Regions Midwest | Detroit
Feb 25, 2008
By: Dees Stribling, Midwest Correspondent
The City of Pontiac, Mich., is having another go at selling the Pontiac Silverdome for redevelopment.
Despite previous attempts to sell the shuttered sports facility on a 127.5-acre site in the Detroit suburb, it remains unused and under city ownership.
According to CB Richard Ellis Inc., which is marketing the property, the city has received one proposal to lease the property and another five to buy it. Bidders include, among others, Stuart Frankel Development Co., based in nearby Troy, Mich., which plans to redevelop the site into office and retail space, and the Kampala, Uganda-based United Assurance Co., which would renovate the stadium and add various other entertainment components to the site.
Other bidders this time around include U.S. Hospitality Inc., Global Baseball Inc., Silver Stallion Development and Smart Park International. This round of bidding is the third attempt to sell the Silverdome. The most recent try involved seven bids in October. Among those, the city chose that of a Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based attorney, but later negotiations broke down.
"There's still a lot of interest in the property because it's a great location with a huge potential for redevelopment," Myrna Burroughs, an associate with CB Richard Ellis in metro Detroit, told CPN this afternoon. She said there's no specific timetable regarding when the city of Pontiac will act on the bids, but that she expects action by the city quickly, "within a few days."
The Silverdome has been underutilized since 2002, when the Detroit Lions professional football team moved to Ford Field in the city of Detroit. The enclosed stadium opened in 1975 and had been home to the team since that time. After 2002, the facility has been home to a scattering of events, and for a time it was a drive-in movie theater. An attempt by the city to sell it in 2005 also failed.
By: Dees Stribling, Midwest Correspondent
The City of Pontiac, Mich., is having another go at selling the Pontiac Silverdome for redevelopment.
Despite previous attempts to sell the shuttered sports facility on a 127.5-acre site in the Detroit suburb, it remains unused and under city ownership.
According to CB Richard Ellis Inc., which is marketing the property, the city has received one proposal to lease the property and another five to buy it. Bidders include, among others, Stuart Frankel Development Co., based in nearby Troy, Mich., which plans to redevelop the site into office and retail space, and the Kampala, Uganda-based United Assurance Co., which would renovate the stadium and add various other entertainment components to the site.
Other bidders this time around include U.S. Hospitality Inc., Global Baseball Inc., Silver Stallion Development and Smart Park International. This round of bidding is the third attempt to sell the Silverdome. The most recent try involved seven bids in October. Among those, the city chose that of a Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based attorney, but later negotiations broke down.
"There's still a lot of interest in the property because it's a great location with a huge potential for redevelopment," Myrna Burroughs, an associate with CB Richard Ellis in metro Detroit, told CPN this afternoon. She said there's no specific timetable regarding when the city of Pontiac will act on the bids, but that she expects action by the city quickly, "within a few days."
The Silverdome has been underutilized since 2002, when the Detroit Lions professional football team moved to Ford Field in the city of Detroit. The enclosed stadium opened in 1975 and had been home to the team since that time. After 2002, the facility has been home to a scattering of events, and for a time it was a drive-in movie theater. An attempt by the city to sell it in 2005 also failed.
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