"So Long Cass Tech", Bobb says...

[Lorax]

Channeling Ronald Ray-gun.....There you go again

City-owned properties is something you just won't let go. Let talk about city-owned properties. Here are some examples of city-owned properties.

Cobo Hall
The Detroit Zoo
The DIA
The Detroit Science Center
The Charles H. Wright African-American Museum
Belle Isle
Rouge Park
Detroit Public Library
Herman Keefer

These are "city-owned properties." Not empty buildings that sit empty.

BTW, you should visit http://buildingsofdetroit.com/places
A number of buildings that are empty in Detroit aren't owned by Detroit. You should direct your displeasure about the ruins being ruined to people like Ilitch and Moroun.

Trust me, I do at every turn. There are plenty of city-owned properties that were seized for back taxes.

And BTW, the DPL, Belle Isle, and Cobo Hall could use major overhauls as it relates to the discussion.

[DetroitZack]

I will be kind of sad to see this one go. I know it's in very poor shape but what a beautiful school it must of been in its day. It's very unfortunate they couldn't of done anything with it.

[Lorax]

Problem is, the defeatist boneheads on this thread are too dumb to realize that if you get a building back from a private owner in tax default, then you immediately start to market it to the most viable person who comes down the pike and shows an interest.

And you sell it free and clear without any back tax liability. Auction it off to the highest bidder with no tax lien, and I guarantee it will sell. Why this wasn't done, I don't know.

The Statler, and many others were in much better condition the first few years of being vacated than after they've sat for 30 years exposed to the elements. What's so hard to understand about that, I don't know.

The city is still ultimately the one responsible, and spending a little to secure and market these buildings as soon as they become city properties is what should have been done, and instead, the corrupt city would rather let a potential asset sit and rot for decades rather than be proactive about the situation.

If you need to sell a building for 100 bucks to get it back on the tax rolls, you do it. Period.