Lee Plaza hotel to be redeveloped?

[3WC]

R.B.J., you are correct that something's just not quite right.

Craig Sasser claims to be a Detroit native. Anybody ever heard of him. No references on Google except to the Lee Plaza story.

I couldn't find anything anywhere in data bases I checked about Moneta Energy, LLC. There is a company called Moneta Energy Services, Ltd. located in Calgary. It was founded in 2007 and is a gas storage developer. [[Not a big one). Craig Sasser in not one of the two founders and is not an officer of that company, much less its CEO.

One has to be very skeptical of Sasser's claim his mother has developed $5 billion of real estate. That would put her in the big time and she would be well known; of course her last name may not be "Sasser" but I don't know of any female real estate developers wiith that kind of record.

I wonder if Sasser is related to that dippsy doodle woman from TX who offered $7 million for the Packard plant.

I wouldn't hold my breath until that deal get's done.

[ABetterDetroit]

My search produced nothing on Mr. Sasser as well. Very unconventional project announcement to say the least. Who heck is "mother"? Very Odd.

[emu steve]

If you build it will they come? Hmmm.....luxury means high-rent. Will you have enough "workers" and rich folk to fill it?

Two thoughts:

1). Isn't the pricing [[rent / sq. foot) equal to highly desirable projects?

2). Isn't this project in an area with few amenities and with crime issues?

[Richard]

http://www.freep.com/story/news/loca...lips/71484638/

all you young techies,try yahoo search. Plenty out there,google sucs.

[gvidas]

I couldn't find anything anywhere in data bases I checked about Moneta Energy, LLC.

It's hard to prove a negative.

https://wyobiz.wy.gov/Business/Filin...05113239234112

[[it is fairly common for people, especially people dealing in large sums of money, to be somewhat particular about what state to form a company in. See: Delaware.)

[Lowell]

This from his LinkedIn account...

Craig Sasser

Marketing Consultant

Detroit, Michigan Marketing and Advertising

Previous	C Sasser Enterprise, Los Angeles Unified School District, Metropolitan YMCA of Los Angeles
Education	Morehouse College, Atlanta GA

Experience

Principal

C Sasser Enterprise

June 1990 – January 2015 [[24 years 8 months)Detroit, MIC Sasser Enterprise [[CSE) is a specialty marketing firm that works with both non-profit and for-profit firms to develop sustained revenue.

A partial list of previous clients includes the Crenshaw Chamber of Commerce; Youth Opportunities Unlimited, Inc.; Information Vortex Corp.; Ward AME Church of Los Angeles; Marla Gibbs Vision Theatre; LegalMatch.com and Great Beginnings for Black Babies.




Social Studies & Language Arts Teacher

Los Angeles Unified School District

November 2000 – August 2007 [[6 years 10 months)Los AngelesWorked with comprehensive high school students, grades 9-12; alternative high school students, grades 9-12 & adult education students. Served as Lead Teacher, Chairman of the School Site Council and Union Representative. I was a member of the LAUSD Literacy Academy, an LAUSD District Intern and was certified to teach Advanced Placement History, Honors English and Life Skills.


28th Street YMCA and Crenshaw YMCA Executive Director

Metropolitan YMCA of Los Angeles

September 1988 – May 1990 [[1 year 9 months)Greater Los Angeles AreaServed as Branch Executive for two branches of the Y. Responsible for financial development, including writing grants and running annual campaign. The annual campaign recruited over 100 volunteers and raised over $100,000 in small donations.

Contributors included Mayor Tom Bradley, Councilman Gil Lindsay, Michael Jackson, Los Angeles Sentinel Publisher Ruth Washington and a 28th Y resident who contributed $3.

Extensive improvements were made to both branches, including repairing the Crenshaw Y Roof and reopening the 28th St Y swimming pool.


Senior Research Analyst

Home Savings of America

September 1978 – September 1988 [[10 years 1 month)Greater Los Angeles AreaUnder the direction of the Sr Vice President of Community Outreach, John H. Holoman, I assisted in the development of the company's Career Awareness Program which provided training, jobs and college schlolarships for high school seniors from 30 inner city schools, enrolling over 10,000 students during the life of the program and awarding over $100,000 in college scholarships. I helped produce and present multimedia presentations to public and elected officials on the company's Community Reinvestment Act compliance; and as Contributions Committee Manager, I rewrote the company's charitable contributions guidelines and oversaw the firm's $ 1 mm annual charitable giving budget.

[Mind field]

In spite of all the skepticism here, i wish Mr. Sasser all the best in his endeavor to redevelop this ruin. In all my years of paying attention to Detroit development i've been continuously surprised by the ability of Detroit projects to come to fruition. Never thought the Book Cadillac would be resurrected, it was. The Broderick seemed less and less likey to ever see new life, look at it now. The list goes on, we have new windows in Michigan Central Station, and so much development it IS hard to keep track of it all. The rents he hopes to charge do seem like a stretch, but maybe by the time this finally all comes together, Detroit will once again be unrecognizable, in a good way.

[emu steve]

I could see this redevelopment if the building was say 3 or 4 blocks from the edge of the planned Henry Ford Hospital development.

Will the HFH development stop at 14th street Or Rosa Parks?

[emu steve]

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/bus...oped/76038068/


Holy crap. Update. $200M price tag.

Couple of thoughts:

1). For 200M his development plan is Ilitch-esque, trying to be transformative, rather than salvage a particular building, he apparently has plans for trying to redevelop enough to cause others to develop or redevelop. I would like to see what the entire plans are. 200M, when land is dirt cheap, buys a lot of development. Like he could do this redevelopment and say 3 "Mike Ilitch Schools of Business" for 200M. Lol. And still have say 10 or 20M in his pocket.

2). He seems to have a real social conscience. Mention of low income housing, etc. trying to improve the housing stock for folks of very limited means.

[MSUguy]

This from his LinkedIn account...

So zero experience with real estate development, let alone something this complex. I didn't see anything about a development agreement they made like the housing commission is just selling the building outright to him. My worry is he'll just sit on the thing , it's too far today from the developing parts of the city, but it's not that far. Sounds like a pretty good opportunity for speculation.

[Lowell]

In spite of all the skepticism here, i wish Mr. Sasser all the best in his endeavor to redevelop this ruin. In all my years of paying attention to Detroit development i've been continuously surprised by the ability of Detroit projects to come to fruition. Never thought the Book Cadillac would be resurrected, it was. The Broderick seemed less and less likey to ever see new life, look at it now. The list goes on, we have new windows in Michigan Central Station, and so much development it IS hard to keep track of it all. The rents he hopes to charge do seem like a stretch, but maybe by the time this finally all comes together, Detroit will once again be unrecognizable, in a good way.

I couldn't agree more. I wish him luck too. Lee Plaza is a great piece of our architectural heritage. Sometimes developers need a person with local ties up front. Whatever it is, I hope it works out.

[corrybt]

Aerial shot of the Lee Plaza hotel and Olympia from the late 50s. It's from a book about Olympia Stadium that says the hotel was where visiting players stayed. What I don't get is why they didn't build a new arena on the empty lots between the hotel and Olympia instead of the current JLA site. They might have been able to salvage the area instead of letting completely fall apart.

[Richard]

I couldn't agree more. I wish him luck too. Lee Plaza is a great piece of our architectural heritage. Sometimes developers need a person with local ties up front. Whatever it is, I hope it works out.

In the link I posted,this has kinda been in the works starting back in 2011 it is conceivable that something like this would take 4 years to get off of the ground.

Some key words from this one ....

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/bus...oped/76038068/

“It does take every layer to build a village,” he said.

The $200 million project will include redevelopments to two adjacent lots as well as the addition of moderate, low and very low-income housing.

Which would explain the added costs and show that you cannot just buy something like that and rehab as a stand alone project.

The building renovation will cost around $34 million, with another $50 million earmarked for adjacent lots. In total, approximately $200 million is expected to be spent redeveloping the hotel and surrounding area, Sasser said.

So it is not just the Lee plaza,it seems more like a smaller version of the stadium project that encompasses a larger area along with the existing building.

$74 million on the hotel and joining properties the rest in redoing the rest of the neighborhood,that sounds doable and in line.

[ScienceFair]

I love the Lee Plaza and sincerely hope that it can be redeveloped, but I don't think this one adds up. For all of the reasons mentioned above, it just doesn't make sense economically. Additionally, what is this net-zero building nonsense? Luxury and net-zero energy don't really go together unless you have an unlimited budget in Dubai or something.

I know the DHC has been trying to unload the Lee for some time, but I hope this doesn't blow up in our face because of their haste. If Leo Phillips couldn't figure out a way to make this a viable project, rest assured that this guy doesn't have a real plan either.

[Richard]

Net Zero = energy tax credits that can be sold to larger corporations,out of the $200 million there is probably little out of pocket.It seems to be a mostly tax funded project which would make it feasible and in the interest of the greater good justifiable.

[downtownguy]

R.B.J., you are correct that something's just not quite right.

Craig Sasser claims to be a Detroit native. Anybody ever heard of him. No references on Google except to the Lee Plaza story.

I couldn't find anything anywhere in data bases I checked about Moneta Energy, LLC. There is a company called Moneta Energy Services, Ltd. located in Calgary. It was founded in 2007 and is a gas storage developer. [[Not a big one). Craig Sasser in not one of the two founders and is not an officer of that company, much less its CEO.

One has to be very skeptical of Sasser's claim his mother has developed $5 billion of real estate. That would put her in the big time and she would be well known; of course her last name may not be "Sasser" but I don't know of any female real estate developers wiith that kind of record.

I wonder if Sasser is related to that dippsy doodle woman from TX who offered $7 million for the Packard plant.

I wouldn't hold my breath until that deal get's done.

There's better reporting on this forum than in the Detroit dailies. If we're asking these questions, why didn't the News reporter?

That said, I hope our skepticism turns out to be misplaced.

[warsaw7]

I could see this redevelopment if the building was say 3 or 4 blocks from the edge of the planned Henry Ford Hospital development.

Will the HFH development stop at 14th street Or Rosa Parks?

I don't think Mr. Sasser is an idiot and oblivious to what is going on. I think there is something going on behind the scenes with Henry Ford [[HF), who knows they could be partnering up and working together to create this massive neighborhood, similar to what the Illitch's are doing. I am still awaiting this "BIG" announcement from HF.

[3WC]

When I was doing cursory research into Sasser and Moneta Energy I of course came across the WY town of Moneta [[named after a town in Iowa.) Moneta WY is an unincorporated community in Fremont County [[40,000 pop.) It's described somewhere as a "wide spot in the road."

The largest employer in Fremont County is the federal govt [[Dept of Interior, BLM etc)

I came across a proposed oil and gas exploration project named the Moneta Divide Project. It's being considered by the BLM and gas been for a couple of years. The project was proposed by EnCana Oil & Gas [[a large Canadian independent) and Burlington Resources [[a large U.S. independent.) They apparently believe there are substantial nat gas reserves in the area. The proposed project area comprises about 265,000 acres.

The BLM is preparing an environmental impact statement [[the 2nd?) and is seeking public comments.

EnCana pulled out of the project and sold its interest to a small oil and gas company.

My guess is that the project will never be approved because of Obama's vendetta against oil and gas, and especially exploration and development on federal lands.

Perhaps Sasser started his LLC because he owns land some of the privately owned land in the area. Because of the importance of the Lee Plaza proposed development it would seem that the media would want to find out more about the developer and his possible financing plans. [[It is not possible to build anything costing $200m million in Detroit without heavy use of various levels of tax credits - the Book had 17 levels of financing - The Book will never pay off according to many experts. The developer of the Book invested $3 million of seed money just to arrange the financing and handle all the legal work, and it took at least a couple of years to put the deal together.) Of course, if one has a deep pockets investor which is willing to put up all the money, it could start tomorrow.

Of course, It would make no economic sense to do that and even a heavily subsidized project such as the Book [[using yours and my tax dollars) is very iffy.

I would like to see the Lee redeveloped but unless the developer is a heavy hitter like Gilbert the chances are small. Hope I'm wrong.

[emu steve]

I don't think Mr. Sasser is an idiot and oblivious to what is going on. I think there is something going on behind the scenes with Henry Ford [[HF), who knows they could be partnering up and working together to create this massive neighborhood, similar to what the Illitch's are doing. I am still awaiting this "BIG" announcement from HF.

Interesting thoughts.

I wonder if there is a bigger plan afoot to re-develop W. Grand Blvd. out to Lee Plaza.

What HFH is attempting to do and what Mr. Sasser is attempting to do creates the possibility of 'in-fill' development between what each is doing.

It would be absolutely amazing if they can pull it off...

[gthomas]

Henry Ford Hospital south campus and surrounding development is going to be a game changer for the area. There is plans for infill housing and office space. It's preliminary renderings stages now, but I can see the goals to connect with Woodbridge to the south, to Herman Keifer to the north and all along W. Grand blvd from Grandriver to Woodward connecting to M1 rail. It make sense to invest around you, its good business and it shows the community that they care.

I'm sure HFHS been talking to investors and developers to complete the master plan. I will not be shock if Dan Gilbert grab some properties and/or land in the area soon. This area is about to take off within 5 years. It's going to keep spreading north and west slowly but surely. Good signs :-)

[ABetterDetroit]

Some food for thought.

A project of the scale he is talking about would be completed in phases, renovation of hotel into luxury apartments with deck/pool followed by low rise mixed income to low income etc.

Mr. Sasser put out a completion date of fall 2017, ambitious for sure but not a problem if you have white knight type financing which he has fully implied he has in hand.

Who would be this type of financier? If they exist they should be out front shortly. Anyone backing this project with deep pockets would want to take credit early, often and all over it.

When Mr.Sasser completes this renovation we will have no doubt of who he is and what his capabilities are. It would be fantastic and remarkable and without doubt there would be a plaque within that block in his honor. I look forward to hearing about the financier.

[Gistok]

This is a nice thread.... partly because we're all on the same side of the fence.... very sceptical... and yet there's a shred of hope!

But so many folks contributing pieces of the puzzle [[which the print media seems to do in such a poor fashion in recent years)... is what makes this thread so fascinating.

Pass the popcorn....

[davewindsor]

So zero experience with real estate development, let alone something this complex. I didn't see anything about a development agreement they made like the housing commission is just selling the building outright to him. My worry is he'll just sit on the thing , it's too far today from the developing parts of the city, but it's not that far. Sounds like a pretty good opportunity for speculation.

X2

How can someone without collateral buy a property for $258,000 and get a $34M loan to rehab it, let alone $200M? When Ferchill developed the Book Caddy, he already had a bunch of buildings in Ohio as collateral. Illitch got funding for the arena because he had tonnes of collateral with his franchise, teams, his casino and various other buildings. Gilbert also has tonnes of collateral for his projects [[including owning a bank). This guy just doesn't have the collateral to pull such a development off. A commitment doesn't mean jack until you see the money. His mother being "involved" in $5 billion in development can mean anything. Technically speaking, she could own a 20 dollar share in a multi-billion dollar development REIT and says she's "involved". Where's the specifics? Why would HUD be so stupid as to give this guy $34m, $150m or even $200m? How could he be trusted not screw things up like the fail jail? Collateral is credibility. How can this guy be credible without collateral? He's just another dreaded speculator which the city has more than enough of.

[Richard]

X2 How can someone without collateral buy a property for $258,000 and get a $34M loan to rehab it, let alone $200M?

How are you privy to their personal finance information? Come on spill the beans.

There are actually very few recent projects completed downtown if any that are "feasible" short term in our world.

Steve Morris, principal of Farmington Hills-based Axis Advisors LLC and a real estate professor in the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, said in order to justify new speculative office construction, the building would have to command rents above $30 per square foot.

But according to data from the Southfield office of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, the average downtown rent was just $21.46 per square foot per year in the third quarter.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...ngs-face-rehab

Things like this are a little different mentality then buying a house to flip it is really long term speculation and really most likely not see profit until 10 years down the road.

[Dbest]

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...ngs-face-rehab

Nice video link, thanks Richard...