One of the most iconic properties in Detroit is entering its final chapter. Demolition officially started on Thursday at one of the buildings at the Packard Plant, in a process that could take up to two years.
The first building to go sits at 6199 Concord, near a building that is in use.
The total cost demo could come in anywhere from $15 million to $25 million. The city will try everything to get the owner, Peruvian businessman Fernando Palazuelo, to pay for as much as possible.
Palazuelo purchased the Packard Plant at the Wayne County Tax Auction in 2013 for $405,000. Plans had been made in the past to rehab the properties, but the size and scale was too much. Palazuelo's company Arte Express started cleaning up the Administration Building along East Grand Boulevard. The bridge over the boulevard collapsed in 2019, and not much has happened at the site since.
The Packard Plant was designed by Albert Kahn and the site grew from 40 to 80 acres as production increased. The last Packard was produced there in 1956, and the plant shut down for good in the late 90s. It's been a site of ruin over the past two decades.
