Ilitch Unlikely to get Taxpayer Subsidies for a New Detroit Hockey Arena

New Detroit hockey arena likely faces funding hurdles
Unlike Comerica Park, Ford Field, public money likely a tough sell this time around
10.22.2011

By Louis Aguilar

When Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Tigers owner Mike Ilitch recently pledged again to build a new arena in downtown Detroit, economic analysts said it was not an empty promise.

Despite an uncertain economy and a lack of public appetite for sports facility subsidies, building an arena in Detroit is still doable, but would require some creativity, they said.

"He's going to have to make a dramatic statement of faith in Detroit again to build a new hockey arena," said Scott Watkins, an economist for Anderson Economic Group in East Lansing, who has done analyses on building sports venues. A new hockey arena would cost an estimated $300 million to $400 million to construct.

"Mr. Ilitch and Red Wings fans see Hockeytown — a city and region very loyal to professional hockey," Watkins said. "What global lenders see is a risky investment. Their view is there would be no guarantee that for 10, 20, 30 years a hockey franchise can be supported in an area with declining population and declining income."

The hockey arena has been a long quest. Ilitch for five years has actively explored building a new arena downtown to replace the 35-year-old Joe Louis Arena and more recently said he wants to construct such a facility. The hockey team and city-owned Joe Louis Arena are still negotiating an extension of the lease.

"Like I've stated before, we're gonna have a new arena," Ilitch told The Detroit News last month during an exclusive interview. "That's the best thing I can say." On Friday, Ilitch Holdings announced that Eric Larson, an A-list real estate developer with a long track record of high-profile deals, is now in charge of all current and future real estate transactions for Olympia Development, the Ilitch entity that would play a big role in a new hockey arena deal.

There are bigger obstacles for Ilitch to clear on a new arena than he had to overcome to build Comerica Park, the home of his Tigers. The path of public and private financing Ilitch took to create the ballpark is likely unavailable to him now, several analysts contend.

Comerica Park opened in April 2000 and cost $300 million to build. Ilitch paid $185 million of the cost of the stadium, owned by the Detroit-Wayne County Stadium Authority, and subleased to the team. The rest was paid for by the city of Detroit, Wayne County and corporate investors. The state of Michigan provided infrastructure improvements.

The stadium authority issued $85 million in 30-year tourist tax bonds in 1997 for the baseball stadium and, with interest, will pay about $176 million by 2027, according to the stadium authority. The bonds are paid twice yearly with revenue from a 2 percent rental-car tax and 1 percent hotel tax in Wayne County. The tax needed Wayne County voter approval.

In this era of painful budget cutting, getting voter approval for another venue is a tough sell, said Bernie Porn, president of EPIC-MRA, an opinion research firm in Lansing that does polling on statewide issues.

"The Tigers could win the World Series, the Red Wings could win the Stanley Cup, and I still don't see how he (Ilitch) gets voter approval for an arena," Porn said.

"Not that I have done any polling about the issue, but in this climate, I think it would be seen as a billionaire is asking for a tax break," he said. "But if you are asking me if he gets it done, I think that answer is yes."

What Ilitch has is rock-solid support in Michigan's corporate community and plenty of his own resources. Mike Ilitch and his wife, Marian, owner of Detroit's second-largest gaming hall, MotorCity Casino, have a combined fortune of $2 billion, according to Forbes magazine. That includes their Little Caesar's pizza franchise empire headquartered in downtown Detroit.

He also could get major help from other Michigan businesses. In September, the Red Wings announced the organization signed a "presenting" sponsor agreement with Amway, the private Ada-based company owned by the DeVos and Van Andel families. Terms of the multiyear deal were not disclosed, but the deal includes Amway's logo being embedded in the ice and signage elsewhere at Joe Louis Arena, and community programs to help young people in Grand Rapids and Detroit.

What the Ilitch, DeVos and Van Andel families share are deep pockets and a love of professional sports.

Amway co-founder and billionaire Richard DeVos owns the National Basketball Association's Orlando Magic, and the team backed $100 million worth of bonds issued by the city of Orlando to build the $480 million Amway Center, which opened last year.

DeVos also supplied $50 million to help build it and $1 million in rent each year and $40 million to put the Amway name on the building.

"The resources are there for the arena to get done," Watkins said. "I'm looking forward to see what the formula will be."

Detroit taxpayers paid Ilitch $2.5 million as "caretaker" of abandoned Tiger Stadium

posted at AbsoluteMichigan.com:

"The Detroit News reports that seven years after a century of baseball ended at Tiger Stadium, money for its upkeep and hopes it can ever be saved are running dry. Since the Tigers moved to Comerica Park in 2000, the city has paid the team's owner, Mike Ilitch, an estimated $2.5 million for maintenance and security at the old park.

"New Proposal for Tiger Stadium" WXYZ.com | ABC-7 Detroit Video Story

click to watch video

"New Proposal for Tiger Stadium"
on WXYZ.com ABC-7 Detroit, 8.22.07



Harwell Floats New Plan to Save Tiger Stadium

Retired Detroit Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell says the long-vacant Tiger Stadium should be revived as a venue for boxing, amateur football and amateur baseball with 10,000 to 14,000 seats.

"In America, we have a tendency to knock down anything that's over 30 years old and make a parking lot out of it," the 89-year-old Hall of Fame member said Tuesday. "Whereas in Europe, they preserve all these beautiful buildings and structures that have a history. I sort of like the European approach."

Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has set an Oct. 1 deadline to hear the plan before proceeding with plans to demolish the stadium. It has stood at the site since 1912 but saw its last Tigers game in 1999. Team owner Mike Ilitch moved the ballclub to Comerica Park in 2000.

Harwell and lawyer S. Gary Spicer propose reducing Tiger Stadium's seating while adding music and sports memorabilia museums.

The City Council voted 5-4 on July 27 to give the public-private partnership the Detroit Economic Development Corp. the authority to demolish the park.

Development group President George Jackson called the plan a "PR gimmick." "Our decision will not be based on a public relations campaign," he told the Detroit Free Press. "It's going to be based on financial substance, period."

Harwell told The Detroit News that his plan was "picking up steam." (MORE)

Video Link: http://www.wxyz.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoId=4998@wxyz.dayport.com

Ilitch has another year to determine fate of Joe Louis Arena

8.15.07

Lease up for Cobo, the Joe in 2009

It's Detroit law department's view; Tiger Stadium plan due Aug. 31.

David Josar / The Detroit News

Olympia Arenas, the company controlled by Mike Ilitch and his family, has until June 2009 to make a decision on whether it will extend its lucrative lease of the Joe Louis and Cobo arenas, according to a recent law department opinion.

The city law department delved into the issue last month at the request of the auditor general, said city spokesman James Canning.

Earlier this year, the City Council's fiscal analyst said the lease expired in 2008, and Olympia had to tell Detroit this summer what it planned to do.

The law department, after reviewing the lease and its sub-agreements which total more than 100 pages, decided the agreement runs through June 30, 2010, and Olympia has until June 30, 2009, to decide whether it will continue operating and using the venues.

The law department opinion brought relief to Red Wings fans who were unsure how long the team would play in Joe Louis Arena.

"At least we know we can stop gossiping for a couple years as to what will happen with the Red Wings," said Yancy Hunter, 43, during lunch at the Hockeytown Cafe on Tuesday.

"Not much is going on with the other teams right now, so this is becoming gossip fodder for us. Will The Joe be replaced? At least not now. Now all we have to worry about is Tiger Stadium."

A consortium led by legendary sportscaster Ernie Harwell is working against an October deadline to come up with a plan that could preserve much of Tiger Stadium, which has been virtually unused since 1999. The team starting playing in Comerica Park in 2000.

Grosse Pointe attorney Gary Spicer, who is working with Harwell, said the city will have Harwell's complete plan by Aug. 31.

Harwell, who was the voice of the Tigers for more than 40 years, is touting a concept that will incorporate museums, a 10,000-seat ball field, residential lofts and commercial development for the corner of Michigan and Trumbull.

"Things are moving forward," said Spicer.

The City Council voted last month on a plan that would mean demolition could begin in October, but George Jackson, the city's head of economic development, said a viable redevelopment plan with solid financing could keep the stadium standing.

The question about when Joe Louis Arena's lease expires has fueled speculation as to what will happen with the Red Wings.

Companies controlled by the Ilitches have acquired nearly all of the land behind their Fox Theatre and Hockeytown Cafe, fueling speculation they will build a new home for the Wings and move the team to the Foxtown area on Woodward north of Grand Circus Park.

The lease, which was crafted before the Ilitch family owned the team, is considered one of the most lucrative in the National Hockey League and is a reason the Red Wings are one of the league's most valuable teams.

Olympia Arenas pays the city just $450,000 a year to lease both Joe Louis Arena and Cobo arena. The city gets a cut of concessions plus a ticket surcharge, which has averaged around $2.5 million a year since 2000.

Detroit officials have no say in whether the contract will be extended.


Other related stories at the Detroit News:

• Harwell readies plan for stadium
• Harwell goes extra inning to save Tiger Stadium
• Tiger Stadium milestones
• Emotional fans criticize razing plans
• Harwell to make last pitch for old ballpark
• Tiger Stadium proposals fell short
• City: Revisit Tiger Stadium plans
• Detroit council wants more info on Tiger Stadium plans
• Tiger Stadium plan hits a snag
• Tiger Stadium's fate on hold
• Tiger Stadium project goes to council, public today
• Planning Commission doesn't back Tiger Stadium redevelopment plans
• Plan to raze Tiger Stadium resisted
• Tiger Stadium view from above was priceless
• Ilitch has to decide the Joe's fate soon

JACK LESSENBERRY: Mike Ilitch wants to tear down Tiger Stadium, he fears competition

8.08.07

Nostalgia among ruins
by Jack Lessenberry

Whenever I drive into Detroit from the south I get a tiny thrill when the city skyline first comes into view. Suddenly, just over where the rainbow should be, buildings appear that spell gleaming modern metropolis. First the Renaissance Center, then the outline of the river, then the towers of the Fisher and what we all once again call the Penobscot Building, and the rest.

But as you get closer, a growing sense of unease begins when you come upon the city's signature eyesore, the hulking wreck of the Michigan Central (train) Station, Detroit's own best attempt to create the look of Berlin in 1945.

The ruin, not incidentally, is owned, not by the city, but by our own gray spook-in-the shadows, Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Moroun. Anyone who wants to let him corner the market by building a second bridge needs to drive over and look long at that broken-glass horror.

Drive a little farther, and you see the immense, fading white hulk of the place where legends came to play for a century: Tiger Stadium. Half a century ago, new ballplayers called up from the bushes or just traded from teams like the New York Giants would arrive at that train station and take a short cab ride to the ballpark, then deeply dark green. Twenty-year-old Al Kaline thought it looked like a battleship when he first saw it. They all played there: Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig and Ty Cobb, Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio and one-armed Pete Gray.

Almost certainly, Mike Ilitch does not want a preserved and redeveloped Tiger Stadium.

Yet it wore out; it was time for major renovation or something new, and eight years ago, after two decades in which fans fought fierce, bitter battles to preserve the old stadium, the Tigers fled to Comerica Park a mile away.

The new park is wonderful, and does as much as any stadium could to honor this historic sport's storied past. In other cities, the normal pattern is to tear down the old park pretty much the moment a new one is complete. That's what happened in Chicago and Cleveland and Brooklyn.

Yet Tiger Stadium is still there, the concrete from the upper decks crumbling, the rest rooms ruined, pipes rusted beyond repair. Two weeks ago, Detroit City Council finally voted, 5-4, to tear it down, leaving the field for kids to play ball on, after the tons of concrete and plastic and steel are hauled away.

In baseball, however, it's never over till it's over. Suddenly, and at the last minute, Ernie Harwell, Detroit's most revered sports icon, stepped forward with a plan to save the stadium, or at least a large part of it, from destruction.

Here's what the world's greatest announcer and his friend and lawyer, S. Gary Spicer, have in mind: They would destroy most of the structure, including all the concrete in the cavernous outfield, leaving a few thousand seats near home plate. The stadium would be knocked back to the way it was when it opened in April 1912, the week the Titanic went down.

What would they do with it? That's a little murky. They would like to see high school and college teams train there, and maybe gospel music concerts on Sundays. That sounds lovely, but it isn't clear to me how that would pay for the upkeep, though one can imagine Wayne State and maybe the University of Detroit Mercy, even, paying to use the ballpark as their home field.

Ernie would also like to see music and sports museums as part of the complex, and maybe a community center. It might well make sense for the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame to find a new permanent home there.

That all sounds very lovely. Whatever that part of Detroit needs — and it needs a lot, economically and otherwise — it doesn't need another vacant lot.

Yet the odds seem long against any of it happening. Contrary to some published reports, Harwell told me Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick seemed receptive to the idea, and did nothing to discourage Spicer and Harwell from traveling to Wall Street to seek the $20 million or so in financing they'd need.

"He said we had a couple months," Ernie said. That cost the mayor nothing; as it is, demolition isn't slated to start till October.

The mayor is too smart to be rude to an icon. But my guess is that KK doesn't think they have much chance of getting the funding they need, and my guess is, sadly, that he is also right. Money is short and tight these days, and Detroit hasn't exactly been a magnet for investors.

There's another reason, too, which nobody talks about very much. Almost certainly, Mike Ilitch, the city's own Little Caesar, does not want a preserved and redeveloped Tiger Stadium, no matter what form that takes.

For what if some enterprising hot shot were to buy or create an independent minor league franchise and have the team play in Tiger Stadium, selling tickets for a small fraction of what they would sell for in Comerica Park?

This year, as last, the major league club is a pennant contender. But the Tigers won't always be good. In fact, for most of the time they've been in Comerica, the team has been so lousy they should have paid us to see them.

Imagine what a scrappy and affordable minor league team might have done to major league attendance in those years. Nor do I see the Ilitches as being thrilled at the thought of a potentially competitive venue for concerts and events. And the Ilitches, with their holdings and their teams and their money, most assuredly have influence in and with the city.

Would they use it to block saving the stadium? Odds are they won't have to, because Spicer and Harwell won't be able to raise that much capital.

If they do, we'll see.

But that's far from the only problem. What, I cynically wonder, is — even if they did build it, how many would come? How many of the suburbanites who want so badly to preserve the memory of Detroit as it was would really make use of this facility? Oh, a lot of them might come — once.

Now if there were some sort of shuttle from Comerica to a renovated Tiger Stadium museum-entertainment complex, that could mean a critical mass. People might come in for a game, take the nostalgia trip, and have dinner at Slows Bar B-Q, or Baile Corcaigh, two fine restaurants within walking distance.

That could work, probably would work. But is anyone really willing to make a commitment here? Part of what this is about is this: On one side, we have a gritty poor city of color, fighting hard for economic survival. On the other, legions of nostalgic whites, mostly long since fled to the suburbs, who want to preserve in amber the images of the Detroit they remember from their childhoods.

They don't really want to remember that the days of bustling prosperity were also a time when Ty Cobb beat a black man senseless in broad daylight for no reason, and got away with it, because he was white, famous and he could.

If all of us got together and agreed the past was important, but that the future is even more so — well then, Detroit might have a future, one in which the best of the past was celebrated and enjoyed, and the worst understood.

We could do that, but we probably won't. But you know what they say in baseball: You never can tell.

Bye, bye Tiger Stadium?

7.27.07

Detroit gives group OK to tear down old ballpark

DETROIT (AP) -- The City Council on Friday authorized a public-private partnership to take control of Tiger Stadium with the option of tearing down the historic ballpark.

On a 5-4 vote, the council gave the Detroit Economic Development Corp. the authority to demolish the park.

The decision ends years of debate over what to do with the stadium, which housed the Detroit Tigers for more than 80 years.

Earlier, Hall of Fame sportscaster Ernie Harwell made his case for saving Tiger Stadium from the wrecking ball, telling City Council members he would be willing to mediate between them and groups wanting to preserve the venerable ballpark.

Harwell asked the council to postpone any decision on the stadium's future until after the council returns in September.

However, council members decided to vote on whether to turn over the stadium project to the DEDC.

Harwell said he preferred a scaled-down version of the stadium that would seat 8,000 to 10,000 people and be used for high school baseball, soccer and lacrosse games. He also suggested a music museum to highlight the city's music heritage.

"Tiger Stadium has meant a lot to generations," Harwell said. "If we can't (save part of it), we'll have to keep Tiger Stadium in our memory, our mind and our heart, and cherish it that way."
The council long has tried to decide what to do with the ballpark.

Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has sought to demolish part of it to help redevelop a neighborhood in need of new stores and homes.

Tiger Stadium -- under several names -- has stood at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull since 1912. It has been empty since team owner Mike Ilitch moved the ballclub to Comerica Park in 2000.

City officials have said security and maintenance costs Detroit $25,000 each month.

Tigers set to surprass all-time ticket sales record with 4th best attendance in AL

Attendance record nears

July 20, 2007

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Tigers are on course to set an all-time club attendance record this season, said Bob Raymond, the team's vice president for marketing and ticket sales.

Raymond said Thursday the team had just surpassed the 2,704,794 mark in tickets sold for this season -- the club's all-time attendance record, set in 1984, their most recent world-title season.

"Mr. Ilitch is smiling," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "I'm happy for the Ilitch family -- they deserve it. Anybody who can go through what they went through for 13 years (before last year) -- if anybody deserves it, they do."

Surpassing 1984 is especially impressive because the Tigers played that season in Tiger Stadium, which held about 10,000 more fans than Comerica Park.

The Tigers have sold out their last nine games at Comerica, which holds just more than 40,000. As of Thursday, they were close to selling out all three games of this weekend's series with Kansas City.

For the season, the Tigers are averaging about 36,400 fans per game, good for fourth in the American League, just behind the Red Sox. The leaders are the Yankees (about 51,800 per game) and Angels (about 41,400).

John Lowe

UPDATED: Ilitch has an insatiable appetite for land in downtown Detroit; see Live map of all 170 properties

After the ran the story, "Ilitches Downtown Power Play" in early May 2007, TVT poured over public real estate records and learned that various Ilitch affiliates including:

• Olympia Development of Michigan LLC;
• Olympia Entertainment;
• Detroit Entertainment LLC (MotorCity Casino d/b/a);
• Elizabeth Street Properties LLC;
• Moose Lodge Building LLC
• West Grand River Lofts LLC
• Cass Avenue LLC; and others

own or control at least 170 properties in downtown Detroit clustered primarily in a fifteen square block area of the Foxtown neighborhood behind the Fox Theater and also around MotorCity Casino.


TVT has plotted the 170 locations using mapping software available via the Windows LIVE environment and makes it available for public review and use. This links to Windows Live Search Maps. (Bloggers may save the 199 links package for their own future use if desired)

click this screenshot to go to a LIVE version of this map

While this data is comprehensive, in no way is it complete. It is a snapshot of property ownership at this moment in time.

You may want to review these posts:

• Ilitch guaranteed most lucrative deal in NHL if he stays at Joe Louis Arena
• Behind the Scenes: Ilitch and City in Hockey Arena showdown
• State Subsidizing Plans for Detroit Hockey Arena
• Blogger questions Detroit Arena assumptions
• Field of Schemes: Tiger Stadium back in limbo
• Family that built fortune on Detroit Sports and Little Caesars Pizza directed $900k to these political committees while expanding gambling ventures
• As most of Michigan continues to struggle financially, 11 make Forbes List of World's Richest Billionaires
• Taxpayers give Ilitch $95,000 to tear down his building
• City Sells Historic Building to Ilitch for $220,500
• Did Ilitch pay $1.73 million for Elizabeth Street Lofts?
• Supreme Court ruled against Ilitch eminent domain scheme

WXYZ ABC-7: Future of The Joe

posted at Detroit's ABC-7 WXYZ.com

Jun 18, 2007 6:00 PM
Should They Stay at Joe, or Should they Go?

Detroit Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch must decide soon if he'll renew the team's lease at Joe Louis or work on building a new arena.

WATCH ABC-7 REPORT IN VIDEO PLAYER

You may also want to review these posts or select a "label " below for additional related posts:

• Ilitch guaranteed most lucrative deal in NHL if he stays at Joe Louis Arena
• Behind the Scenes: Ilitch and City in Hockey Arena showdown
• State Subsidizing Plans for Detroit Hockey Arena
• Blogger questions Detroit Arena assumptions
• Field of Schemes: Tiger Stadium back in limbo
• As most of Michigan continues to struggle financially, 11 make Forbes List of World's Richest Billionaires
• Taxpayers give Ilitch $95,000 to tear down his building
• City Sells Historic Building to Ilitch for $220,500
• Ilitch has an insatiable appetite for land in downtown Detroit; see Live map of all 170 properties
  

Ilitch has own plans for ticket price increases and taxpayer subsidies

Mike Ilitch doesn't want the state to impose a luxury tax or an entertainment surcharge proposed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Lansing lawmakers. The new revenue would be used to support a shortfall in education funding and other public services across the state. The state's other option is to raise income taxes for all residents of Michigan.

The 78-year old Ilitch plans his own increase in ticket prices so he can continue to expand his family's vast sports, entertainment, restaurant and gambling empire; and so he can lock in his position on the list of the "400 Richest Americans." The proposal for a luxury tax/entertainment surcharge could mean he might not be able to hike up his own ticket price increases as much as he wants.

Mike Ilitch's grandkids can afford to go to the best private academies. He can pay for their individual education needs. He's more concerned with expanding his Foxtown playground in downtown Detroit than with addressing the shortfall in statewide education funding. It appears he'd rather see an increase in the state's income tax for all working people in Michigan.

According to Forbes magazine, Mike Ilitch is worth $1.5 billion; making him one of the "400 Richest Americans" -- in fact, he ranks at #242 out of 301 million Americans (tied with Oprah Winfrey and several others). Mike Ilitch is the sixth richest person in Michigan, a state of nearly 10 million people.

As the owner of the Detroit Tigers, Detroit Red Wings and numerous other sporting and theater venues; "of course," you might say, "he's opposed to a so-called ticket tax."

It shouldn't be any surprise that Mike Ilitch is behind a so-called "grassroots" campaign and web site to block the proposed luxury tax/entertainment surcharge. Although the bulk of the Ilitch Family's annual income comes from pizza and gambling ventures; the sports and entertainment operations contribute significantly to Ilitch's net worth and personal image. Besides such a "grassroots" campaign is a great way to collect email addresses and other contact data from fans that can be used for future marketing schemes.

But take a closer look. Ticket prices will go up regardless and Ilitch will have benefited from millions in taxpayer subsidies and tax breaks, not Michigan's kids.

So why is Mike Ilitch opposed to an entertainment surcharge at this time?

1. Because the Ilitch organization has its own ticket price hikes planned, and the market can only take so much. For the 2007 Baseball season the Sports Business News blog indicates Ilitch already hiked up prices 5.2%; and he inflated ticket prices so high during the NHL Playoffs this spring that the Red Wings didn't even sell out their home games in the playoff rounds.
   
   From Anser Khan's blog Red Wings Bulletin: "Obviously, they miscalculated in setting ticket prices for the playoffs. There’s nothing they can do about it now, but, unless the Wings win the Stanley Cup, they’re going to have to lower ticket prices next season, especially in the playoffs."



2. Because Ilitch has his own plans for taxpayer dollars. Ilitch wants taxpayers to support a move to abandon Joe Louis Arena and build a new Ilitch Hockey Arena in Foxtown on land Ilitch owns or contrals that will certainly call for taxpayers subsidies and maybe even some new tax. And then, when there's a new fancier, state of the art hockey arena in Detroit he can jack up ticket prices again.
   
   Shortly after Comerica Park opened, CNN/Sports Illustrated posted an article, New Ballparks lead wave of higher ticket prices, that said:



"The average at Comerica Park is $24.83, the fourth-highest in baseball and a 103 percent jump from the $12.23 average at Tiger Stadium last season, according to the annual survey by the Team Marketing Report." April 4, 2000

A 2006 study by Economics Research Associates (ERA), an often quoted source, notes:

"Of 14 teams analyzed, the Detroit Tigers experienced the greatest increase in average ticket price (103 percent)," when Comerica Park opened.

And as the Detroit News reported last fall when the Tigers won the American League Pennant, "Ticket prices soaring" and the Ilitch organization, not the taxpayers, are benefiting.

It is highly rumored and quite likely Mike Ilitch has plans to build a new hockey arena on property he controls in Foxtown -- an area of Downtown Detroit controlled primarily by Ilitch and various city related agencies and authorities -- where:

• Ilitch Holdings, Inc. has it's corporate headquarters;
• Ilitch owns/controls venues like the Fox Theater, City Theater and Comerica Park;
• Ilitch owns restaurants like HockeyTown Cafe, Johnny Rockets, &
  Foxtown Grille;
• Ilitch owns or controls acres of paid-parking lots; and where,
• Ilitch, in recent years, has methodically acquired more than 75 properties and often boarded up and then demolished historic buildings to make way for parking lots and future expansions using millions in taxpayer subsidies.

And when the new Ilitch Hockey Arena is built, you can bet Mike Ilitch will raise the price of tickets, parking and a beer -- because cand and he will.Mike Ilitch has used taxpayer subsidies and tax breaks to build his business empire many times over -- at least $90 million on Comerica Park alone; if the state legislature enacts an entertainment surcharge it will be his responsibility and he'll decide whether or not to pass the cost on to fans.

Mike Ilitch doesn't want the state to impose a luxury tax on him; nor does he support an entertainment surcharge to fund education and other services for the taxpayers of Michigan. Ilitch wants to increase ticket prices so he can continue to expand his family's vast sports, entertainment, restaurant and gambling empire and guarantee his position on the list of the "400 Richest Americans."

He's asked the general taxpayers to help pay for his Foxtown playground expansions (and increased traffic cops needed to support his game days) before, isn't it time he started delivering on his promises to have the playground pay back the citizens of Michigan.

Congressional Testimony on Ilitch Taxpayer Subsidies

Historic Tiger Stadium one step closer to being demolished

6.07.07

Detroit EDC OKs plan to tear down Tiger Stadium

By Aaron Harris

The Detroit Economic Development Corp.’s board approved a plan Thursday to demolish Tiger Stadium.

The board approved the project pending approval from the Detroit City Council. The EDC plans to present its plan to the council in July.

The plan calls for most of the 95-year-old stadium to be demolished to redevelop the site into a mixed-use retail and residential property. The estimated cost is $2.95 million.

To finance the project, the plan calls for Schneider Industries, a St. Louis auction company, to sell stadium memorabilia including seats and locker-room items. If the plan is approved by City Council, Schneider Industries would set up a Web-based memorabilia auction.

“The plan is to tear down the structure and sell the steel,” said Peter Zeiler, EDC business development representative. “But we also want to make sure that we keep some the historic aspects of the stadium in Detroit.”

Zeiler said one of those aspects includes keeping the baseball field for youth baseball leagues.

Ilitch agreement requires Moose building be preserved & renovated, doesn't allow relocation

A three page document entitled 'Restrictive Covenant and Development Memorandum' and attached to property at 2115 Cass Avenue, Detroit (historic Moose Lodge) was recorded by the the Wayne County Register of Deeds on February 12, 2007 (Instrument #207064258).

This agreement was signed by Blair McGowan for Anban, Inc. and Atanas Ilitch for Moose Building LLC.

The two paragraphs at the bottom of the first page read as follows:

"The date of execution of the Restrictive Covenant and Development Agreement was February 6, 2007 and its provisions run as a binding servitude with the Land for a period of at least five (5) years and possibly longer pursuant to the terms thereof."

"The Restrictive Covenant and Development Agreement, among other things, provides for the preservation and rehabilitation of the premises, without relocation, in a manner that preserves and recognizes certain historical, cultural and esthetic value and significance of the property and the building contained thereon."

It would appear that demolition or relocation of the building are not possibilities under these terms. However, the memorandum does not detail remedies applicable if the convenants are broken.

You may also want to review these posts:
--The Verifiable Truth:

• State Subsidizing Plans for Detroit Hockey Arena
• Blogger questions Detroit Arena assumptions
• Field of Schemes: Tiger Stadium back in limbo
• Family that built fortune on Detroit Sports and Little Caesars Pizza directed $900k to these political committees while expanding gambling ventures
• As most of Michigan continues to struggle financially, 11 make Forbes List of World's Richest Billionaires
• Taxpayers give Ilitch $95,000 to tear down his building
• City Sells Historic Building to Ilitch for $220,500
• Supreme Court ruled against Ilitch eminent domain scheme
• Ilitch has an insatiable appetite for land in downtown Detroit; see Live.com map of all 170 properties
• Contractors at work on MotorCity Casino have experience with MGM/Mirage & Mandalay Resorts
• Has Illitch acquired the historic Moose Lodge in downtown Detroit, and what are his intentions?
• Demolition Crew working on site at Detroit's United Artists Theater Building
• Spin about Moose Lodge isn't truthful; reporter was mislead

Demolition Crew working on site at Detroit's United Artists Theater Building

Crews wearing hard hats marked Beal Inc., Demolition Contracting have been seen working at the site of the historic United Artists Theater Building at 150 Bagley Street in downtown Detroit's Grand Circus Park area. Teams from Beal Demolition have also been spotted at the historic Moose Lodge property at 2115 Cass Avenue, three blocks west of the Fox Theater in the area believed to be a potential site for a new hockey arena.

From the Beal website:

"Beal Incorporated provides demolition services, specializing in historic building renovations, for a variety of clients throughout Michigan. The company specializes in interior demolition and lead/asbestos abatement with projects sizes ranging from $10,000 to over $1,000,000. BEAL also offers a wide range of other services including; emergency services, dumpster and waste hauling, and recycling services.

"The company, formed in January 2006, is rapidly developing into one of the leading demolition service companies in the state of Michigan. BEAL Inc. is the team to call for demolition services when a client is faced with a comprehensive renovation of a historic or other complicated structure. BEAL has the best and most efficient equipment, technology, processes, and people."

If Beal stays close to its mission statement, then it would seem that the Ilitch organization (Olympia Development of Michigan LLC), may have plans to spare the building or at least some parts from the wrecking ball.

Then again, it's also possible that Beal may be undertaking asbestos abatement or something similar prior to knocking the building down.

Little has been disclosed by the Ilitch organization about their intentions for the UA Theater Building complex since a January 2006 press release announced:

"Olympia Development is teaming up with the City of Detroit to co-market the property at 150 Bagley, currently the site of the United Artists Building and Theatre, along with the property adjacent that was the former Statler Hotel site
that is now owned by the City."

Certainly that statement doesn't imply concerete plans to renovate and restore the building.

You may want to review these posts:

• State Subsidizing Plans for Detroit Hockey Arena
• Blogger questions Detroit Arena assumptions
• Field of Schemes: Tiger Stadium back in limbo
• Family that built fortune on Detroit Sports and Little Caesars Pizza directed $900k to these political committees while expanding gambling ventures
• As most of Michigan continues to struggle financially, 11 make Forbes List of World's Richest Billionaires
• Taxpayers give Ilitch $95,000 to tear down his building
• City Sells Historic Building to Ilitch for $220,500
• Supreme Court ruled against Ilitch eminent domain scheme
• Ilitch has an insatiable appetite for land in downtown Detroit; see Live.com map of all 170 properties
• Contractors at work on MotorCity Casino have experience with MGM/Mirage & Mandalay Resorts
• Has Illitch acquired the historic Moose Lodge in downtown Detroit, and what are his intentions?
• Demolition Crew working on site at Detroit's United Artists Theater Building
• Ilitch agreement requires Moose building be preserved & renovated, doesn't allow relocation
• Spin about Moose Lodge isn't truthful; reporter was mislead

Posts at other blogs ...

• Faded Detroit: Action at the UA
• Faded Detroit: Ilitch Blocker
• Faded Detroit: Detroit's Downtown Movie Palaces
• Radio Spike: Artful Abandonment
• Buildings of Detroit: United Artists Theater

Did Ilitch pay $1.73 million for Elizabeth Street Lofts?

The Ilitch organization, under the name West Grand River Lofts has purchased the former Elizabeth Street Lofts property at 2030 West Grand River Avenue (downtown Detroit, MI) for $1.73 million during the first quarter of 2007.

Although documents transferring title of the property to West Grand River Lofts were signed by D. Keffalinos on behalf of Elizabeth Street Lofts on January 5, 2007, they were not recorded for almost two months until February 28.

Various affiliates of Ilitch Holdings, Inc. own more than one hundred parcels of land in Downtown Detroit in the Foxtown neighborhood and surrounding the MotorCity Casino. The Headquarters of Iitch Holdings, Inc. (Little Caesars Pizza, Detroit Red Wings, Detroit Tigers, Olympia Entertainment, Olympia Development, etc) is located in the historic Fox Theater building at 2211 Woodward Ave., across the parking lot from Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers.

The Detroit Red Wings currently make their home on ice at Joe Louis Arena. There has been recent speculation that the Ilitch Family is buying up even more property between Woodward Ave. and W. Grand River Ave. in ordr to build a brand new hockey arena for the Wings.

NOTE: comprehensive map can be viewed at maps.live.com plotting more than 160 downtown Detroit properties controlled by the Ilitch Family, plus other relevant properties.

You may want to review these posts:
--The Verifiable Truth:

• State Subsidizing Plans for Detroit Hockey Arena
• Blogger questions Detroit Arena assumptions
• Field of Schemes: Tiger Stadium back in limbo
• Family that built fortune on Detroit Sports and Little Caesars Pizza directed $900k to these political committees while expanding gambling ventures
• As most of Michigan continues to struggle financially, 11 make Forbes List of World's Richest Billionaires
• Taxpayers give Ilitch $95,000 to tear down his building
• City Sells Historic Building to Ilitch for $220,500
• Supreme Court ruled against Ilitch eminent domain scheme
• Ilitch has an insatiable appetite for land in downtown Detroit; see Live.com map of all 170 properties
• Contractors at work on MotorCity Casino have experience with MGM/Mirage & Mandalay Resorts
• Has Illitch acquired the historic Moose Lodge in downtown Detroit, and what are his intentions?
• Demolition Crew working on site at Detroit's United Artists Theater Building
• Ilitch agreement requires Moose building be preserved & renovated, doesn't allow relocation
• Demolition Crew working on site at Detroit's United Artists Theater Building

Speaking for the voiceless (Metro Times Detroit)

... we are reminded of another taxpayer subsidy that flows to Ilitch in comments by Jack Lessenberry in the metrotimes:

Speaking for the voiceless:

"a bankrupt city ... paying Mike Ilitch $400,000 a year for maintaining the stadium. (In fairness, let’s note this outrage started while Dennis Archer was still mayor.) Maintaining the stadium evidently doesn’t mean taking care of it, since as a helicopter ride is quick to reveal, the grass is turning yellow and the place is falling apart. The pizza baron did cut his fee in half recently, after lots of other contractors proposed to take better care of the stadium for less money. What the city really does for its Little Caesar is prevent anyone else from using Tiger Stadium. Ilitch’s fear always has been that somebody might put a minor league team in there, giving Detroiters interesting baseball at a fraction of the price. Not to worry; with just a little more maintenance, the most important spot in the history of Detroit sports may be ready for the wrecking ball."

Ilitch land scam focus of national report examining abuses of eminent domain

Public Power, Private Gain
A Five-Year, State-By-State Report Examining The Abuse Of Eminent Domain

By Dana Berliner

Detroit
In the late 1990s, Detroit decided to build two new stadiums, one each for the Lions football team and the Tigers baseball team. The stadiums would be adjacent to each other along Woodward Avenue in downtown Detroit. Land acquisition costs were split between the teams and the City, with the state chipping in an additional $25 million to the effort. The plan called for the stadiums themselves to be jointly owned by the City and the respective teams, with the teams retaining a majority interest.

Over the course of a few months in 1996, the Detroit/Wayne County Stadium Authority reached settlements that gave it title to all but 24 of the properties on the stadium site. The authority then condemned those 24 remaining properties, which comprised about a quarter of the total land for the project, and paid the owners figures equal to what it had originally offered them. Most of the remaining owners did not challenge the government.s authority to take the property, but were not happy with the amount of money offered. The owners asked for millions of dollars more, but the jury disagreed.

Only two owners actually challenged the power of the stadium authority to take the property. Freda Alibri and her family owned and operated Prime Parking LLC on a one-acre lot on Woodward Avenue. The Alibris. property was across the street from both of the new stadiums, and the stadium authority claimed it needed the Alibris. lot for stadium parking. Under the threat of condemnation, the Alibris agreed to sell.

What the authority did not tell the Alibris was that the $264,551 it used to buy their land had actually been loaned to the authority by Mike Ilitch, who owns both the Detroit Tigers and the Detroit Red Wings hockey franchise. From the time the City chose the Woodward Avenue site for the Lions and Tigers stadiums.

Ilitch had been quietly acquiring land across the street in hopes of someday building a new hockey arena adjacent to the sports complex. Once the Alibris learned of the loan from Ilitch to the stadium authority, and the fact that the authority was planning to transfer title to the Alibris. land as repayment of the Ilitch loan, the family sued to get their land back.

In August 2000, a judge ruled that at the time the stadium authority sought the Alibris. property, it did not have the power to condemn it. That power was the only reason the Alibris sold. Since there was no power, the sale was invalidated. The judge ordered the stadium authority to transfer the land back to the Alibris.

On appeal, however, the decision was reversed. The appeals court found that the trial court should have looked at the case as an agreement to purchase, rather than as a condemnation. Since the Alibris agreed to sell, and they did not show the existence of fraud, they were bound to honor that agreement.

One other owner was luckier. The stadium authority also filed a condemnation action against a building owned by Joseph Maday. The Womans Exchange Building is separated from the rest of the project area by a church. The authority had no current plans for Maday's property and no idea what it would do with it.

The judge rejected the condemnation, ruling that the taking was unnecessary.

You may want to review these posts:
--The Verifiable Truth:

• State Subsidizing Plans for Detroit Hockey Arena
• Blogger questions Detroit Arena assumptions
• Field of Schemes: Tiger Stadium back in limbo
• Family that built fortune on Detroit Sports and Little Caesars Pizza directed $900k to these political committees while expanding gambling ventures
• As most of Michigan continues to struggle financially, 11 make Forbes List of World's Richest Billionaires
• Taxpayers give Ilitch $95,000 to tear down his building
• City Sells Historic Building to Ilitch for $220,500
• Supreme Court ruled against Ilitch eminent domain scheme
• Ilitch has an insatiable appetite for land in downtown Detroit; see Live.com map of all 170 properties
• Did Ilitch pay $1.73 million for Elizabeth Street Lofts?

Map suggests Red Wings owner may be making way for a new hockey arena

click for larger view

The Detroit News has created this map of Ilitch owned properties and activity in the Foxtown area of downtown Detroit.

"For years, no one wanted property on this patch of downtown Detroit. Now a flurry of activity is taking place, fueling speculation that Ilitch Holdings is clearing land for a new hockey arena -- to replace the Joe Lewis Arena. "

You may want to review these posts:
--The Verifiable Truth:

• State Subsidizing Plans for Detroit Hockey Arena
• Blogger questions Detroit Arena assumptions
• Field of Schemes: Tiger Stadium back in limbo
• Family that built fortune on Detroit Sports and Little Caesars Pizza directed $900k to these political committees while expanding gambling ventures
• As most of Michigan continues to struggle financially, 11 make Forbes List of World's Richest Billionaires
• Taxpayers give Ilitch $95,000 to tear down his building
• City Sells Historic Building to Ilitch for $220,500
• Did Ilitch pay $1.73 million for Elizabeth Street Lofts?
• Supreme Court ruled against Ilitch eminent domain scheme
• Ilitch has an insatiable appetite for land in downtown Detroit; see Live map of all 170 properties

City Sells Historic Building to Ilitch for $220,500

April 6, 2007

Financial headlines

DEVELOPMENT: Olympia's Detroit building purchase OK'd

After a delay of several weeks, the Detroit City Council has approved the sale of the historic but dilapidated GAR Building to Olympia Development, an arm of the Ilitch family organization.

The council approved the sale price of $220,500 Wednesday, but Olympia is expected to invest at least $2 million to make the building usable for its own staff.

Opened in 1900, the castle-like building at Cass and Grand River was built as a meeting hall for the Grand Army of the Republic, a Civil War veterans group of Union Army soldiers. It has stood vacant for about 30 years.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070406/BUSINESS06/704060441

You may want to review these posts:
--The Verifiable Truth:

• State Subsidizing Plans for Detroit Hockey Arena
• Blogger questions Detroit Arena assumptions
• Field of Schemes: Tiger Stadium back in limbo
• Family that built fortune on Detroit Sports and Little Caesars Pizza directed $900k to these political committees while expanding gambling ventures
• As most of Michigan continues to struggle financially, 11 make Forbes List of World's Richest Billionaires
• Taxpayers give Ilitch $95,000 to tear down his building

Red Wings Owner demolishing, clearing downtown Detroit

Wayne E. Smith/ The Detroit News Crews demolish a vacant and derelict building this week at 138 W. Columbia St. that was once the Hotel Vermont. Properties controlled by Ilitch-related firms make up a nearly open swath of land in Foxtown.

Ilitches' downtown power play Will 4-block area provide home for Red Wings? Louis Aguilar / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- Ilitch Holdings Inc. is quietly increasing its control of a run-down patch of downtown long considered a potential site for a new hockey arena for the Ilitch-owned Detroit Red Wings. After decades of little activity, a rush of buying, selling and construction work is taking place in the area known as Foxtown, just west of Ilitch Holdings' Woodward Avenue headquarters at the Fox Theatre complex. This week a vacant and derelict building at 138 W. Columbia St. that was once the Hotel Vermont is being razed. One block away on the corner of Elizabeth and Clifford streets, Ilitch Holdings Vice President of Tax Affairs John Kotlar has taken ownership of a parking garage that has been vacant for decades. Kotlar purchased the structure through a company called Elizabeth Street Properties LLC. The address for the company is listed as the Fox Theatre, according to records from the Wayne County Register of Deeds. County deed records also show that Olympia Development LLC, the downtown development arm of Ilitch Holdings, now owns the former Chin Tiki at 2121 Cass Ave. The Polynesian-themed restaurant was featured in the Eminem film "8 Mile" but was shuttered in 1980. Decision Looming on Joe Lewis Arena The activity comes at a time when the Ilitch family is fast approaching a deadline on whether to build a hockey venue or renovate the Joe Louis Arena. The Ilitches' lease on the city-owned riverfront arena expires in 2009. Mike Ilitch, co-founder of the Little Caesars Pizza chain that started it all, has hinted that he prefers building a new hockey arena near the Fox Theatre. No decision has been made about whether the Wings will stay at The Joe or move to a new venue, said Karen Cullen, spokeswoman for Ilitch Holdings. "The bottom line is nothing has changed," Cullen said. "Even without an arena being built there, we care about what is over there," Cullen said. "We continue to study our options." Whatever options come up for Ilitch Holdings, there will be plenty of land to accommodate them. All told, one Ilitch-related firm or another controls a nearly open swath of land that spans four blocks containing only a few vacant buildings, a nightclub and two transient hotels. The holdings span an area from the Fisher Freeway service drive to Grand Circus Park and all the space behind the Fox Theatre. The Ilitches already have a huge presence in the area. Their Detroit Tigers play at Comerica Park across the street from the Fox Theatre. The company also owns Hockeytown restaurant on Woodward and the Detroit Life Building on Park, which the Ilitches intend to restore as a high-end residential development. Olympia Development also has big plans in the adjacent Grand Circus Park area. The company is looking for tenants for the possible redevelopment of a five-acre site that includes the United Artists Theatre building and the former Statler Hotel parcel, which is owned by the city. Olympia continues to market that site along with the city, including talking with Rock Financial/Quicken Loans about moving its headquarters there, Cullen said. Olympia is also seeking tenants for the former Madison-Lenox Hotel land, which is now a parking lot, and the Fine Arts building at 44 W. Adams, just north of Grand Circus Park. While Ilitch Holdings remains mum about its plans regarding a new home for the Red Wings, other downtown property owners say they are counting on something big. "Frankly, I think it's a logical place for a new hockey stadium" said Chuck Forbes, founder of Forbes Management whose company owns the Gem Theatre and the State Theatre just down the street from the Fox. Forbes also owns two properties on Park Avenue, the Women's City Club and the Colony Club buildings, and says he's already invested more then $700,000 in recent upgrades. "We're talking about a formidable, unique district," Forbes said. "You have top-rated theaters, professional sports stadiums, upscale nightclubs, luxury housing. We're really optimistic of the opportunities back there." Ilitch Holdings agreed the area has plenty of potential. "If there are opportunities to purchase properties that are adjacent to ours, we take a look at those properties," Cullen said. "That area is a tremendous sports and entertainment district and we are committed to seeing that develop and grow." Also near the Fox Theatre, the former C&C Bar at the corner of Cass Avenue and Columbia was partially demolished within the past month and is now being rebuilt. Ilitch Holdings does not own the property. The Joe Louis Arena opened on the Detroit riverfront in 1979 after former Detroit Mayor Coleman Young built it to keep the Red Wings from moving to Oakland County. The team was under different ownership at the time. Joe Louis is the fifth-oldest arena in the National Hockey League. A new facility would bring the Wings at least $10 million in additional revenue each year from naming rights and luxury box sales alone. http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070509/BIZ/705090380

You may want to review these posts... --The Verifiable Truth: State Subsidizing Plans for Detroit Hockey Arena Blogger questions Detroit Arena assumptions Field of Schemes: Tiger Stadium back in limbo Family that built fortune on Detroit Sports and Little Caesars Pizza directed $900k to these political committees while expanding gambling ventures As most of Michigan continues to struggle financially, 11 make Forbes List of World's Richest Billionaires Taxpayers give Ilitch $95,000 to tear down his building City Sells Historic Building to Ilitch for $220,500

Taxpayers give Ilitch $95,000 to tear down his building

4.04.07

Detroit DDA OKs $95,000 to tear down Ilitch-owned building

By Robert Ankeny

The Detroit Downtown Development Authority Wednesday authorized a $95,000 grant for an Ilitch Holdings L.L.C. company to demolish of the former Vermont Hotel at 138 Columbia, just west of Park Avenue.

The five-story building which formerly housed Haven Community Mission, was bought by Olympia Development of Michigan L.L.C. in 2001.

It is northwest of Grand Circus Park, behind the Fox Theatre, with much of the surrounding property owned by the Ilitches, who own the Detroit Red Wings.

Ilitch Holdings President Chris Ilitch said last year that company is studying whether to make major improvements at Joe Louis Arena or to plan construction of a new home for the Wings. There has been considerable speculation that a new arena could built in the area northwest of Grand Circus Park where the Vermont is to be demolished.

Karen Cullen, Ilitch Holdings vice president for communications, issued the follow statement in response to questions about planning for a hockey arena:

"Our organization is continuing to evaluate all options -- from a remodel of Joe Louis Arena to the building of a new arena at a new location. We have not made a final decision at this time. This is obviously a large and important project and proper evaluation is required. When we have a final decision and something to announce we will do so. All options and locations are still being studied.

Relative to the demolition of 138 W. Columbia, our organization continues to move forward in making improvements to the Foxtown Neighborhood. With the Fox Theatre, Comerica Park, our headquarters operations, soon-to-be renovated Detroit Life Building, Hockeytown Cafe and the numerous other businesses in and around us, we are continually looking for opportunities to make it a pleasant, clean and safe environment for visitors, colleagues and local residents.

The building at 138 W. Columbia is in disrepair and cannot be renovated. To meet the above stated goals for our neighborhood, demolition is the best answer."

Scott Veldhuis, project manager for the Detroit Economic Growth Corp., which staffs the DDA, said the $95,000 demolition grant will come from the DDA’s building demolition program fund of $8 million that came from the state of Michigan.

Detroit-based Adamo Demolition Co. was low bidder at $77,800, with additional costs for environmental remediation and consulting fees.

The fund has already been used to demolish two other downtown buildings. One was at 150 Michigan Ave., where a parking garage is to be built for the renovated Westin Book Cadillac Detroit. The other, at 281 Gratiot, was a vacant night club between Broadway and Randolph at the entrance to Harmonie Park.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070404/REG/70404005&template=printart

You may also want to review these posts...

--The Verifiable Truth:

• State Subsidizing Plans for Detroit Hockey Arena

• Blogger questions Detroit Arena assumptions

• Field of Schemes: Tiger Stadium back in limbo

• Family that built fortune on Detroit Sports and Little Caesars Pizza directed $900k to these political committees while expanding gambling ventures

• As most of Michigan continues to struggle financially, 11 make Forbes List of World's Richest Billionaires

• Taxpayers give Ilitch $95,000 to tear down his building
• City Sells Historic Building to Ilitch for $220,500

Related posts at other blogs...

• Faded Detroit: Parking! Parking!