The Packard Plant Project is committed to the restoration and revitalization of the abandoned Packard Plant in Detroit, Michigan.
“The abandoned Packard Plant in Detroit is one of the most famous buildings to be sold after the city filed for bankruptcy. It’s famous both for its mammoth size — 40 acres in the eastern part of the city — and its state of ruin.”
“The old Packard plant is the archetypal symbol of Detroit’s decline. Open up a newspaper or magazine story on Detroit’s woes, and a picture of that hulking ruin will likely accompany it, with a description of how scrap thieves and arsonists are stripping bare its bones. It is one of the spookiest places I have ever been, the last remnant of a vanished company from a vanished era.”
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2013-12-17/for-detroit-a-face-lift-at-ground-zero
“Fernando Palazuelo, a developer who lives in Lima, Peru, and founder of Arte Express, talks with Bloomberg’s Chris Christoff about his purchase of Detroit’s abandoned Packard plant. Palazuelo paid $405,000 in a tax foreclosure sale to obatin the industrial wreck. He plans to transform it into a center for automotive suppliers, offices and shops”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/b/25912ed9-66f6-4f10-a917-736fc7832fb4
“As urban ruins go, not much tops Detroit’s Packard plant, a sprawling corpse of steel and brick that hasn’t produced a car since 1956 and that became a haven for scrap thieves, arsonists and the homeless.
“Where others see 40 acres (16 hectares) of devastation, Fernando Palazuelo of Lima, Peru, sees charisma, architectural challenge — and a bargain. He paid $405,000 in a tax-foreclosure sale to obtain the industrial wreck by year-end. He plans to make it a vibrant hub of automotive suppliers, offices, shops, lofts and maybe even a go-kart track in the city that filed the largest U.S. municipal bankruptcy.”
“’It’s the best opportunity in the whole world,” Palazuelo, a 58-year-old developer, said in an interview in Detroit. He said he’ll use his experience restoring dozens of buildings in Lima and his home country, Spain, to begin a $350 million makeover in Detroit. He plans to live at the site.'”
“As Detroit hopes to bounce back after filing for bankruptcy, two iconic factories that helped the Motor City become America’s 20th century industrial hub could gain a new life in the near future.”
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/detroits-iconic-packard-plant-could-soon-be-back-business-8C11487943
