Pontiac Silverdome - what's happening with it?

[Packman41]

The only reason I was responding to Mikey in NYC is that he said there was not a comparable 160 acre site in SE Michigan. I knew that was not the case, as the GM Truck was just down the road. I took his comment on site size as being accurate.

But it is not as small as 50 or 60 acres as jimmyr believes [[edit: I see that jimmyr has deleted his post). A quick Google search says it is on 127 acres.

[softailrider]

There are houses in Rochester Hills on sub-acre lots that are selling for more than what the Silverdome was bought for.

I think it makes sense for the city to pursue development on the property. It's a large site, but with it being in Pontiac it's less desirable for residential development.

There are houses inman different areas around here selling for more then 600k. You could find sales of bigfoot houses on 40'x160' lots selling for more then 600k.

[Smirnoff]

Somebody was wishing Pontiac would obtain an NFL team, can't remember who.....

[rb336]

Safe to assume LBP has done a cost-benefit analysis and decided to worry about more important things than spending $10-15M of tax payers dollars to tear down things on land nobody has approached him about developing.

THOSE people [[poor, working class) live there, LBP doesn't care

[rb336]

If that is true, then why was this written in 2010?
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/in...les_strug.html

Here is a 2009 article where a landfill is proposed. What kind of tax revenue do you get off of mountain of trash?
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/in...bid_22_mi.html Besides if this was a legit deal, then they would have been able to come up with $250k. You can't sell it to someone who does not want to pay anything for it. Pontiac was under an emergency manager at the time. It was the EM's job to get as much for it as possible. A half mill was all he could get.

here is an earlier RFP summary

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...op-silverdome#

[DetroitPlanner]

here is an earlier RFP summary

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...op-silverdome#

None of these companies outbid the current owner. If they were interested, they should have secured the property when it was put on the open market. They had a fair chance to bid on it, yet the only taker was for $550k plus expenses. That is a bargain for such a large facility on a freeway at an interchange.

[Packman41]

Earlier offers were made that were higher than the sales price. But the City of Pontiac had “conditions” they wanted.

The city council and the mayor screwed around for 4 YEARS with a variety of brokers and potential sellers. The time period was 2002 to 2006 – just before the crash. All the bickering, special requests, etc. between council members and the mayor finally caused the final two bidders to walk away in frustration – they could never get a straight answer from the seller.

During those four years the CofP paid out about $6.0 million just to keep the place open and lost the market window.

Then the CofP tried again in 2007 just as the crash took effect. After 2 more years, deep into the crash and $3.0 million more in losses to the city it was finally sold on November 2009 to the Canadians for $583,000.

http://www2.metrotimes.com/news/story.asp?id=14376

"The Silverdome has been for sale for several years, but it's been a ping-pong ball between the City Council and the mayor. Both sides have blamed each other for causing deals that have been in hand to slip through their fingers," Leeb says.

In 2002, the city started accepting bids and proposals in a negotiation process that would last until 2006. Three finalists presented plans that included businesses, residential structures and entertainment venues with purchase offers between $11 million and $18.5 million. By February 2006, the two remaining proposals were withdrawn.”

[jimmyr]

Arguing about the past doesn't solve anything. It's freaking Pontiac, of course there were idiots who botched this. But now you have an eyesore that costs more to remove than the property can be sold for. The only way this thing is clean up is with tax payers dough.

[Scottathew]

But now you have an eyesore that costs more to remove than the property can be sold for. The only way this thing is clean up is with tax payers dough.

It's not anymore of an eyesore today than it was back in the day. From M-59 it pretty much looks the same.

I still think a developer would be more than happy to knock it down and develop the large site, but there would be challenges because of the school district when it comes to residential properties.

[MikeyinBrooklyn]

It's not anymore of an eyesore today than it was back in the day. From M-59 it pretty much looks the same.

I still think a developer would be more than happy to knock it down and develop the large site, but there would be challenges because of the school district when it comes to residential properties.

Agreed completely.

[ABetterDetroit]

Well, one thing that is happening is the photos just made the NBC nightly news with Brian Williams for folks to gawk at the blight.

[DetroitPlanner]

you can buy a piece of the dome http://www.rjmauctions.com/online_si...me/assets.html

[GUSHI]

I disagree, parts of bloomfield are pontiac schools, home still sell for 500k plus.

It's not anymore of an eyesore today than it was back in the day. From M-59 it pretty much looks the same.

I still think a developer would be more than happy to knock it down and develop the large site, but there would be challenges because of the school district when it comes to residential properties.

[Packman41]

Pontiac Silverdome to meet the wrecking ball

http://www.freep.com/story/money/bus...ball/74754746/

“Six months after hitting the market with a $29 million price tag, the Pontiac Silverdome is out of time.

The property's owner has shifted strategies and is now preparing to tear down the empty and battered 40-year-old stadium next year in the belief that the 127-acre site would be more marketable without the Silverdome than with it.”

[401don]

With all the empty space around it would appear to be ripe for implosion.

[mikeg19]

BLOW IT UP. Vegas style.

[Wesley Mouch]

THOSE people [[poor, working class) live there, LBP doesn't care

County government is about infrastructure. Its not their job to care for the poor. That should be a state-level function -- not dependent on county-wide wealth or poverty.

A question for you... do you think politicians 'caring' matters much? Me, I'll take a rat-bastard that runs a great ship. That's the job of a county executive.

LBP, continue to ignore the poor, and make the county a place where things get done and the economy improves and people get jobs because of the economy, not just from corporate welfare designed to make you look 'caring'.

[Bham1982]

A question for you... do you think politicians 'caring' matters much? Me, I'll take a rat-bastard that runs a great ship. That's the job of a county executive.

Yup. LBP is a jerk but a very effective county executive. The county could hardly be better run, with minimal staffing, very controlled costs, top-notch services, and top credit rating.

The Silverdome site will almost certainly become warehouse/logistics type space. Nothing else makes much financial sense.

[Wesley Mouch]

Yup. LBP is a jerk but a very effective county executive. The county could hardly be better run, with minimal staffing, very controlled costs, top-notch services, and top credit rating.

The Silverdome site will almost certainly become warehouse/logistics type space. Nothing else makes much financial sense.

And I think in the end, the poor of OC are better off with a jerk Executive who has delivered them a county that can afford appropriate services and public safety.

[Danny]

The Sliverdome is long gone!! I'm glad the Lions are back in Gilberttown Detroit.

[mtburb]

The Sliverdome is long gone!! I'm glad the Lions are back in Gilberttown Detroit.

And all because Illitch wanted to captalize off of the success of the then-new Gateway District in downtown Cleveland and wanted to do his own version to compliment his restored Fox Theater.

And now his version now extends across I-75 and all the way to Grand River.

[hybridy]

Adamo applies for demolition permit for Pontiac Silverdome

Detroit-based contractor Adamo Group Inc. filed an application Thursday with the city to raze the stadium...


He said the stadium is not expected to be imploded, but rather "mechanically demolished," although "that could change."

The process is expected to start in July, pending issuance of a city permit when it receives confirmation that gas, electricity and sanitary sewer services have been disconnected, Cuppetilli said.

[Jimaz]

What about all those VW diesels stored there? Are they still there? What's to become of them?

Dated March 29, 2017:

Drone footage shows Silverdome lot jam-packed with VW's cheating diesels

[mikeg19]

I'd imagine they are gonna go at it the same way as Tiger Stadium.

[GMan]

What about all those VW diesels stored there? Are they still there? What's to become of them?

Dated March 29, 2017:

Drone footage shows Silverdome lot jam-packed with VW's cheating diesels

Don't know if presently still there but some of the diesels will be re mediated with new software that eliminates the cheat mode and be resold by VW. The ones that can't will be scrapped with the engines going to Africa to run water pumps.