Any Word On Today's Hults Payment? [Fails to Make Payment]

**401don** · November-15-13, 04:28 PM

If Mr. Palazuelo offers more than a buck at this point he`s crazy.

**MikeyinBrooklyn** · November-15-13, 04:42 PM

I don't think it's about offering anything. He has the opportunity to pay his bid amount [[$400K, I think). If he declines to pay, it goes to the 4th place bidder.

If he thought it was worth that amount a few weeks ago based on the merits he sees in the Packard Plant site, the absurdity of the bidders ahead of him dors not lower the value he sees there. And once he cuts the check, the incompetent Treasurer's office will be out of his life.

**Vic01** · November-15-13, 04:44 PM

DETROIT - Wayne County has moved on to the third bidder in the sale of the old Packard Plant site.

Wayne County Treasurer Ray Wojtowicz met with Chicago developer Bill Hults last week Friday and agreed to extend until this afternoon a deadline to complete payment of the amount owed in relation to his bid to purchase the Packard Plant.

Hults had paid $200,000 to the treasurer as a nonrefundable deposit on the purchase which was to be just more than $2 million. The treasurer had agreed to a timetable wherein the funds were to be received by 3 p.m. Friday, Nov. 15. The funds have not been received and there has been no communication from Hults, according to the county.

"This bidder has failed to perform and we will proceed to the third place bidder, Mr. Fernando Palazuelo. We will engage him for purposes of determining his intentions," said Wojtowicz. "Consistent with our procedures we will eliminate from the bid process those bids placed by the first two bidders and that will place the bid for Mr. Palazuelo at $405,000. We continue to look for the best conclusion of the auction process that is mandated by state law and hope work on the Packard Plant can commence soon."

Palazuelo is a real estate investor from Peru.

A Texas investment group originally won the bid for the site, planning to pay about $6 million for it. Wayne County leaders canceled that deal because of "failure to perform."

**mikeg19** · November-15-13, 04:45 PM

I'm anticipating quite the well crafted response from Hultz regarding the non payment. "Well it's a complex deal and I only had months to put together financing, so I think I'll look at something a little more in my wheelhouse in the city of Detroit. I hear their looking the develop the old Tiger Stadium site........"

**Vic01** · November-15-13, 04:49 PM

Almost time for the "Welcome Fernando Palazuelo" signs to go up...

**downtownguy** · November-15-13, 05:15 PM

Originally Posted by MikeyinBrooklyn

And once he cuts the check, the incompetent Treasurer's office will be out of his life.

Why no love for the Treasurer? I heard the Chief Deputy Treasurer interviewed 2 or 3 times on public radio and so far as I can tell, they did what they did to follow the law. I think they had some leeway in determining what deposits were required and in making deadlines. I have no doubt they were also keeping in contact with Palazuelo through all this. As it stands now, the County is in possession of an extra $200,000 thanks to Mr. Hults, and now they can move on legally to the third bidder who appears to be the most solid one.

“We continue to look for the best conclusion of the auction process that is mandated by state law and hope work on the Packard Plant can commence soon,” Treasurer Raymond Wojtowicz said in a statement.

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...#ixzz2kkt91393

**Huggybear** · November-15-13, 05:55 PM

Well, if this auction fails, it's off to the Land Bank, which is where this site should have been in the first place [[had it been legal to do so). Once it gets banked, it qualifies for tons of tax credits for things like cleanup.

One thing that is for sure is that the law around these auctions needs to be revised - sites like this [[so big and so polluted) should never be auctioned for back taxes because it perpetuates a cycle of non-use.

HB

**MikeyinBrooklyn** · November-15-13, 09:27 PM

DTguy, I lost a little respect every single time both the first and second bidder missed deadlines. In the case of Hults, I think he missed about 4 of them. Reminds me of the adage, "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me." This kind of fake-bidding can do a lot of harm, and the treasurer's office should work harder to eliminate it. How can it do harm? Legit bidders might not keep bidding when unqualified bidders keep bidding higher and higher, or during the protracted payment process might decide to invest their money elsewhere. I have never participated in a property auction, but I imagine private auctions don't operate this way. I know at high-end art auctions everyone in the room to bid is pre-cleared to pay. When the gavel falls, there is no question that the winner will pay.

If state law requires them to allow endlessly strung-out payments, the law needs to change. No one qualified to buy massive and expensive property needs more than a business day or two to make the payment, especially in light of the fact that the auction was not a surprise. It was anticipated for awhile. If this "payment" process was discretionary, better and more realistic judgment should be exercised in the future.

**DetroitPlanner** · November-15-13, 10:41 PM

Bring on the next Chump!

**Gistok** · November-16-13, 01:39 AM

Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

Bring on the next Chump!

... and keep bringing in the "Chump Change" $$$

**Vic01** · November-16-13, 06:17 AM

A Peru-based developer vowed to finalize his purchase Monday of Detroit’s old Packard Plant after a second developer failed to meet a Friday deadline to deliver $2 million for the industrial ruins.

http://www.freep.com/article/2013111...deadline-Hults

**Danny** · November-16-13, 07:34 AM

Bill Hults is just like any other business man BUSY, too busy!

**Cliffy** · November-16-13, 09:00 AM

I just don't even see the guy from Peru having the money to do anything with that massive eyesore. This thing needs to be demolished.

**Gistok** · November-16-13, 09:48 AM

I agree that the Peruvian guy likely doesn't have the deep pockets... but I wouldn't base any of that on his Spanish foray's... Spain, like Greece, is a basket case in Europe right now. [[I know... and we're not?)

**downtownguy** · November-16-13, 12:41 PM

Originally Posted by MikeyinBrooklyn

If state law requires them to allow endlessly strung-out payments, the law needs to change. No one qualified to buy massive and expensive property needs more than a business day or two to make the payment, especially in light of the fact that the auction was not a surprise. It was anticipated for awhile. If this "payment" process was discretionary, better and more realistic judgment should be exercised in the future.

"...endlessly strung-out payments". A bit of hyperbole there, don't you think?

He gave Van Horn less than a week to make a good faith payment, and then moved on to Hults. Hults got a little more than two weeks, during which time he made two payments. Now, three weeks after the auction, the county is $200,000 richer and the top two bidders probably have little basis for a lawsuit saying the county didn't treat them fairly.

I believe the treasurer had a fiduciary responsibility to get the highest price on behalf of the taxpayers. What if either of the top two bidders actually did have the resources to honor their bid, but the treasurer passed them over without giving them serious consideration? I think the treasure did a good job of weighing the realities of the situation while trying to get the best price. And I don't mind that it took an extra three weeks to do it.