The Pontiac Silverdome, former home of the Detroit Lions football team, is being offered for sale for $30 million, by Toronto-based Triple Properties who paid an auction price of just $583,000 for the abandoned property six years ago.
Triple Properties subsequently invested $6 million upgrading the restaurant and VIP areas with the intention of transforming the Silverdome into the home of a professional soccer franchise.
Following the collapse of these plans, the stadium was allowed to deteriorate although 10 acres of the 127.5 acre site is currently leased to a local soccer league and another 15 acres is leased to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Together they generate a total rental income of $1 million per year.
CBRE is marketing the site either for sale or lease, and it is expected that it is most likely to appeal to a developer, with the option of transforming the site into an office campus just one of the possibilities being discussed.
When it opened in 1975, the Silverdome was capable of seating 82,000 spectators, making it the largest stadium in the National Football League.
In 1987 it was the venue for a Mass conducted by Pope John Paul II which reportedly attracted a crowd of over 93,000. The Silverdome has also served as a concert venue with Led Zeppelin and The Who two of the acts to have appeared there.
