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City
begins
demolition
of
second
portion
of
Packard
Plant;
ramps up
efforts
to
remove
remaining
sections
• Mayor
committed
to
removing
every
portion
of
former
auto
complex
that
cannot
be
redeveloped
•
Majority
of
building
at 1539
E. Grand
Blvd to
be
demolished;
façade
to be
saved
for
potential
redevelopment
•
City
recently
awarded
$12M in
state
funds
for
future
Packard
demolitions
DETROIT
– The
City of
Detroit
has
begun
demolition
of a
second
major
portion
of the
Packard
Plant,
the
city’s
largest
and most
notorious
remaining
abandoned
auto
factory.
Emergency
demolition
began on
the
first
portion
the
plant at
6199
Concord
in late
September
2022.
Demolition
crews
from
Detroit-based
Homrich
Wrecking
have
begun
removing
another
major
section
located
at 1539
E. Grand
Boulevard.
Unlike
other
portions
of the
3.5
million
sq. ft.
Packard
Plant
that
will be
demolished,
the
front
wing of
1539 E.
Grand
Boulevard
will
remain
and be
marketed
for
redevelopment
in an
effort
to
retain a
portion
of the
plant’s
history.
Until
recently,
1539
Grand
Boulevard
was the
last
remaining
city-owned
portion
of the
plant
that had
not been
demolished.
However,
33
additional
parcels
of the
plant
previously
owned by
Fernando
Palazuelo’s
Arte
Express
recently
reverted
to city
ownership.
The
vacant
parcels
slipped
into tax
foreclosure
and were
not
bought
at the
foreclosure
auction.
For
nearly a
decade,
a
majority
of the
sprawling
plant
was
owned by
Palazuelo’s
Arte
Express.
Wayne
County
foreclosed
on the
property
due to
more
than
$1.5M in
unpaid
taxes,
water
drainage
costs
and
blight
tickets.
“We made
a
promise
to
Detroiters
and
local
business
owners
in this
neighborhood
to
transform
this
property
from
blight
to
beauty,”
said
Demolition
Director
LaJuan
Counts.
“Today,
we take
another
step to
make
good on
our
promise
by
beginning
to
demolish
the next
major
structure
on this
site.”
Counts
added
that her
team has
begun
the
process
of
surveying
the
remainder
of the
plant
and
soliciting
preliminary
bids to
demolish
additional
sections
of the
plant.
During
Mayor
Duggan’s
State of
the City
Address
last
March,
he
prioritized
the
Packard
Plant,
pointing
out that
the city
has
either
begun or
announced
plans to
remove
or
renovate
nearly
all the
city’s
most
infamous
vacant
buildings.
These
include
the
former
Michigan
Central
train
station,
Lee
Plaza,
Cadillac
Stamping
Plant,
AMC
Headquarters
and
Fisher
Body 21.
Packard
tops a
list of
100
vacant
commercial
structures
Mayor
Duggan
has said
will be
addressed
either
through
redevelopment
or
demolition
during
his
third
term in
office.
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