Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield has halted a proposed development plan for a large portion of the former Packard Plant, one of the city’s most iconic ruins.
Sheffield is opening the site to other possible plans while pausing an initial agreement made with a local development team made in December.
The trigger for Sheffield’s decision was the passing of the February 11 deadline of the city’s letter of intent with Packard Park developers, Mark Bennett and Oren Goldenberg, city officials said. The letter serves as a preliminary commitment in a business transaction, highlighting the willingness of parties to move forward with negotiations.
The Sheffield administration wants to explore other options for the former auto plant site, city spokesman John Roach said in an email on Thursday.
“The Packard Plant site is one of the few available City-owned large contiguous sites in Detroit,” said Roach. “Consequently, the Sheffield Administration wants to take this opportunity to explore a broader range of redevelopment options for the site before moving forward with the proposed plan.”
In December, Bennett and Goldenberg publicly debuted their plans for Packard Park. It was one of former Mayor Mike Duggan’s final acts as mayor, using it to highlight his track record of development in a city with thousands of empty buildings.
The proposed development plan aimed to revive 28 acres on the southern portion of the 40-acre former auto factory complex, including saving a building on East Grand Boulevard. It is one of the facility’s two remaining buildings. Plans for the legacy building included an indoor skate park, 42 “make/live” affordable housing units, community programming areas, and the Museum of Detroit Electronic Music, MODEM.
The developers on Thursday said they will continue their efforts to redevelop site, according to a statement.
“It remains our vision, with our many partners, to preserve the legacy of the Packard site and bring jobs to the City of Detroit,” the emailed statement said. “We stand ready to help Detroit with this mission.”
“The project had been progressing just months after it was announced but we understand that a new administration can have new priorities.
Goldenberg and Bennett have developed other sites in Detroit. The two were part of a recent $30 million redevelopment of a former Lincoln Motor factory and recycling center in the city’s Northwest Goldberg neighborhood.
The redevelopment, called Dreamtroit, opened in 2024 and includes residential apartments, office units, and 38,000 square feet of retail and entertainment space.
The Packard Plant opened on East Grand Boulevard in 1903. The last car was manufactured there in 1956 and portions of the plant were leased to other companies. Designed by famed architect Albert Kahn, it eventually expanded to a complex of 40 buildings, according to the Detroit Historical Society.
After Packard Motor Car Co. left, smaller companies continued to occupy the plant until the late 1990s. The city then foreclosed on the property.
In the 1990s, empty parts of the complex attracted late-night “rave” parties with deejays playing electronic techno music. In 2010, a mural by the England-based graffiti artist Banksy was discovered in the Packard.
In the 2010s, parts of the site were featured in several films and television series, thanks to the state’s film tax incentives at the time.
In 2013, Peruvian developer Fernando Palazuelo bought the facility and tried to find investors to redevelop much of the structure. But in 2021, the city sued to have the crumbling plant torn down.
The city conducted significant demolition in 2022. The city used $26 million in American Rescue Plan Act money for demolition and to prepare the site for a new tenant.
laguilar@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Detroit Mayor Sheffield nixes development plan for ex-Packard plant
Reporting by Louis Aguilar, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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