JC Reindl

Detroit Free Press

Demolition could be in the future for the old American Motors headquarters on Detroit's west side.

After failing to sell the derelict complex last year, Wayne County officials are now considering whether the roughly 35-acre site would be more marketable if the building were torn down.

"That is one of the options," said David Tyler, project coordinator for the Wayne County Treasurer's Office. "There are very limited opportunities where you find that much industrial property in the city that could be developed or redeveloped."

Old AMC HQ offered to Detroit after failed auction

The AMC complex, at 14250 Plymouth Road, dates to 1927 and once sprawled 1.4 million square feet. It has been empty since 2010, when it was sold by Chrysler after the automaker's bankruptcy. Anything of value inside the building was subsequently removed as scrap, and a large back section was razed.

What's left includes the main yellowish-brick building and its tall university-like tower, as well as a long, attached three-story structure. The complex is open to the elements, awash in graffiti and missing many windows and some walls.

There has been considerable illegal dumping at the site. A filthy motorboat sits stranded in the parking lot.

The entire property was offered in the treasurer's tax foreclosure auction last fall for the price of $500 — plus $232,000 in unpaid taxes. The sole bidder was a Commerce Township man who backed out of the deal for undisclosed reasons.

The Treasurer's Office then offered the property to the city of Detroit, which didn't want it.

Tyler said the property's ownership will likely go to the Wayne County Land Bank before year's end. County officials have brainstormed possible redevelopment and reuse options, which all would entail taking down "the majority of the existing structure," he said.

The cost of razing the structure has not been estimated.

The area around the site is a mix of residential, commercial and industrial properties. Many of the commercial buildings are empty and boarded up.

A quick survey of a few nearby businesses and homeowners found neighbors were generally receptive to the demolition idea.

"If they are going to do anything with it, I think it should come down," said John Dixon, 73, who lives across from the property and recalls how it was still used by AMC when he moved in in 1979. Chrysler bought in 1987, and the property became the engineering center for Chrysler and Jeep trucks and SUVs.

Chrysler kept about 900 employees in the building as late as 2009 before shifting work to its Auburn Hills headquarters.

"I've been here for almost 30 years, and the neighborhood really went downhill when Chrysler left," said Cleophus Clark, owner of the nearby soul food restaurant Club Celebrity.

Clark said he still sees people wandering into the building about every other day, sometimes arriving in trucks that park near the back.

Contact JC Reindl: 313-222-6631 or jcreindl@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@JCReindl.