SteveAJones Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 Pontiac Silverdome Auction Episode One Episode Two Episode Three Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom kid Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 I thought this was going to be about video footage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveAJones Posted November 10, 2009 Author Share Posted November 10, 2009 I thought this was going to be about video footage. Nothing like that! The stadium itself and the property associated with it is up for auction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LedJunkie Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 Though I'm from Michigan, I can't say I've ever been to the Silverdome and I was born almost 5 years after Zep played there. I came across this link at one point and it's a fun read from a Zep fan and his experience going to that show at the Silverdome. http://www.oldbuckeye.com/pontiacsilverdome77/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reezon Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 who cares Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveAJones Posted November 17, 2009 Author Share Posted November 17, 2009 Posted: 4:23 p.m. Nov. 16, 2009 | Updated: 4:59 p.m. today Canadian firm submits winning bid of $583,000 for Silverdome By MELANIE SCOTT FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER A family-owned Toronto real estate company has submitted a winning bid of $583,000 for the Pontiac Silverdome, former home of the Detroit Lions until they moved to Ford Field in 2002, and nearly 130 adjacent acres. The winning bidder, one of four and whose identity has not yet been released, plans to use the facility for a men's Major League Soccer team and women's professional soccer teams, Fred Leeb, Pontiac's emergency financial manager, told the Free Press in an exclusive interview. Leeb said the successful bidder's name is not being released until final details are worked out and the sale closes, which could take up to 45 days. The 80,300-seat stadium, which was built for $55.7 million in 1975, is costing the city about $1.5 million annually just to maintain and financially strapped Pontiac can no longer afford the cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goon1399 Posted November 17, 2009 Share Posted November 17, 2009 Posted: 4:23 p.m. Nov. 16, 2009 | Updated: 4:59 p.m. today Canadian firm submits winning bid of $583,000 for Silverdome By MELANIE SCOTT FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER A family-owned Toronto real estate company has submitted a winning bid of $583,000 for the Pontiac Silverdome, former home of the Detroit Lions until they moved to Ford Field in 2002, and nearly 130 adjacent acres. The winning bidder, one of four and whose identity has not yet been released, plans to use the facility for a men's Major League Soccer team and women's professional soccer teams, Fred Leeb, Pontiac's emergency financial manager, told the Free Press in an exclusive interview. Leeb said the successful bidder's name is not being released until final details are worked out and the sale closes, which could take up to 45 days. The 80,300-seat stadium, which was built for $55.7 million in 1975, is costing the city about $1.5 million annually just to maintain and financially strapped Pontiac can no longer afford the cost. Soccer Teams?????? just what Michigan needs, I hope they cover up the other 78,000 empty seats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveAJones Posted November 19, 2009 Author Share Posted November 19, 2009 Judge to decide by Monday on Silverdome Former bidder fights sale to Toronto trust BY L.L. BRASIER AND JOHN WISELY FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER Nov 19, 2009 An Oakland County Circuit Court judge is to decide by Monday whether this week's sale of the Pontiac Silverdome for $583,000 to a Toronto-based developer will go through. Judge Edward Sosnick heard arguments Wednesday from an attorney representing Silver Stallion Development Corp., which hopes to block the sale to Andreas Apostolopoulos in trust for a corporation to be formed from Toronto. Attorneys representing the City of Pontiac, which owns the 35-year-old stadium and its 127 adjacent acres, say the purchase by the trust at a Monday auction is valid and should be finalized. The developers plan to use the complex as a soccer venue. Silver Stallion, owned by Bloomfield Hills businessman and attorney H. Wallace Parker, had offered to buy the 80,000-plus-seat stadium for $20 million in 2008 and had signed a purchase agreement. But that contract expired. Attorney David McGruder, representing Silver Stallion, told Sosnick that his clients had spent money on environmental studies and had deposited $100,000 in earnest money. "We've expended money, time and effort," McGruder said. Sosnick, known for his laconic courtroom wit, said: "Was the environmental problems the reason why the Lions could rarely win?" That prompted laughter in the crowded courtroom. Attorney Ruben Acosta, representing the city, argued that Silver Stallion did try to submit a bid in the auction, but it failed to post the required $250,000 deposit. "That was a prerequisite to participate," Acosta said. Acosta said Silver Stallion's proposed deal last year fell apart when it failed to close by a Nov. 1 deadline and the earnest money was forfeited. "It is absolutely in the interest of the city to sell this property for the greatest amount of money possible," Acosta said. The city spends about $1.5 million annually in upkeep. Pontiac's emergency financial manager, Fred Leeb, said Wednesday that after fees for the auctioneer are paid, the city stands to get only $430,000 out of the deal, if it goes through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveAJones Posted November 24, 2009 Author Share Posted November 24, 2009 Posted: 3:32 p.m. Nov. 23, 2009 Judge: Pontiac Silverdome sale can move forward BY L.L. BRASIER FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER A judge ruled moments ago that the controversial $583,000 sale of Pontiac's Silverdome to a Toronto company can proceed. Local businessman and attorney H. Wallace Parker was attempting to block the sale of the 35-year-old stadium to Triple Properties Inc., a Toronto company that submitted the highest bid at auction earlier this month. Parker and his development company, Silver Stallion Inc., had offered $20 million for the property in August 2008, but negotiations over environmental issues and funding broke down. Parker obtained a restraining order earlier this month, temporarily blocking the sale. But this afternoon, Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Edward Sosnick ruled that Silver Stallion's offer had expired, and that Parker had failed to come up with the $250,000 needed to participate in the recent auction. Sosnick ordered the restraining order dissolved. Noting that the cash strapped city of Pontiac spends $1.5 million a year in upkeep on the property, Sosncik said in his opinion, "There is also a public interest in actually selling the property to any purchaser, as soon as possible." Triple Properties says it intends to use the facility as a soccer venue. The judge's decision came after a hearing earlier this afternoon. Attorney Ruben Acosta, representing the city, said the sale should go through immediately, and dismissed claims by Silver Stallion officials that they were thwarted in their attempts to purchase the property because of their race. Silver Stallion is a minority-owned business. "This case is not about race," Acosta told the judge. "If there is a color important in this case, that color is green." Attorney David McGruder, representing Silver Stallion, said the sale of the property to the Toronto firm – with no guarantee that it would create jobs – would harm the citizens of Pontiac. "This is a one-time opportunity," McGruder said. "If that opportunity is lost, the citizens of Pontiac will not recover." McGruder said "This sale has become a national punch line." Sosnick, hearing the case, said he needed this afternoon to review new pleadings. But he lamented that the case was before him a sign, he said, of Michigan's troubled times. "So many times matters come before me that I wish weren't happening," he said, recalling his years of attending games at the dome. The Silverdome "represented hope for those who worked and lived and grew up in this area," he said. "I am aware of the human agony in the community at large, and particularly Pontiac," he said. "We're in this together." http://www.freep.com...an-move-forward Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayban123 Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 Steve Ladurantaye Globe and Mail Update Published on Monday, Nov. 23, 2009 8:15PM EST Last updated on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009 6:35AM EST Andreas Apostolopoulos didn't expect to actually win when he mailed in a low-ball bid for an abandoned 88,000-seat stadium in suburban Detroit. After spotting an auction ad in the back of a newspaper only weeks ago, he decided to bid $583,000 (U.S.) for the Pontiac Silverdome, the former home of football's Detroit Lions. The president of Toronto-based Triple Properties Inc. put a $250,000 deposit in the mail, with only online documents from the auction house to guide him. Then he forgot about it, content to manage his company's small portfolio of retail and industrial properties. “It was a bit surprising,” Mr. Apostolopoulos said Monday after the sale was confirmed by a U.S. judge. “There were really very few bids.” Entire article here ----------> http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/toronto-developer-acquires-pontiac-silverdome/article1374848/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveAJones Posted November 24, 2009 Author Share Posted November 24, 2009 "There were really very few bids." ...because the Pontiac Silverdome is a white elephant! It's going to cost at least a million dollars a year to maintain and it sits in the middle of a single state recession. The local economy is devestated. How many soccer games does he think he can sell out in a metropolitan area that has at least four professional sports teams? Generally speaking, Americans love to play soccer but couldn't care less about watching pro soccer. If I'm a betting man I say he crunches numbers, becomes horrified by the red ink and sells the stadium for scrap. He'll get massive tax incentives to then use the land for a completely different purpose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Pagemeister Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Pagemeister Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZoSo925 Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 lol, the news is so pathetic. They act all surprised and make a big story wondering why it's abandoned..... meanwhile tons of neighborhoods all in that area with houses selling for a whopping $1 and nobody buying Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveAJones Posted June 11, 2015 Author Share Posted June 11, 2015 A.W.E.S.O.M.E. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveAJones Posted June 11, 2015 Author Share Posted June 11, 2015 lol, the news is so pathetic. They act all surprised and make a big story wondering why it's abandoned..... meanwhile tons of neighborhoods all in that area with houses selling for a whopping $1 and nobody buying I'm still surprised how poorly the seats sold at auction. It looks like 97% of them are still in place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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