Buildings on former Packard Plant site on sale for $6.95M
Susan Selasky
Two buildings and surrounding property that were once part of the sprawling Packard Plant complex on Detroit’s east side have been put up for sale.
The properties, owned by Tsanwood LLC., have a $6.95 million price tag and include 180,000 square feet of office and warehouse space, according to a listing on Loopnet.com. The properties at 1600 and 1634 E. Grand Boulevard, between Mount Elliott and Van Dyke, are also available for lease.
Tsanwood, according to Crain’s Detroit Business, is owned by Rick Portwood of the Display Group and AVL Creative, a Detroitbased event management company. The group’s headquarters is in the historic Packard Building 22 in another part of the historic factory complex that produced luxury Packard automobiles until the mid-1950s.
“I would prefer not selling it because it’s a great property,” Portwood told Crain’s. “If somebody is interested in paying that kind of money for it, we would take it, but if I would have my druthers, I would prefer a tenant coming in because I don’t want to sell it.”
The listing agent is L. Mason Capitani Inc., in Troy.
The properties include nearly 68,000 square feet of warehouse space that’s suited for cannabis growing, according to the listing. There’s 10 acres in all for both properties, bay exterior truck wells and 7 acres of secure, gated parking.
One of the buildings is formerly known as Building No. 82, where Packard built marine engines, according to Crain’s. It’s on the same block and adjacent to the former Packard Plant administration building.
The buildings are not part of Fernando Palazuelo’s ownership of the Packard Plant buildings and properties. Palazuelo, a Perubased developer, bought the Packard Plant in 2013 for $405,000 at a Wayne County tax foreclosure auction.
Palazuelo, who hails from Spain, announced a redevelopment plan in 2017, often cited as ambitious, of parts of the 40-acre factory complext. Arte Express, Palzuelo’s company, is leading the redevelopment, though the project has been slowed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The first of Palazuelo’s four redevelopment phases would transform the old Packard administrative building, 1580 E. Grand Blvd., into 121,000 square feet of commercial office space as well as a gallery and an events venue that is large enough for weddings.
A small nearby building at 1651 East Grand Blvd. will be renovated more or less concurrently and house a future restaurant, according to Kari Smith, director of development for Arte Express Detroit.
Construction and redevelopment for Phase Two, a recreational center whose specific purpose hasn’t been announced, could start next year.
Free Press staff writer J.C. Reindl contributed to this report.