Holy Cow! The Pontiac Silverdome Sold for $583,000

How did I miss this story a few weeks ago?

Out here in the Bay Area, you can buy a decent 1,500 ft. house for $583,000. In Detroit, you can buy the 80,000-seat Pontiac Silverdome.

The Detroit News reports Pontiac officials wanted more than $583K for stadium

Nearly 35 years after taxpayers spent $55.7 million building the Pontiac Silverdome and a year after a $20 million sale fell through, city officials have sold the arena once called the most desirable property in Oakland County.

The price: $583,000.

“This was a giveaway,” said David J. Leitch, a broker with an Auburn Hills based realty firm.

“The property alone, at $10,000 an acre, should have gone for more than that. And you have the Silverdome, its contents, and the infrastructure already in place. I had estimated it would probably go for between $1.2 million and $3 million. I can’t believe it.”

Such sentiments weren’t uncommon Monday, after city officials unsealed bids showing the property that was home to the Detroit Lions was sold at auction to an unnamed Canadian company that plans to bring a soccer league to the stadium. The company’s name will be released when the sale is finalized within 45 days, said Fred Leeb, the city’s emergency financial manager. Leeb acknowledged the sale “is not a windfall,” but said the Silverdome’s $1.5 million upkeep drained the beleaguered city’s finances.

…

The 80,300-seat stadium opened in 1975 and has largely remained empty since the Detroit Lions left for Ford Field in 2002. The sale included 127 adjacent acres.

With annual upkeep of $1,500,000 and probably very few conventions coming to town in the near future, you almost have to wonder if the buyers overpaid!