A place that once churned out some of Detroit's finest machines has long laid dormant. Dormant, in the sense that industry was no longer occurring within its walls.
The Packard Plant, which opened in 1903, sits on 3,500,000 square feet, spread out over 40 acres of currently blighted Detroit moonscape. From the time it opened, the plant was used to create Packard automobiles until the automaker went under in 1958. After that, the site was home to quite a few local businesses, but those companies went under or pulled out of the plant over the years. The facility now sits abandoned and serves as a rather poignant symbol of what's become of the Motor City.
Now though, it might get a new lease on life because the entire parcel of land and its buildings are heading to auction.
According to Crain's Detroit Business, the Packard Plant's 43 parcels will hit the auction block with a starting bid of $975,000. This is the amount of taxes owed on the property. There are four parcels of land owned by the city, which will not be included in the auction. (Everything else must go!) The auction is slated for sometime between September 20th and the 26th.
If the auction doesn't find a winning bidder, there will be a second auction in October. Here the property will be split into its separate parcels, and the bids will start at $500 per parcel. As the Packard Plant is a piece of automotive history, we do hope that someone swoops in and saves the land. If that doesn't happen, we hope that the grounds are transformed and help serve to revitalize a portion of a city that needs a little bit of love.
Image via Wikipedia courtesy Albert duce
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