"Packard plant buyer plans to revitalize Detroit icon of decay" by Chris Christoff | Bloomberg News, December 28, 2013
DETROIT — As urban ruins go, not much tops Detroit’s Packard plant, a sprawling corpse of steel and brick that hasn’t produced a car since 1956 and that became a haven for scrap thieves, arsonists, and the homeless.
Where others see 40 acres of devastation, Fernando Palazuelo of Lima sees charisma, architectural challenge — and a bargain. He paid $405,000 in a tax-foreclosure sale to obtain the industrial wreck by year-end. He plans to make it a vibrant hub of automotive suppliers, offices, shops, lofts, and maybe even a go-kart track in the city that filed the largest US municipal bankruptcy.
‘‘It’s the best opportunity in the whole world,’’ Palazuelo, a 58-year-old developer, said in an interview in Detroit. He said he will use his experience restoring dozens of buildings in Lima and his home country, Spain, to begin a $350 million makeover in Detroit. He plans to live at the site.
‘‘I am not a dreamer,’’ he said. ‘‘I will be very active at the Packard plant. It’s not going to be easy. It’s going to be a war. It’s going to be quite aggressive the first months.’’
Along with a tortuous attempt to unload the plant. The flippant use of war terminology in my new$paper is a daily nightmare.
Among Detroit’s more than 70,000 vacant buildings, the Packard plant stands out as an icon of the decline from an industrial juggernaut and the loss of one-fourth of the population since the turn of the century. Palazuelo said his fresh ideas will help Detroit ‘‘overcome its image of disaster, corruption, and bankruptcy.’’
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The father of five with a passion for Ferraris is trying to secure state money to clean up pollution at the plant. He said he wants to rebuild, not demolish the place, which has been used in recent years as a warehouse, a movie set, a site for paintball games, a setting for rave parties, and photography backdrop....
How many millions of tax dollars did Detroit and Michigan fork over to Hollywood? And pardon me for saying it, but the plant seemed like it was making its mark economically.
Palazuelo talks of attracting light industry and artists.
‘‘It would be great in Detroit to create a kind of high technology hub like Silicon Valley,’’ he said.
Dream on, dream on, dream on, Dream until your dream come true!
--more--"
Related: Detroit Bankruptcy Means Government Can Break Promises
See who $tole all the money?
"Appeal OK’d in Detroit bankruptcy" Associated Press, December 17, 2013
DETROIT — A crucial decision that keeps Detroit in bankruptcy court and puts pensions at risk can immediately be appealed to a higher court, a judge said Monday.
But Judge Steven Rhodes said he still needs a day or two to think about whether he will recommend that a federal appeals court put the case on a fast track. At issue is Rhodes’ s Dec. 3 opinion that changed the tone of Detroit’s bankruptcy case. He found the city eligible to remake itself under Chapter 9, saying it was impossible for officials to genuinely negotiate before the July filing. He also declared that pensions aren’t immune to cuts in a final plan, contrary to the Michigan Constitution.
Attorney Lisa Fenning said pension funds aren’t trying to stop the bankruptcy process and will continue to negotiate with the city as it tries to come up with a broad plan to restructure $18 billion in long-term debt.
She said the best ‘‘middle ground’’ for her clients at the appeals court would be a decision that protects pensions but doesn’t kill the overall case.
Sharon Levine, an attorney for the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, said an immediate appeal is important because the union is concerned that Rhodes’s decision could be applied in other states where governments are struggling.
‘‘This is an issue of national importance. . . . We do think having these issues decided quickly would be constructive,’’ she told the judge, referring to Detroit’s eligibility for bankruptcy and the impact on pensions.
Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr hopes to file a broad reorganization plan by January.
--more--"
"Deal reached on role of Detroit’s new mayor" New York Times, December 20, 2013
DETROIT — The city’s emergency manager and its mayor-elect announced a plan Thursday to divide responsibilities for running the government, as Detroit reorganizes under US bankruptcy laws.
The agreement between Kevyn D. Orr, the state-appointed emergency manager, and Mike Duggan, who becomes Detroit’s mayor next month, establishes guidelines and specific duties for managing city operations.
The move is considered a critical step in the broader turnaround of Detroit, which in July became the largest American municipality to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy.
Under the agreement, Orr will continue to manage the city’s overall financial operations, oversee federal grants, and maintain oversight of the city’s police department.
Related: Police take an hour on average to answer calls
Maybe he can speed that up.
Duggan will be responsible for day-to-day operations and will appoint non-civil-service positions within the executive branch of city government.
By sharing duties, Orr and Duggan have provided a blueprint for how the city will function during what is expected to be a lengthy bankruptcy process.
Unions got stiffed again.
Orr, who was appointed in March as Detroit’s emergency manager by Governor Rick Snyder, said the collaborative working arrangement was a necessary step for the city’s revival.
“Mayor-elect Duggan and I have come up with a way to manage day-to-day operations and the financial restructuring in a collaborative fashion that puts the best interests of all of its 700,000 residents first,” Orr said in a statement.
With Wall Street at the top of the list.
Since his appointment, Orr has virtually run the city government without delegating much authority to Mayor Dave Bing or the City Council.
We call it a dictatorship, and some are better than others.
But with his term as emergency manager set to expire in September 2014, Orr has proved more willing to turn over significant powers to Duggan, who won election in November.
“The people of Detroit elected me to change the quality of life in their city,” Duggan said in a statement. “This agreement will allow the team I am assembling to impact city services that touch our residents every day.”
He is the doctor they need before the city goes to the dogs.
--more--"
Related: Detroit Bankruptcy Means Government Can Break Promises
See who $tole all the money?
"Appeal OK’d in Detroit bankruptcy" Associated Press, December 17, 2013
DETROIT — A crucial decision that keeps Detroit in bankruptcy court and puts pensions at risk can immediately be appealed to a higher court, a judge said Monday.
But Judge Steven Rhodes said he still needs a day or two to think about whether he will recommend that a federal appeals court put the case on a fast track. At issue is Rhodes’ s Dec. 3 opinion that changed the tone of Detroit’s bankruptcy case. He found the city eligible to remake itself under Chapter 9, saying it was impossible for officials to genuinely negotiate before the July filing. He also declared that pensions aren’t immune to cuts in a final plan, contrary to the Michigan Constitution.
Attorney Lisa Fenning said pension funds aren’t trying to stop the bankruptcy process and will continue to negotiate with the city as it tries to come up with a broad plan to restructure $18 billion in long-term debt.
She said the best ‘‘middle ground’’ for her clients at the appeals court would be a decision that protects pensions but doesn’t kill the overall case.
Sharon Levine, an attorney for the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, said an immediate appeal is important because the union is concerned that Rhodes’s decision could be applied in other states where governments are struggling.
‘‘This is an issue of national importance. . . . We do think having these issues decided quickly would be constructive,’’ she told the judge, referring to Detroit’s eligibility for bankruptcy and the impact on pensions.
Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr hopes to file a broad reorganization plan by January.
--more--"
"Deal reached on role of Detroit’s new mayor" New York Times, December 20, 2013
DETROIT — The city’s emergency manager and its mayor-elect announced a plan Thursday to divide responsibilities for running the government, as Detroit reorganizes under US bankruptcy laws.
The agreement between Kevyn D. Orr, the state-appointed emergency manager, and Mike Duggan, who becomes Detroit’s mayor next month, establishes guidelines and specific duties for managing city operations.
The move is considered a critical step in the broader turnaround of Detroit, which in July became the largest American municipality to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy.
Under the agreement, Orr will continue to manage the city’s overall financial operations, oversee federal grants, and maintain oversight of the city’s police department.
Related: Police take an hour on average to answer calls
Maybe he can speed that up.
Duggan will be responsible for day-to-day operations and will appoint non-civil-service positions within the executive branch of city government.
By sharing duties, Orr and Duggan have provided a blueprint for how the city will function during what is expected to be a lengthy bankruptcy process.
Unions got stiffed again.
Orr, who was appointed in March as Detroit’s emergency manager by Governor Rick Snyder, said the collaborative working arrangement was a necessary step for the city’s revival.
“Mayor-elect Duggan and I have come up with a way to manage day-to-day operations and the financial restructuring in a collaborative fashion that puts the best interests of all of its 700,000 residents first,” Orr said in a statement.
With Wall Street at the top of the list.
Since his appointment, Orr has virtually run the city government without delegating much authority to Mayor Dave Bing or the City Council.
We call it a dictatorship, and some are better than others.
But with his term as emergency manager set to expire in September 2014, Orr has proved more willing to turn over significant powers to Duggan, who won election in November.
“The people of Detroit elected me to change the quality of life in their city,” Duggan said in a statement. “This agreement will allow the team I am assembling to impact city services that touch our residents every day.”
He is the doctor they need before the city goes to the dogs.
--more--"
