Fingerle property for sale

[DetroitMan]

This is definatley big for downtown. I think a mixed-use development featuring a park and train station would be nice.

http://www.mlive.com/news/annarbornews/ind....xml&coll=2

Here's a link to an article discussing the possibilty of a greenway and rail station.

http://www.mlive.com/news/annarbornews/ind....xml&coll=2

[Raildudes dad]

This is definatley big for downtown. I think a mixed-use development featuring a park and train station would be nice.

http://www.mlive.com/news/annarbornews/ind....xml&coll=2

Here's a link to an article discussing the possibilty of a greenway and rail station.

http://www.mlive.com/news/annarbornews/ind....xml&coll=2

[wolverine]

^ Not if it's all elevated. It's been done. There is still construction in floodplain areas along the Huron River. The new 201 Depot building is a good example.

I don't see it as a threat to passenger service. If this was the case, Amtrak would not be able to continue to operate at their current location within the floodplain.

[Raildudes dad]

I don't see it as a threat to passenger service. If this was the case, Amtrak would not be able to continue to operate at their current location within the floodplain.

[foobar417]

The floodplain isn't the issue with passenger service. Amtrak operates on NS because NS is willing to get paid to accommodate Amtrak. The Ann Arbor Railroad up to this point has refused to even discuss passenger operations, let alone begin negotiations.

[Raildudes dad]

The WALLY report strongly implies that AA Railroad would be willing to sell the rights to the city and then lease back the right to send 2 freight trains through a day or lease the rights to the city if and only if the liability for an accident is transferred to the city. The report suggests that the railroad's big hangup is that they worry the railroad would be bankrupted, even with liability insurance, if a passenger train derailed crossing the Huron.

http://www.ewashtenaw.org/government/depar...lly/wally_index

Of course, nothing's a sure thing and I could be misunderstanding the report.

--Eric

[mgman]

The AARR is going to be a tough nut to crack. If WALLY buys or leases the ROW as the consultant is suggesting, the AARR loses control over their operations. Notice they (Banks) did their inspection of the AARR from PUBLIC property, they either didn't ask permission or were denied permission by the AARR to be on RR property.

One option not in the report, have the GLC buy the AARR property down to Ferry Yard (UofM). It doesn't sound like there are any freight customers that AARR would lose. Once GLC owns it, the agreement between GLC & WALLY can be consummated. There is a mechanism that the Surface Transportation Board uses to determine sale price if the 2 RR's couldn't agree on a price. (Works pretty good too )

[wolverine]

I went to the Downtown Development Strategies Project published in 2005-06 to look for something grand to say about the possibilities of this property but the project only mentions it briefly a few times and does not say much. It mentions a train station and the greenway but nothing more than that. Here is a link:

Dowtown Development Strategies

So I guess the only thing I have to say about this parcel is $22 million, that seems pretty steep for a property in the floodplain and that far away from downtown but it is a large piece of property. Is Fingerle planning to move or just shut down?