Wayne County plans to buy casino land to build new jail

[Rocko]

April 13, 2011 1:08 PM
Wayne County plans to buy casino land to build new jail

By Daniel Duggan



Wayne County has a pending deal in place with Greektown Casino Hotel to buy 7.6 acres of vacant land along Gratiot Avenue in downtown Detroit for a new county jail.

The county, now under a period of due diligence on the deal, would pay $10 million for the land, once slated for the permanent Greektown casino, according to documents filed by Greektown with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Under the terms of the deal, Wayne County also would swap 1.2 acres at 1231 St. Antoine St. with the casino. Greektown would use the new property for valet parking.

Wayne County’s chief development officer, Turkia Mullin, confirmed the deal and said the land would be used for a new jail.

She said the two downtown jails, at 570 and 525 Clinton, would be demolished. She cautioned, however, that the deal is contingent on approval by the Wayne County Commission and a satisfactory due-diligence investigation.

“We placed it under option pending due diligence,” Mullin wrote in an email. “If the site meets our expectations, we will recommend a purchase to the commission. We have 60 days to complete our due diligence.”

The 7.6-acre parcel — bounded to the north by Gratiot Avenue, to the east by I-375 and the west by St. Antoine — was purchased by Greektown Casino when all three casinos in Detroit had temporary locations and were securing sites for their permanent casinos.

Greektown later decided to build upon the temporary-casino site and add on. The Gratiot property has been listed for sale with an asking price of $34 million. It is currently being used as surface parking in Detroit.

According to the SEC filing, Greektown would receive from Wayne County the $10 million and the land at 1231 St. Antoine, which is currently being used as the administrative offices of the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department. The casino will use the land to build a valet-parking structure.

County Executive Robert Ficano has pitched the idea of a new jail as an eventual cost savings to the county.

In October, he said the new jail would save $26 million annually through more efficient operations. The Wayne County Commission approved the issuance of $300 million in bonds to pay for the project.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...build-new-jail

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If they demo the two old jails, it sure would be nice to have them become something other than MORE surface parking lots....

[BrushStart]

Yeah, there was a thread not too long ago about repurposing the jails as a hotel or something. How stupid would it be to simply create more parking lots? I say just leave the old buildings up until there is a viable development proposal for the land.

[rbdetsport]

Leaving the buildings up, which have no architectural significance is like putting lipstick on a pig. Those buildings do nothing for that area of downtown. But yes, I would like to see a few development proposals. I see that area becoming a residential tower area, much like what is going on in Minneapolis just outside of the main business district.

In terms of the jail, I really hope they make it aesthetically pleasing since it is right on the edge of downtown and the entrance to downtown on one of our fine spoke roads.

[maxx]

The prison industry is a rising part of the economy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison%...strial_complex

... Eric Schlosser wrote an article published in Atlantic Monthly in December 1998 stating that "The 'prison-industrial complex' [[PIC) is not only a set of interest groups and institutions; it is also a state of mind. The lure of big money is corrupting the nation's criminal-justice system, replacing notions of safety and public service with a drive for higher profits. The eagerness of elected officials to pass tough-on-crime legislation — combined with their unwillingness to disclose the external and social costs of these laws — has encouraged all sorts of financial improprieties."[2] “The raw material of the prison–industrial complex is its inmates: the poor, the homeless, and the mentally ill; drug dealers, drug addicts, alcoholics, and a wide assortment of violent sociopaths.” – Schlosser.

[Joseph C. Krause]

It's tragic that we have the prison industry in this country as something other than a basic need.

Be that as it may, perhaps this is a change to advocate that a new building, although literally a type of fortress, not extend that purpose to the street.

[GOAT]

Shit! There goes my tailgate parking lot. Damnit! The size and the people there made for great tailgating events. Plus the Hall of Justice building was a great block for westerly winds.

I guess I will get further gouged at another lot.

[Atticus]

I have to question this... Why is the county spending $10million for this plot of land???

I am sorry, there is plenty of vacant land in the city that you could get for nearly free to build your jail. If you are going to use the argument that the land is valued that high because it is downtown, then why does the jail need to be downtown? Wouldn't it be better off not having the jail downtown and allowing that land to someday be put to good use.

Even a surface lot used for Lions tailgating 16 times a year is better than a jail downtown, IMO.

[Jimaz]

That Prison Valley thread from last year comes to mind.

[Huggybear]

Poor use of prime property.

[BagAJellyDonuts]

As long as they include an electric chair or gas chamber for some of the scum I'm all for it.

[Brian1979]

I don't understand why the jail has to be downtown in the first place. In Chicago the jail is on the SW side of the city and not even close to the CBD. I think they should build a new jail like at Tireman and Livernois or somewhere like that. Or how about Joy Road and the Southfield? Why downtown?

[Gistok]

Want to see how fast the NIMBY crowd comes out if it's built anywhere near a neighborhood....

It's right next to the city jail [[which has all that fancy barbed wiring)... the Murphy Hall of Justice, the Juvenile Center, the County Sheriff's HQ, and the eventually to be vacated DPD HQ. The county wants a justice campus.... and with all the available room downtown [[and all the nearby courtrooms and jails) they decided on that site. I'd like to see an architectural rendering first before making up my mind.

Yeah $10 million is a lot of money.... but when we see what Mike Ilitch is paying for west Foxtown land... I dunno...

[Django]

Thank you Maxx.

Heres the chart from your link. Notice the increase during the Regan era and the re-start of the war on drugs with its mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines. The privatization of prisons is a real slippery slope. Thats not to say Detroit doesn't need a new county jail. The Federal prison system the biggest problem, county only hold ppl with sentences under two years as I understand. Wayne county Jail is completely obsolete and disgusting to boot.

[Gsgeorge]

Good lord, why are we building jails downtown instead of offices & housing??

[manualshift]

As of now pretrial detainees still have the right to be present during court proceedings that decide their fate. All felonies in the County end up in the Circuit Court right next to the old jails and where the new one might possibly be built. Placing a new jail any where else would result increase labor and transportation costs.

There is no question that a new jail is needed. The old ones are simply disgusting and dangerous places.

[NorthEndere]

As of now pretrial detainees still have the right to be present during court proceedings that decide their fate. All felonies in the County end up in the Circuit Court right next to the old jails and where the new one might possibly be built. Placing a new jail any where else would result increase labor and transportation costs.

There is no question that a new jail is needed. The old ones are simply disgusting and dangerous places.

It really is about efficiency and logistics. This saves money, period. This is a consolidation. Public safety and court offices and functions have been in this area of downtown for decades.

[Bham1982]

I don't understand why the jail has to be downtown in the first place. In Chicago the jail is on the SW side of the city and not even close to the CBD.

Not true. The Chicago jail [[well, it's Cook County Jail) is smack-dab in the middle of the Loop.

And, not surprisingly, the blocks immediately surrounding the jail are crap, with bail bonds and the like.

[Detroitej72]

Good lord, why are we building jails downtown instead of offices & housing??

Well, technically this would be a source of housing.

[jackie5275]

As long as they include an electric chair or gas chamber for some of the scum I'm all for it.

That doesn't happen on the County level.

[jackie5275]

Gistok & Manualshift have it pretty much correct. The County wants the jails & courts centrally located together as much as possible. The two downtown jails are pretty nasty. The oldest one at 525 Clinton is almost 100 yrs old to boot. The one in Hamtramck's not too bad or too old. I could see that one having some potential as another type of institutional facility. I say demo the 2 downtown to make parking for the staff.

[gthomas]

Hope it dont look like a prison...?? Hope plans is to build like a office tower, blending in with greektown hotel or the murphy building. Look @ Atlanta's prison Downtown, it blends perfect with other office building in the area.

[esp1986]

The whole reason the county is building a jail is so that it is right across the street from the courthouse. Thus providing "substantial savings" in terms of transporting criminals to and from the jail and courthouse. I think it is a relative crock, but that's another story entirely. As far as the land goes, like I said, they are trying to get everything in close proximity. The plot they are getting, is the largest available downtown, and it's right across the street. Given it's going to be a jail, it obviously won't be a pedestrian friendly building, even though the amount of jobs it will bring to that side of downtown, it may warrant at least enough space for fast food.

[Brian1979]

Not true. The Chicago jail [[well, it's Cook County Jail) is smack-dab in the middle of the Loop.

And, not surprisingly, the blocks immediately surrounding the jail are crap, with bail bonds and the like.

The Cook County Jail is located at 2700 S. California. So now your telling me that 2700 S. California is located smack dab in the middle of the Loop? The jail is moreless in the Lawndale neighborhood which is on the far west side. How are you going to tell me that this is smack dad in the middle of the Loop?

[Bham1982]

The Cook County Jail is located at 2700 S. California. So now your telling me that 2700 S. California is located smack dab in the middle of the Loop? The jail is moreless in the Lawndale neighborhood which is on the far west side. How are you going to tell me that this is smack dad in the middle of the Loop?

Sorry, I got the local jail and prison mixed up. The Loop has the main prison, while the local jail is on the West Side.

But my larger point is correct. The Loop has the city's main detention facility, with all the assorted bail bonds outlets and assorted crap.

If anything, the situation in Chicago is worse than in Detroit, because that detention facility is so massive, and really dominates the commerce in that section of the Loop.

[Brian1979]

Ok well I asked a buddy of mine that's from Chicago and this is what he said:

there's a prison i think its on clark and vanburen or something like that, its downtown but its not smack dab in the middle of the loop. i dont hang out in downtown chicago tho, its wayyyyyyyyy too expensive

Then he said this:

the area surrounding the prison tho isnt crap