Packard Plant owner charms east side
Detroit — – Fernando Palazuelo entered the violet-colored lobby of Holy Ghost Full Gospel Church and the impact of his presence on the mixed crowd was palpable.
Nearly 200 white millennials and older African-Americans who packed the lobby Thursday night turned their attention to the 59-year-old Spanish developer, who has dreams for the old Packard plant — one of Detroit's grand ruins. His silver hair was perfect as always. His shirt looked crisp and freshly pressed. Many commented on the tiny American flag jutting from his lapel.
People circled to take selfies with him. A few appeared to simply want to touch him. Palazuelo smiled graciously, shook hands and in his soft-spoken Spanish accent, often said, "Thank you very much."
Palazuelo spoke in this East Grand Boulevard church about his almost quixotic goal to revive the massive ruin that is the former Packard Plant, which isn't far from Holy Ghost.
"Welcome to the east side of Detroit, Michigan!" said Bishop Corletta Vaughn, senior pastor of Holy Ghost, sometimes called "The Cathedral."
"Detroit is not dead! Detroit — it's on the rise!" Vaughn said. "Thank you Mr. Palazuelo for believing in the east side comeback."
Palazuelo knows a lot about comebacks.
His back story, which has been widely reported, only seems to add to his intrigue.
Six years ago, he was living in an island palace in Palma de Mallorca with an extensive 20th-century art collection and a collection of Ferraris
A veteran of the Spanish Foreign Legion in North Africa, Palazuelo has made a living buying and restoring old buildings. He had properties in Madrid, Barcelona and Bilbao, Spain.
The 2008 financial crisis wiped out much of his fortune. He filed for bankruptcy. The Ferraris, the art, most of the Spanish homes — all sold.
His misfortune turned out to be a boon for downtown Lima. He sought someplace where property was dirt cheap and it was Peru's capital city. Decades of terrorism and government corruption had left Lima's historic downtown something resembling a ghost town.
Palazuelo saw gold. He charmed building owners to let him buy on credit. He convinced outsourcing companies and art galleries and a slew of other businesses to set up shop. He's brought more than 20,000 workers into buildings that were once dead.
He wanted another challenge. Last summer, he read in a Spanish newspaper paper that Detroit was filing for bankruptcy. He flew to the Motor City.
He bought the Packard Plant. The site is named after a dead automaker that ended production at the east side plant in 1956. Dozens of smaller businesses still worked out of some part of Packard until the late '90s. Then the city foreclosed on the property and it began to be torn apart by scrappers and vandals. He bought it for $405,000 during last year's Wayne County auction of tax foreclosed properties. He said it could take 15 years or more to fulfill his Packard goal.
"We must think in military strategy," he said. "All together, we create growth in one place — not spread out. For this reason, the Packard Plant was the right thing to buy."
The sprawling site is starting to be cleaned up. He is trying to raise an estimated $300 million-$400 million to develop the site. He envisions the same thing he did in Lima — offices, homes, art at the Packard.
"All together, we can make the change," he said.
laguilar@detroitnews.com
Twitter: LouisAguilar_DN