Former American Motors Headquarters on Plymouth Road

[Hypestyles]

I hope this person actually has real development plans and isn't a clown who is showboating. I could see it as being a residential/commercial mix. Apartments/lofts/condos, etc.

[ndavies]

Well, not so fast. It's all headed to court. http://www.freep.com/story/money/bus...snag/74471830/

[Richard]

Well, not so fast. It's all headed to court. http://www.freep.com/story/money/bus...snag/74471830/

You just have to figure that somebody at the county is sitting there saying awww here we go again.

So Steve reports professional scrapping with bobcats and excavators going on at Packard,about the same time 2,000,000 is paid for PROC by a company affiliated with a professional scrapping company.

Time runs out at Packard with the auction sale so operations go full scale at PROC,there is a bill to pay so corners are cut because it would have taken month's to achieve the environmental permits and more $ for the assessments and in the meantime the price of scrap is dropping and making it not feasible to continue scrapping.

A house of cards based on the price of scrap.

Pure,speculation of course.

[Vic01]

Wayne County on Monday canceled the $500 sale of the tax-foreclosed former American Motors Corp. headquarters after the winning auction bidder didn’t pay.
Now, the sprawling and dilapidated complex on Plymouth near Schaefer in Detroit could be transferred to the city, said Eric Sabree, the county’s deputy treasurer.
“We will discuss with them what’s going on,” Sabree said. “The site is going to need some clean up.”
Nicholas Casab, 25, of Commerce Township was the sole bidder for the property in the auction that ended last week, but the sale was voided when he didn’t pay the $500 bid price or its summer tax bill of $160,600 by Monday, Sabree said. The former headquarters also includes another large parcel on Mark Twain that sold for $500 and had a summer tax bill of $72,600. Casab didn’t pay those bills either.
Casab refused comment to The Detroit News on Monday, saying “you guys are wasting my time right now. I’m working.”
Sabree said the complex could go to the Detroit or Wayne County land banks, which would vet and negotiate with potential buyers.



http://www.detroitnews.com/story/new...ters/74653250/

[Hypestyles]

the property needs to be sold to a real, and ethical, developer.

[ndavies]

the property needs to be sold to a real, and ethical, developer.

So what do you do when no ethical developer wants it or knows what the hell to do with it?

It sold for the only bid of $500 + summer taxes. If an ethical developer is unwilling to pay that little for it, the best you are going to do is scrappers.

[Richard]

So what do you do when no ethical developer wants it or knows what the hell to do with it?

It sold for the only bid of $500 + summer taxes. If an ethical developer is unwilling to pay that little for it, the best you are going to do is scrappers.

You are not in the least bit curious as to how this came to auction so quietly?

It is a signature piece of property that anybody over the age of 45 can relate to anywhere in the country,but yet is goes up for auction without a peep.Nobody even picked up on it until after the sale.

Maybe there is a way to get a piece of property from the auction and have the listing buried so you can get the bid.

It is hard to believe that something like this came up for auction without any kind of marketing,which would be in the best interest of the residents and taxpayers.

Maybe it would be better to turn the auctions over to a 6 grade school class and get a little bit of creativity as it could not get any worse,one would think that those employed by the taxpayers would have a little bit of consideration for the taxpayers and maybe kinda look out for their best interests.

[ABetterDetroit]

Am I the only one who will point out the obvious here again? $500 bid and $232,000 in summer taxes due immediately with the winter taxes coming in 6 weeks. It's unsustainable period. There is no way you can improve the property and make it usable because the taxes will start to rise with every permit you pull. This property has been taxed into blight with no way out. No legitimate developer will touch it without a major tax break ever. And you wonder why scum pro scrapers start to circle. Because nobody else could possibly make a go of it that is why.

[ndavies]

You are not in the least bit curious as to how this came to auction so quietly?

It is a signature piece of property that anybody over the age of 45 can relate to anywhere in the country,but yet is goes up for auction without a peep.Nobody even picked up on it until after the sale.

Maybe there is a way to get a piece of property from the auction and have the listing buried so you can get the bid.

It is hard to believe that something like this came up for auction without any kind of marketing,which would be in the best interest of the residents and taxpayers.

Maybe it would be better to turn the auctions over to a 6 grade school class and get a little bit of creativity as it could not get any worse,one would think that those employed by the taxpayers would have a little bit of consideration for the taxpayers and maybe kinda look out for their best interests.

Sorry, there was nothing secret about this. This is the second auction this property has been through this year. It didn't sell In the first auction where the minimum bid is all the back taxes.

These auctions are not secret. They happen twice a year, every year. Developers know they happen every year. Anyone in the real estate business in SE MI knows the auctions happen every year. They are conducted In accordance to MI law.

The property was auctioned off exactly like every other tax foreclosed property in Wayne county.
There were articles in the paper about this specific property before it went up for auction both times. Something no other property in the auction received.

So just because you didn't hear about it doesn't mean it wasn't well published In the real estate industry.

Property in Detroit is not worth what you think it is. It the reason Detroit will end up with thousands more tax foreclosed properties that nobodies willing to bid on. Taxes, Crime and the schools are still killing the city.

[Richard]

These auctions are not secret. They happen twice a year, every year. Developers know they happen every year. Anyone in the real estate business in SE MI knows the auctions happen every year. They are conducted In accordance to MI law.

That is the point,SE Michigan is not the market,or is it the preferred market? I was under the impression that we live nowadays in a global market.

A investor in timbuckto does not sit and read the local paper,it has been listed for many years outside of the state but in excess of ten million dollars,while at the same time its sister in another state sans the tower above the roof line was available complete for $400k and sold.

I receive updates on similar properties pretty much daily,but these properties are marketed.

If it is listed with every other auction sale property how does it stand out from a burned out crack house?For the most part people outside of the state are well aware of what is coming up for auction and do not even pursue bidding.Because it is a local thing.

If it was held to auction according to the laws,why was the lawsuit pending?Was it rushed to auction?

If one looks at the recent sales of other large buildings,they were well advertised and drew bidders that were qualified and sold.For the most part anyways.

You are not really looking to sell a building like this based on it is cheap,because that is the customer you will get,if one looks at it as you are marketing a opportunity to purchase a landmark and hopefully in the process provide jobs.

To say it is not worth purchasing,do a world wide search and find what is available in sqft finished and ready to go verses what is available.

Taxes,crime and schools is not what is killing the city,a solid tax base is what is killing the city.

The elimination of the tax credits and incentives to purchase properties like this is what is making their market value low,the first round of properties Mr. Gilbert bought had grandfathered in or already applied for credits,anything after that you are on your own,if that were not the case it would probably would be a different situation today.

I do not always agree with the concept about the whole city verses state thing but in all honesty I do see situations where decisions are made that pull the rug out from under the city,and knowing the negative impact that it will cause,one does have to ask why?

Maybe there needs to be a different solution on how commercial properties are handled in the tax sale aspect because it is the commercial aspect that will determine the job structure and tax base,so they are a bit more important then the average family residence up for auction.

They should be treated as such,and the taxpayer expense to do so would show a return in creating jobs and a larger tax base.

I am responding to your views and opinions and respect those as such as in conversation,so do not take it personally.

[Vic01]

The former American Motors headquarters in Detroit has been offered to the city after failing to sell in this fall's Wayne County Treasurer tax foreclosure auction. But it's unclear whether the city wants it.

Eric Sabree, a deputy treasurer, said the city has until Jan. 4 to decide whether to accept the massive abandoned complex at 14250 Plymouth Road in west Detroit. If the city declines, the county keeps the AMC property and it could later go to the Wayne County Land Bank Corp.
The property tentatively sold for $500 in the county's October auction, but the sale was voided once the winning bidder failed to pay the $500 plus the $232,000 in summer taxes for the property that were due.
"So we'll see what the city says," Sabree said this week. "I hope the city will take it and try to develop it through the [[Detroit Economic Growth Corp.) or the land bank or some other entity."
It was not clear Tuesday whether Detroit is interested. A spokesman for Mayor Mike Duggan declined comment on whether the city wants the old AMC property.

If the city declines, the property would stay in the county's possession and could possibly be transferred to the county's land bank. Under such a scenario, "it would be a joint effort to try to get the property cleaned up and marketed and in the hands of someone who actually will do something with it and put it back on the tax rolls," Sabree said.
The AMC building dates to 1927 and originally housed the manufacturer of Kelvinator refrigerators. The Nash-Kelvinator Corp. merged in 1954 with the Hudson Motor Car Co. to form American Motors, which used the 1.4-million-square-feet complex as its headquarters and made Jeeps there.
When Chrysler acquired AMC in 1987, the property became the engineering center for Chrysler and Jeep trucks and SUVs. Chrysler kept about 900 employees there as late as 2009 before shifting the work to its Auburn Hills headquarters.
After the automaker's bankruptcy, the property and surrounding parking lots were sold for $2 million to a corporate entity that eventually fell behind on more than $2 million in taxes while the building was scrapped of metal.
The sole bidder on the property in this fall's auction was Nicholas Casab of Commerce Township, the son of Oakland County businessman Romel Casab, who once had a purported equity stake in Detroit's dilapidated Packard Plant. Sabree said he does not know why the auction winner backed out of the sale.


http://www.freep.com/story/money/bus...tion/77745774/

[Hypestyles]

raze it. Have a well-maintained public park. No more crooked developers muddying up the property rights.