Freep: 2005 port loan a lopsided win for Moroun

[Lowell]

One has to hand it to the Moroun's. Their nose for business as is good as their public image is repulsive. What a deal and completely legal. It smacks of a share-cropper set up where the farmer never gets out of debt. From the Freep...

In 2005, former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's administration and a Moroun family company negotiated the rescue of the Detroit Marine Terminals site, a 34-acre shipping dock on the Detroit River halfway between the Ambassador Bridge and Zug Island.

Moroun lent the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority $2.1 million to pay off the terminal's debts. In exchange, he received sweeping control of the facility, favorable interest rates on the loan, tax exemptions, a new revenue stream and a right to buy any riverfront property the Port Authority might hope to sell.

Over the years, the deal has turned into a lopsided win for Moroun as the loan balance has grown to nearly $2.2 million, despite $1.3 million in payments thus far. Now, the Port Authority is searching for a way out of a contract that could last up to 90 more years.

"The way this thing is structured, I don't know if I'll ever be able to pay off this debt," said John Loftus, the Port Authority's executive director who was hired in July 2014.

[Hermod]

Stupidity and venality on the part of the Detroit mayor and clownsil is not evidence of criminality on the part of Matty.

[Honky Tonk]

Stupidity and venality on the part of the Detroit mayor and clownsil is not evidence of criminality on the part of Matty.

I think you need to re-read the article again, this time read between the lines. Moroun seems to be setting himself up as the Riverbank Czar, on both sides of the riverbank.

[Richard]

Looking at the flip side and the year it all went down,what would have happened if it had gone to public auction,demolished and then stalled out leaving no port for future use.

It is currently not in the best position but it in theory it has been preserved as a port for future use,something is wrong when it is tough for them to come up with the funds which compared to what it can be as an asset for the city is chump change in comparison.

A viable port is a huge asset to a city pay him the money and get him out of there if it is not a good situation.

The state of Florida uses Buffet as a emergency source of funding in case of a disaster,the rate is a heck of a lot more then 6%,considering the risk involved in shoring up the port at that time 6% was generous considering it was high risk with not enough revenue to pay back the note.

It was a hard money loan which at that time was at 18% interest only everywhere else.

[ABetterDetroit]

I wonder how many hours the FBI put into trying to track down the cash kickback on this deal.

[MSUguy]

Kwame hasn't been mayor for 7 years yet he's still screwing the city over..that's talent.