Michigan Marvels: The Packard Plant
Detroit's optimistic motto, “Speramus meliora; resurgent cineribus,” translates to “We hope for better things; it shall arise from the ashes.”
Few places in Detroit signified that hope like the Packard plant on the city's east side.
In 2013, the property was purchased for $405,000 by Peruvian developer Fernando Palazuelo, who envisioned mixed-use development, including commercial use, restaurants, and event spaces
“I'm committed to the success of this project. I assure you, we will not fail,” said Palazuelo at the time.
But now Palazuelo has been ordered to immediately raze the deteriorating industrial site and foot the cost after missing a trial date.
Wayne County Circuit Judge Brian Sullivan made the ruling after Palazuelo and his attorney missed a March 24 trial date as the city of Detroit sought the demolition because it considers the location a "public nuisance."
Structures on the two 2-acre sites have become "dangerous" and significantly threaten "the public's health, safety and welfare," Sullivan said in the default judgment.
In 1903, construction on the site began when the Packard Motor Car Co. moved from its original home in Ohio to the 40-acre plot on East Grand Boulevard, the edge of city limits at that time.
To make the plant safer, architect Albert Kahn began using a combination of new reinforced concrete and re-bar designed by his brother Julius. This design allowed for heavier loads, used fewer materials that could be a fire hazard and became the standard for manufacturing plants in the country.
Packard became an established brand of luxury vehicles, outselling rivals like Cadillac and Lincoln. Eventually the plant grew to 80 acres and 74 buildings. By 1910, it was the largest automobile plant in the country, according to The Packard Plant Project. In its heyday, there were 40,000 workers and the factory floors covered four million square feet.
The plant shifted to military work during both world wars, making airplane engines instead of automobiles. But missteps by the company after World War II combined with the aging plant entering its fifth decade gave competitors an edge in the luxury market. Production was moved to a more modern facility on Conner St., and Packard merged with Studebaker.
The moves couldn't save the company: The last Packards were produced in 1956.
After the company went out of business in 1958, the plant entered its second life as industrial and retail businesses began to lease space on the property. Some buildings were sold outright.
A company named Bioresource purchased the plant in 1987 and was sold ten years later to businessman Dominic Cristini. In one of the more colorful pieces of Packard plant history, Cristini barricaded himself with weapons inside his own plant while Detroit police waited outside on 24-hour guard duty for eight months after a raid on the property in 1998. It was unclear what prompted the raid or why the police stayed on the site for so long.
While fighting with the city in the courts over ownership and tax delinquency, Cristini was sent to prison in 2006 for dealing the drug ecstasy. In the meantime, scrappers and vandals quickly began to take their toll on the buildings as tenants were evicted and the property was no longer being maintained.
The last tenant left in 2010; Wayne County took control of what was left of the plant, and many expected the buildings to be torn down. Instead, the property was put up for auction and was purchased by Palazuelo.
Debris was removed, floors were cleared, the site was secured with fences, and offices were opened in the administration building, but Palazuelo's vision never came to fruition.
In October 2020, Palazuelo's company, Arte Express Detroit LLC, announced that plans to redevelop the buildings would be dropped. The property became available through a real estate company for outside businesses interested in build-to-suit, The most likely scenario being that the structures would be torn down in favor of new, more modern, industrial uses.
dguralnick@detroitnews.com
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This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Michigan Marvels: The Packard Plant
