Packard Automotive Plant

Packard Automotive Plant
The Packard Automotive Plant
General information
Status	Complete
Type	Automobile factory
Location	Detroit, Michigan
Coordinates	42°22′46.62″N 83°1′44.14″W / 42.3796167°N 83.0289278°W / 42.3796167; -83.0289278Coordinates: 42°22′46.62″N 83°1′44.14″W / 42.3796167°N 83.0289278°W / 42.3796167; -83.0289278
Construction started	1903
Completed	1911
Technical details
Floor area	3,500,000 sq ft (330,000 m2)
Design and construction
Architect	Albert Kahn
Structural engineer	Henry Joy

The Packard Automotive Plant is a former automobile-manufacturing factory in Detroit, Michigan where luxury Packard cars were made by the Packard Motor Car Company and later by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation.

Design and operation

The 3,500,000-square-foot (325,000 m²), plant was designed by Albert Kahn and is located on over 40 acres (0.142 km²) of land on East Grand Boulevard on the city's east side. It included the first use of reinforced concrete for industrial construction in Detroit.^[1]

The Packard plant was opened in 1903 and at the time was considered the most modern automobile manufacturing facility in the world with skilled craftsmen who practiced over eighty trades.

The factory complex closed in 1958, though other businesses operated on the premises or used it for storage until the late 1990s.

A number of the outer buildings were in use by businesses up through the early 2000s. In 2010, the last remaining tenant, Chemical Processing, announced its intention to vacate the premises after 52 years.^[2] As of March 2012, however, Chemical Processing remains on the premises, and the company's website still lists its Packard address on Concord Street.

Current status

Since its abandonment, the plant has been a haven for graffiti artists, urban explorers, paintballers and auto scrappers, and much of the wiring and other building material has been scavenged.^[3] In one incident, vandals pushed a dump truck off of the fourth floor. Karen Nagher, the executive director of the nonprofit organization Preservation Wayne, stated that she was irked to see people come from "all over the world" to poke around Detroit. "Piece by piece, they're disassembling those buildings, making it harder and harder to restore them".

Despite many years of neglect and abuse, the reinforced concrete structures remain mostly intact and structurally sound as of 2014. Portions of the upper floors of several small sections in various buildings have collapsed or been partly demolished and lay in ruins in the wake of several aborted attempts at demolition over the years.

The City of Detroit has pledged legal action to have the property demolished or secured.^[4] Dominic Cristini, whose claim of ownership is disputed, was said to be conducting construction surveys in advance of full-scale demolition as of early 2012.^[5]

On February 5, 2013 it was reported that aluminum letter placards spelling the Nazi Slogan "Arbeit Macht Frei" (Work Makes Free) were placed in the windows of the E. Grand Boulevard bridge. ^[6][7] Community volunteers promptly removed the letters.

In April 2013, it was announced that AMC's Low Winter Sun would be filming around the location.^[8]

Due to tax delinquency, the 43 parcels comprising the plant were put up for auction in September 2013. The starting bid was $975,000 (the amount owed in taxes) and there were no takers.^[9]

Another auction in October 2013 posted a starting bid of $21,000 ($500 per parcel).^[10] This auction closed with a top bid of $6,038,000 by Dr. Jill Van Horn, a Texas-based physician who announced in an email that she would team up with “partners and investors from Detroit, Wall Street and international firms,” to turn the site into an “economic engine”, refurbishing the plant grounds for a manufactured-house assembly facility. ^[11]

The deadline for payment (in full) was missed, however; prompting Wayne County to initiate talks with the second-highest bidder, Bill Hults, a Chicago-area developer who placed a $2,003,000 bid in the October auction.

In a separate email, Dr. Van Horn stated, "It seemed (David Szymanski, Deputy Wayne County Treasurer) had already made up his mind to talk to the second bidder." Hults then made several non-refundable down-payments on the plant, but he ultimately failed to raise the entire sum of his bid.

Around the same time (October 2013), a Peruvian investor, Fernando Palazuelo, also expressed interest in securing the Packard Plant. It was purchased for $405,000 on December 12, 2013. ^[12][13]

Palazuelo plans on moving into the plant by April 9th, his 59th birthday. He plans on having six different uses for the Packard Plant Project (residential, retail, offices, light industry, recreation and art) that is estimated to cost about $350 million over the next 10 to 15 years. First, he hopes to bring a big 3 automotive parts manufacturer to the plant in exchange for a few years of free rent. He also hopes to create a work space for local artists. He also hopes to build an upscale go-kart track. ^[14]

References

External links

• Detroit News
• The Abandoned Packard Plant at Detroiturbex.com
• Packard Plant photos
• blog.hemmings.com on Planned demolition mid-2012
• Recent photos of the Packard Plant
• Detroit Free Press photos - then and now

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