Packard Overpass Collapses onto E. Grand Blvd.

[Richard]

The freeze would keep taxes at the 2013 level for X amount of years,even on rehabbed parts that would have had a tax increase after completion.

The information about adding the upper floors is amazing when considering the original structure was designed to carry X amount of weight,that is a lot more weight added to the original foundation.

You have to wonder,at the time it was pushing the envelope with construction so they overbuilt to compensate,if they had applied today’s technology and bookkeeping of useing the smallest amount of material possible if it would have been still standing.

8 or 9 years ago it still had good bones over large parts of it but now it looks like it has been even a harsher time frame.

That is one property that you can say it has been to hell and then some,kinda sad really.

They reported 5 million in brownfield credits,but the old report from the state showed little contamination or similar of properties of that nature.

The worst listed was piles of tires and a couple of dumped transformers.No actual ground contamination.

[Hypestyles]

continuing this bizarre saga. I guess we'll see whether Ford can renovate the train station faster than this fellow can renovate parts of the Packard.. still may be a mess years from now..

[Zacha341]

^^^ I think the train station is in the lead.......

[Gistok]

continuing this bizarre saga. I guess we'll see whether Ford can renovate the train station faster than this fellow can renovate parts of the Packard.. still may be a mess years from now..

Hey!! That's not a fair comparison.... compare Packard to the Ilitch's first residential or historic renovation in District Detroit.

[hybridy]

Demolition crews started tearing down one of the buildings at the #PackardPlant in #Detroit yesterday. The demo follows the collapse of the plant's iconic bridge over the Boulevard on Jan. 23. It's unclear whether more demo is to follow.

source

[EastsideAl]

Arlans. That's a name from the past. I remember the one on 8 Mile and Telegraph, right where you take that turn to get on North Telegraph.

Ahhh, but it was oh so real. And now, alas, there's no bridge to that past anymore...

[Packman41]

Yes, demolition will continue. From an article in the Freep https://www.freep.com/story/news/loc...ll/2815840002/

“…the City of Detroit is making progress on demolishing a five-story, 300,000-square-foot building on the opposite end of Packard Plant that Palazuelo doesn't own. That city-owned parcel was blighted and holding back the surrounding neighborhood, according to Brian Farkas, director of special projects for the Detroit Building Authority. The demolition has been planned for years and marks the third city-owned Packard Plant structure to be razed.

“I don’t think anyone wants to invest next to a structure that is collapsing," Farkas said. The building is expected to be completely down by late May at a cost of $1.3 million from the city's general fund. A city spokesman said there are no current plans to redevelop the site once the building is gone.

Attached is an aerial view from the City of Detroit roughly showing what they own. As a point of reference the small “Privately Owned” label in the far, upper left is East Grand Boulevard.

[Zads07]

It looked like that specific building was hit by an airstrike the way it collapsed. It's the right thing to do, tearing it down. Sad, but there's no real hope for it with most of it already gone.

[Uncledave54]

It should have been torn down 50 years ago.

[Packman41]

Fifty years ago it was still occupied. Kingsway was still doing good business through the summer of 1974 as I can recall.

[Zacha341]

^^^ Shoppers World was located there in the 80's for a bit.

[Király]

Anyone got pictures of Grand Blvd and Concord now that the mess has been cleaned up?

[Király]

source

That's two blocks south of Grand Blvd. Surely they haven't torn down everything between there and the collapsed bridge...or have they?

[ABetterDetroit]

That's two blocks south of Grand Blvd. Surely they haven't torn down everything between there and the collapsed bridge...or have they?

I haven’t made it over there since these pictures where put up here. I assume the building being demoed is the one behind the cemetery that Lowell photographed a couple weeks ago in post #45 of this thread?

[EastsideAl]

Fifty years ago it was still occupied. Kingsway was still doing good business through the summer of 1974 as I can recall.

Most of the complex was occupied, with an assortment of small industrial, storage, and other businesses, right up to the time the city used the police to take the place over and forcibly evicted 87 tenants without any legal order in early 1999.

[night-timer]

If I am not mistaken, Fernando Palazuelo is not South American - he just lives there... and, yes, he didn't buy the entire Packard plant, just some parts. That probably makes sense - he has never done much with whatever bits of the building he owns, anyway.