Quote:
Originally Posted by pylon
I understand the economics behind it, but even last year they apparently had a party willing to pay 20 million for it.
Previous proposals
Over the years, various developers have approached the City of Pontiac in hopes of purchasing the Silverdome for a variety of uses. Here are some of the ideas they proposed: • H. Wallace Parker offered the city $20 million in 2008 to build a horse-race track and casino.
• Former Montreal Expos baseball player Nikco Riesgo wanted to create a baseball stadium for an undisclosed amount in 2008.
• Greendome Development submitted a contingent bid of $13.5 million and an alternate bid of $22.5 million subject to various conditions to build a recycling center and landfill in October.
Seems like the auction format may have blown up in their face.
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Seems like 3 proposals with either a number of conditions built in (approvals would be required for any type of casino/racetrack, and the 3rd option states it was subject to a number of conditions) or totally bizarre and likely lacking real substance. A proposal may seem like a great idea when you read about it in the paper, but the reality is often completely different. Developers don't often take on these types of things without asking for a lot in return, and massive tax breaks would likely be at the top of the list. I guess the economy comes into play in that way, as Pontiac isn't really in a position to forego tax revenue or to hold onto a money pit until they find a proposal that works. There's a reason that the people putting forth those proposals didn't buy at the auction, I'd guess that it's a lack of sweetheart terms from the city.
As I said, the building is pretty much useless as a revenue generating site and the city wasn't prepared to spend the money to upgrade it in order to change that. They used to use it for RV shows on occasion, in fact that's all I've ever seen it used for in the last few years, but there's a relatively new and high quality complex on the other side of Detroit that is geared for that purpose. The buyers are apparently intending to use it to house an MLS team, although that may be news to the MLS (I haven't heard anything about Detroit expansion). I'm not sure how well that will play out, but the city is in a way better position today than they were pre-auction.
A richer area may have been able to hold onto it longer and wait for a different deal, but the fact remains that the Silverdome isn't really an attractive purchase.