Transatlantic cable
March 2014
45
half (53 per cent) of those polled said they believe the US
automotive industry has the same or greater potential for
growth as other major industries.
The study also revealed a growing optimism among
consumers about the automotive industry, with 44 per cent
of respondents seeing it as stronger ve years from now
than it is today. And 55 per cent of respondents said the
industry will be vital to the US as it strives to compete with
other major economic powers over the next decade.
A developer from Peru plans a bright
future for the blighted Detroit plant where
Packards once rolled o the assembly line
“The Packard complex has slowly deteriorated… and it lost most
of its remaining industrial tenants in the late 1990s. Today it has
become an international symbol of Detroit’s downfall and its
sprawling ruins attract sightseers from as far as Japan.”
The blighted industrial property described by
Detroit Free Press
business writer JC Reindl comprises roughly 40 acres whose
centrepiece was one of the world’s most modern manufacturing
facilities when it was opened in 1903. The plant turned out
Packard cars, an immensely popular line, for half a century. When
production ceased, in the mid-1950s, the multi-storey factory
layout was obsolete, and the problem of what to do with the site
has resisted every attempt at a satisfactory solution.
Now, the Packard property on Detroit’s east side is in the hands
of Fernando Palazuelo – of Lima, Peru – who won it for $405,000
last autumn at public auction and promptly ordered a 24-hour
patrol to secure the plant from trespassers and metal scrappers.
In a nod to the illustrious automotive past of the site, one of
Mr Palazuelo’s redevelopment intentions is to attract auto
suppliers as tenants. (“Packard Plant Deed Transfers to
Peru-Based Developer,” 2
nd
January)
In a November interview with Mr Reindl, the new owner
outlined plans for a mixed-use project, unfolding over 10 to 15
years or more and saving and restoring some of the old Packard
buildings. Mr Palazuelo envisions six components – residential,
retail, o ces, light industry, recreation and art – at an estimated
cost of around $350 million. An upscale go-kart racing track
is under consideration. The eldest sons of the family were
top-ranked racers in their native Spain.
The
Free Press
noted that Mr Palazuelo is no neophyte in realty
redevelopment. His newly formed limited liability corporation
Arte Express Detroit is an o shoot of a rm that has restored and
repurposed more than 100 old buildings in Spain and Peru.
The new Packard proprietor, who once lived in a restored castle,
has said he will establish his personal apartment inside the plant
later this year.
Although Mr Palazuelo has a reputation for amboyance, his
demonstration to prospective tenants that the Packard plant
is a t place for a residence may have a practical motivation.
On Christmas Eve, photographers discovered the frozen
body of a 21-year-old man in an old lavatory inside the
plant. Although the cause of death was not immediately
determined by the Wayne County medical examiner’s o ce,
the man’s neck bore ligature marks.
