Silverdome sells for 583k, sad financial commentary

[bolts37205]

granted it is Detroit, but to sell for so little is a warning to sports ventures not based in Dallas and promoted by Jerry Jones. 583K? oh to be a real estate speculator with lots of cash for future Detroit after Robo Cop cleans the place up. Detroit does seem to be Robo Cop like these days:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Paltry-sale-for-onceproud-apf-2145739320.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode=

Made me think about how tenuous our team finances are and whether Palace Sports has the economic clout it once had if they come back to owning the Bolts.

[The Great Zo]

Quite a bit of conjecture in your post.

The Silverdome has had no tenant for many years, and is a maintenance nightmare. There's no good reason to believe it could be transformed into something useful again -- and that's a fact that has nothing to do with its location.

The Lions, as you know, moved into a bombed-out shell of a venue called Ford Field, in downtown Detroit. It's a place so awfully crime-ridden and worthless that they've only held one Super Bowl there. Just one!

[the_narrow_way]

Detroit does seem to be Robo Cop like these days
A little bird told me that they are filming the Red Dawn remake there.

[Donnie D]

Quite a bit of conjecture in your post.

The Silverdome has had no tenant for many years, and is a maintenance nightmare. There's no good reason to believe it could be transformed into something useful again -- and that's a fact that has nothing to do with its location.

The Lions, as you know, moved into a bombed-out shell of a venue called Ford Field, in downtown Detroit. It's a place so awfully crime-ridden and worthless that they've only held one Super Bowl there. Just one!

I'm shocked that they didn't tear it down sooner. You are basically buying the land less the cost of demolition. I was there once when it was soldier field east. Lots of land close to the interstate. But the structure is less than worthless.

[Avery86]

Same issue with Kemper Arena west of downtown Kansas City. No tenant, barely any events, and monster maintenance costs. I'd say the real estate market in the KC metro is waaaayyy better than Detroit, yet there have been no potential buyers, so I'd say that sale was more of desperation than a true indication of its value.

And in the very article you linked, it was said the stadium had no long term plans or goals, and then the City of Pontiac sat on it looking for a better offer until everything took a dump and so they just got rid of it. Reeks of incompetence more than anything.

So I'm not sure where Robocop comes into play here.

[TexasBolt]

Speaking of Dallas, they finally finished tearing down Reunion Arena last week - it had been mostly empty since the Stars and Mavericks left it in 2001. It still had the occasional arena football game or church group or whatever, but it was unnecessary and obviously it cost the city a lot of money to maintain it. I have no idea what they're going to use the land for now. But even here, where the real estate market never really went bad, they couldn't find someone to buy it. I don't even think they have any plans for it after they clear the materials out.

[Hoek]

The buyer, Triple Properties Inc. of Toronto, has said it plans to use the site for a soccer arena.

At least it's being put to good use! :p

The article neglects to mention that the Silverdome was host to World Cup soccer matches as well in 1994 (the first indoor facility to do so), including a 1-1 tie between USA and Switzerland.