Bloomfield Park ghost town could have new owner

Posted on October 21, 2014

A dream plan for an upscale town center that morphed into an eyesore, Oakland County’s Bloomfield Park could soon be in the hands of a new owner.

Wells Fargo Bank says that it has sold foreclosure rights to the failed development property, which fronts Telegraph Road at the Pontiac/Bloomfield Township border and contains about a dozen partially-built buildings and parking decks.

Whoever holds foreclosure rights can start the legal process for seizing the land and redeveloping the 80-acre site into something other than its current state: a jumble of hollow structures that are beginning to rust and collect graffiti.

In filings last week in Oakland County Circuit Court, mortgage holder Wells Fargo identified the new owner of foreclosure rights as Bloomfield Village Investor Holdings, a corporate shell company. Precisely who that entity is, and its plans for the property, were not immediately clear on Monday.

Lawyers for Wells Fargo and an Oakland County development official did not return repeated messages for comment.

An earlier deal involving the sale of foreclosure rights to Bloomfield Park unraveled late last year when an affiliate of Farmington Hills-based Grand/Sakwa Development backed out for unspecified reasons within the due diligence period. .

The primary target of a foreclosure action would appear to be New York-based Coventry Real Estate Advisors. The firm was an 80% owner in a development partnership formed in 2006 to build Bloomfield Park. Its partner was shopping center developer DDR of Beachwood, Ohio.

Construction of the $350-million initial phase of Bloomfield Park crashed to a halt with the economy in November 2008 and never picked back up.

The Coventry-DDR venture defaulted on a $48-million construction loan from Wells Fargo, although DDR eventually paid its $9.8-million obligation, according to court records. Wells Fargo has been looking to sell its forclosure rights to the site since 2013.

Bloomfield Park was originally envisioned in the early 1990s by developer Craig Schubiner, whose aspirations called for at least 80 retail shops along with office space, a luxury hotel, a movie theater, two lakes and more than 1,000 residences.

Schubiner handed off in mid-2006 to Coventry and DDR, who had somewhat more modest building plans.

All told, nearly $250 million of capital was sunk into the project by the time construct halted in fall 2008.

Schubiner, acting through a corporation, later sued Coventry and DDR in Oakland County Circuit Court, contending that the developers were responsible for the failure of what should have been a successful development.

A jury ruled against his claims for damages in Auguust 2012, and last month the Michigan Court of Appeals upheld the ruling.

On Monday, Schubiner’s attorney told the Free Press he has about two weeks left to decide whether to take his appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court.

Bloomfield Park timeline

  • 1992: Local developer Craig Schubiner begins buying and assembling parcels of land off Telegraph near Bloomfield Township’s border with Pontiac. The site was home to two streets of rental homes and a closed drive-in theater.
  • 1999: Schubiner unveils his original vision for the Bloomfield Park residential, retailand commercial town center, complete with 15-to-20-story buildings.
  • 2001: Schubiner turns to Pontiac after Bloomfield Township officials object to his $2-billion plan and its massive scale.
  • September 2001: Pontiac voters approve the annexation of about 95% of Bloomfield Park.
  • 2002: Pontiac and Bloomfield Township settle disputes and form development and revenue-sharing arrangements for Bloomfield Park.
  • 2006: Schubiner hands over most development duties to New York-based Coventry Real Estate Advisors and shopping center expert DDR.
  • November 2006: Ground is broken on Bloomfield Park’s $350-million first phase.
  • November 2008: Construction stops as financing evaporates in the economic downturn. Nearly $250 million in capital already has poured in.
  • August 2012: Jurors in Oakland County Circuit Court deny Schubiner’s claim to collect damages from Coventry and DDR for supposedly bungling a good project.
  • August 2013: Mortgage holder Wells Fargo reaches tentative deal to sell foreclosure rights to Grand/Sakwa Development, but deal eventually unravels.
  • October 2014:Wells Fargo says the owner of foreclosure rights is now Bloomfield Village Investor Holdings, a corporate shell company.