Pontiac Silverdome sells for.....

[pylon]

$583,000??!!

Land building the whole lot. $7.25 a seat. You would think they could have demo'd the thing, sold the fixtures, seats and equipment and gotten substantially more. Most of our homes in here are worth more. It is a sad state of affairs in the Detroit area right now, I feel bad for the residents.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...74EFAD9C662G00

[valo403]

That has pretty much nothing to do with the state of the economy in Detroit. It's an old beat up stadium that costs well over a million a year in upkeep alone and has pretty much nothing to offer. There are better venues in the area for any conceivable event so there's little to no opportunity to generate money from it. The costs of demolition would have been very high and a sale puts the land and building back on the tax roll, which provides income to the county and local municipality.

[pylon]

oops nm

[pylon]

Originally Posted by valo403

That has pretty much nothing to do with the state of the economy in Detroit. It's an old beat up stadium that costs well over a million a year in upkeep alone and has pretty much nothing to offer. There are better venues in the area for any conceivable event so there's little to no opportunity to generate money from it. The costs of demolition would have been very high and a sale puts the land and building back on the tax roll, which provides income to the county and local municipality.

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.

[valo403]

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.

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.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Crazy, we should have all pitched in and renamed it the CP Dome

[Cactus Jack]

It was bought by a Canadian, excellent. We are taking over Detroit all over again!

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Cactus Jack

I was bought by a Canadian, excellent.

How much were you bought for?

[JohnnyO]

Wrestlemania III Best/Biggest event ever held there!! Hogan vs Andre. Classic!!

[Cactus Jack]

Originally Posted by Table 5

How much were you bought for?

LOL. Given the current exchange rate, let's just say she got a good deal.

[0reo]

That's pretty much the same price as a house in Calgary.

[Bertuzzied]

They would have sold it for $30million if it was named the Honda Silverdome.

[flamesflames444]

Apparently the winner submitted a bid with a deposit never thinking that he would actually win the damn thing. I'm sure the bldg itself is somewhat decrepid at this point, but the land must be worth something. That being said, if anyone has had a chance to look at MLS listings in Detroit, they arent' exactly fetching a fortune right now.

[Prototype]

Mark my words. When the markets recover, when Detroit recovers, and it will, the stadium will be sold for $200-$300M... Great purchase.

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by Prototype

Mark my words. When the markets recover, when Detroit recovers, and it will, the stadium will be sold for $200-$300M... Great purchase.

Will Detroit ever recover though? I'm not a fan of American cars but feel alittle sorry for them.

[Prototype]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

Will Detroit ever recover though? I'm not a fan of American cars but feel alittle sorry for them.

I'm no economist... I tried that for a while, didn't work... but I think with the price of anything and everything in Detroit, once money comes in, it may be an attractive spot for some people. Now I'm not saying that it will be the new New York or anything, but I doubt it will continue to become the wasteland that it is made out to be now.

People want to buy cheap and sell high. I think that will happen within the next 5-10 for Detroit.

[pope04]

Originally Posted by JohnnyO

Wrestlemania III Best/Biggest event ever held there!! Hogan vs Andre. Classic!!

There were a few good gigs there. I believe Elvis Presley played there in 1975.

[T@T]

Originally Posted by Prototype

Mark my words. When the markets recover, when Detroit recovers, and it will, the stadium will be sold for $200-$300M... Great purchase.

Why would anyone pay 200-300m on a staduim thats outdated and has no tenant and zero chance of getting one?

The only thing that makes it attractive is the 130 acres of land but it would cost millions to rip it down and dispose of the materials.

If I were him I would turn the site into a solid waste landfill and start it off with the dome. there's big bucks in landfill operations.

[Locke]

We could have held Monster Truck rallies....

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Prototype

I'm no economist... I tried that for a while, didn't work... but I think with the price of anything and everything in Detroit, once money comes in, it may be an attractive spot for some people. Now I'm not saying that it will be the new New York or anything, but I doubt it will continue to become the wasteland that it is made out to be now.

People want to buy cheap and sell high. I think that will happen within the next 5-10 for Detroit.

For greater Detroit, maybe a 5-10 year recovery is possible. For metro Detroit, not a f'in chance. If you ever get the chance take a drive down the Lodge into downtown Detroit and take a look at the buildings to either side of you, the vast majority are burnt out or boarded up shells. There will be pockets of recovery, but the metro area has been so devastated recovery will be a monumental task. You literally can't go grocery shopping in the area, there are no full grocery stores. It's that bad.

The major thing is what industry will anchor a recovery in Detroit? Michigan has tried desperately to sell it's abundance of skilled assembly line workers with little success, the costs to run such an operation in the US seem to generally be too high. Pharma has developed a bit of a presence, but it's generally focused in the Ann Arbor area and even that industry has up and bolted for greener pastures recently.

As for the Silverdome, any increase in value (especially into the hundreds of millions) is going to require a massive amount of outlay of funds and a massive recovery in the local economy, plus the development of an actual use for the stadium. Like I said earlier, there's nothing for that place to host. RV shows and such are at the Rock Showplace or the Cobo for the most part, the Cobo also hosts the smaller trade shows and the North American auto show. Football and basketball have their own new buildings, and the Wings aren't going to be moving from one old beat up building to another (especially not into a cavernous dome). I don't see anyway that the building becomes a valuable asset.