Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan on Monday announced an ambitious plan to transform 28 acres of the long-abandoned Packard Plant into a mixed-use district with housing, manufacturing, and cultural space.
The plan would revive what was once the city’s most notorious industrial ruin and turn it into 42 affordable housing units, Detroit’s first indoor skate park, the Museum of Detroit Electronic Music, creative community programming, and more than two acres of public and recreational space.
If all goes as planned, the proposal, called Packard Park, will redevelop the southern half of the former plant, including a 117,000-square-foot Albert Kahn-designed building on West Grand Boulevard that was once scheduled for demolition. A new 393,000-square-foot industrial facility will be built for manufacturing and create an estimated 300 full-time manufacturing jobs, according to developers Packard Development Partners LLC, a team led by Mark Bennett and Oren Goldenberg, both of whom have experience with mixed-use developments in the city.
“Five years ago, the Packard Plant was still standing as Detroit’s most iconic ruin, continuing to drag down the surrounding neighborhood.” Duggan said. “It took an incredible amount of work to gain title to the property and tear down everything that could not be saved in hopes for a day like this.”
The estimated price tag for the project is more than $50 million, with funding expected to come from a “layered” capital stack of private investment, commercial debt, philanthropy, tax credits, and state and local development tools. The developers say the project will be finished by 2029, pending final approvals and financing.
Mayor-elect Mary Sheffield, who takes office in January, praised the plan as a turning point for a site that has sat mostly vacant since Packard ceased production in the late 1950s.
“For more than 60 years this site sat idle. Today, we declare that those days are over,” Sheffield said. “The Packard Park will be a symbol of what is possible when Detroiters, public partners, and committed developers work together with imagination and purpose. This is how we honor our past while building our future — by preserving history, creating jobs, expanding housing, and investing in culture and community all at once.”
The Packard Plant was once among the largest industrial complexes in the world, a sprawling 3.5-million-square-foot symbol of Detroit’s early manufacturing prowess. The facility pioneered the reinforced-concrete system that reshaped industrial architecture and employed more than 36,000 workers at its peak.
By the 2000s it had become a symbol of urban decay, a vast, lawless wasteland stripped by scavengers and repeatedly set ablaze. In 2022, the city began demolishing sections of the plant after years of failed redevelopment promises and constant blight complaints. Former owner Fernando Palazuelo promised a high-profile redevelopment, but he failed to pay his property taxes, violated city codes, and failed to make progress.
Councilman Scott Benson, who has pushed for redevelopment of the east-side property, said the proposal “represents better days ahead for the Packard site.”
“This historic site, once a symbol of industrial might, will now see a new life as a much-needed employment center and housing in our city,” Benson said. “I am thrilled to see this plan, which also will provide much needed recreational opportunities, community spaces and jobs on the east side of Detroit. We have waited a long time for progress.”
The nonprofit Albert Kahn Legacy Foundation will serve as fiduciary for the philanthropic fundraising campaign tied to the restoration of the Kahn building. The Detroit Regional Partnership also supported the project through its VIP Site Readiness Grant Program.
The co-developers said the new partnership marks the first real momentum at the site in decades.
“Where other efforts have stalled, we feel momentum and a spirit of collaboration to finally redevelop the Packard site as Packard Park,” Bennett said.
Goldenberg added, “As stewards to the city, we will work together with neighbors, creators and our P4 partners, to complete this purpose-driven development that will bring culture, housing and jobs to the city for this generation and beyond.”
Developers expect to begin detailed planning and community engagement next year.
More information is available at packardpark.com, and leasing inquiries are being handled by Signature Associates.
This article appears in Dec. 10-23, 2025.