Emptied Plaza Building Lowballed to Balance Budget

The state had hoped to get at least $8 million when it offered the building for sale last year, and narrowly missed earning $12.5 million for the 500,000-sf Plaza when the MGM Grand Detroit considered purchasing it as its new permanent casino.The casino instead moved its $500 million expansion plans to 25 acres owned by Detroit Edison at the I-75 and Lodge freeway intersection. The $12.5 million deal died, and the state has struggled for a buyer ever since.

The building had been used for state employees in the Detroit area, until the state purchased the former General Motors Corp. headquarters complex in the New Center area. Most employees, about 2,500, moved into the former GM building last year. Only a state police post remains at the Plaza.Greg Bird, director of communications for the state budget office, said the hopes are to sell the building by October 2004. However, the building's price tag in the new budget is only $2 million, he said.

"That's not what we've asked for the building," he told GlobeSt.com. "We estimated low."Obviously, he said, the asking price is going to be higher."We're not negotiating the sale. We just set it low, did it very conservatively so we wouldn't fall short."

There have been no further bites on the 35-year-old building, said Bridget Medina of the state Department of Management & Budget."I've checked with Tom Saxton, the head of our Tenant and Land Services Division, who's said that currently, there isn't anything happening with the Plaza Building - no bids, etc.," she told GlobeSt.com.