware for $1 AFTER someone [[CofD, DEGC,etc) paid $16 million to tear Kerns’ down and clean up the site. Then, in 2008 there was a deal to sell 2 acres near Campus Martius on Monroe for $1 for the proposed Cadillac Centre to some guys from NYC.

So, I guess the value of land in the CofD is about $1 and you get a fistful of incentives.

Except if you want to start growing trees in the CofD. Then the land cost is $520,000, plus you pay for $3.2 million for demo and clean up, plus you don’t get any tax breaks and it takes you 4 years to get to that point. Total cost: about $26,575 per acre – not counting the hassle.

[JVB]

It is a little strange that so many people are upset that Hantz is buying 150 acres for $520,000, but nobody seems to care that 160 acres of the State Fairgrounds is being sold for nothing. I wonder why that is?

[cramerro]

It is a little strange that so many people are upset that Hantz is buying 150 acres for $520,000, but nobody seems to care that 160 acres of the State Fairgrounds is being sold for nothing. I wonder why that is?

Amen to that. And Hantz has to clean up the site and bascially maintain it as a park with the chance he might be able to harves the trees some day. These clowns are going to chop the site up and try to provide a second tier retail strip to feed off the Gateway Customers. What a waste... so much other land to develop and they take the fairgrounds and hand it off with fingers crossed something might work there. Blegh.

[bailey]

It is a little strange that so many people are upset that Hantz is buying 150 acres for $520,000, but nobody seems to care that 160 acres of the State Fairgrounds is being sold for nothing. I wonder why that is?

well, for one.. and not weighing in on either of the respective purchase's merits or the obvious troll bait about the racial make up of the two groups... one group claims they are going to redevelop it into something that has commercial and residential elements... and the other claims they are going to plant a lot of trees.

Both will allegedly remove a blight, but I can see how a plan that is just going to plant a shit ton of trees to start a "tree farm" in a large segment of a municipality that styles itself as a relevant, major city would need a little extra explaining.

[MizMotown]

It is a little strange that so many people are upset that Hantz is buying 150 acres for $520,000, but nobody seems to care that 160 acres of the State Fairgrounds is being sold for nothing. I wonder why that is?

as a former employee for 15 years there's probably more to this then meets the eye i'm sure. Call it politics in a big sense. The land was sold to the state for $1 by JL Hudson family but it had to house the fair. Maybe has something to do with that. There are plans for that area.... trust me.

[Bham1982]

I guess I'm frustrated with the lack of vision and am afraid we are going to end up with a crappy strip mall like they have a few miles down the road in Highland Park.

What, to you, constitutes "vision"? A 70-floor condo tower, complete with Gucci and Prada at the base?

This is one of the most depressed neighborhoods in Southeast Michigan. Most of the streets are bombed-out wastelands. There's no market-rate demand for anything there [[outside of narcotics and turning tricks).

If there's retail built, obviously it will be auto-oriented, so you will get a strip mall arrangement. When was the last time there was any substantial retail built in Metro Detroit without parking? 1940?

[JVB]

I still wish they would have built that damn race track there. I don't even like racing, but that area is a complete wasteland and the racing fans would have at least brought money to spend.

[rb336]

This was done via an open Request For Proposals. I haven't seen any renderings, but according to an article from Crains:

According to the bid documents posted on the land bank’s website, a pocket park and some existing structures at the site would remain, including the Coliseum, which could become a business incubator and convention and meeting site, Joe Dumars Fieldhouse, the original band shell and the Dodge Automotive Pavilion.
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20120831/FREE/120839983/magic-johnson-marvin-beatty-among-investors-behind-new-plan-for-state-fairgrounds#

The redevelopment of the historic structures is a decent idea. I do miss the state fair [[that glorified street carnival at the Suburban Center in Novi is a joke), but it was a big hole into which our tax dollars were sucked for many years. It's a big empty space and developing it will add to the tax base

[jolla]

A lot of you people are sentimental fools.

Would it be nice if the State Fair was still at the Fairgrounds? Sure, but it's not. Would it be nice if someone was willing to pay to preserve the historic buildings there? Sure, but no one is.

And about Hantz Farms, is it a sad state of affairs when the best option for [[literally unwanted) land in a city is to be used for farming. But that's the reality. Instead of crying for the good old days [[which aren't coming back any time soon) or comparing Detroit to other cities [["would Chicago allow a tree farm?"), open your eyes to reality and look for a way out of the mess.

[Packman41]

I still wish they would have built that damn race track there. ...snip...

You mean Pinnacle Race Track out in Huron Township? It opened in 2008 and was bankrupt by 2011 and is closed down.

Coincidentally, the county sold that 300 acre site for $1 and gave the developer $48 million in tax incentives in order to create jobs.

Ahhhhh… so that is how you build a “tax base.”

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...racing-license

[mwilbert]

but it was a big hole into which our tax dollars were sucked for many years

I'm not sure that is true. My impression was that it was forced to shut down not because the state wouldn't provide the financial guarantees required [[which might have potentially cost the state tax dollars, but hadn't actually), not because of the actual cost.

[Packman41]

I'm not sure that is true. My impression was that it was forced to shut down not because the state wouldn't provide the financial guarantees, ... not because of the actual cost.

It was losing money.

“…the Michigan State Fair in Detroit was bleeding money the state could not afford. According to the state Department of Technology, Management and Budget, the Detroit operation lost $446,000 in 2005, $579,000 in 2006, $311,000 in 2007, $809,000 in 2008 and $1.8 million in 2009”.

Or about $3,945,000 during the last 5 years of operation. Then Granholm cut it from the State budget.

http://www.michiganfarmbureau.com/fa...0915/cover.xml

[401don]

In Detroit's positon, as long as the usage is reasonable, getting as much land on the tax rolls as quickly as possible is much more important than how much it's sold for.

[JVB]

You mean Pinnacle Race Track out in Huron Township? It opened in 2008 and was bankrupt by 2011 and is closed down.

Coincidentally, the county sold that 300 acre site for $1 and gave the developer $48 million in tax incentives in order to create jobs.

Ahhhhh… so that is how you build a “tax base.”

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...racing-license

That was a horse track. For racing horses.

The plan for the Michigan State Fairgrounds was a track for racing cars. NASCAR is fucking huge, horse racing...not so much.

[gthomas]

[gthomas]

As it stands currently, the State Fairgrounds is slated to be sold to the Magic Plus group for a $1. The plan to is to develop a mixed use site. At the community meeting they held, it all looked very cookie cutter.

People from all over visit downtown and midtown because there are great things to do. Why not develop something great here to in Uptown? It would make getting the light rail further up Woodward more doable.

I guess I'm frustrated with the lack of vision and am afraid we are going to end up with a crappy strip mall like they have a few miles down the road in Highland Park. A mall like that is NOT something I think people should be greeted by when entering Detroit via Woodward.

I agree with you, I love this plan better: Watch the videos

http://growtown.org/blog/metaexpo-2012/

[rb336]

actually, that ain't half bad