A group of abandoned homes usually in a state of disrepair or located in overgrown vacant lots peppered all over Detroit was recently auctioned off as the "blight bundle". The properties totaled to 6,350 and was listed in the Wayne County tax foreclosure auction, according to the Huffington Post.
It may seem like an odd listing to some, however, one man chose to look past the surface and, well, purchased it for $3,183,500.
Herb Strather, together with his group of developers made the winning - and apparently, only bid for the listing.
But while some may find the move risky, maybe even crazy, Strather actually has a noble reason behind his decision to purchase the "blight bundle". He tells the Hunffington Post, "We were rather schocked [by the sale of the bundle]. We turned on a dime, if you will, and decided to be the bidder because we were concerned. We wanted to make sure that the redevelopment of Detroit was in Detroiters' hands."
Aside from being a partner in Detroit Bundle LLC, Strather is also the chairman of Strather Associates, a real estate development firm, and also runs a real estate school to create the next generation of developers in Detroit.
His recent purchase was part of a class at his Strather Academy about online bidding.
As such, Strather says that he will be having two dozen students working on these properties, adding, "They're going to add a lot of great value to the development project by doing a lot of sweat equity."
However, the sale of the Detroit properties is yet to be finalized, as Strather is required to pay 10 percent of the total price the day after the winning with the rest due within 14 days. Then Strather and his partners must demolish all the blighted properties in just six months and make development agreements with the county for any property that they can still salvage. If Strather and his group fail to meet the said timeline, ownership for all properties can go back to the county.
Given the scale of the project, some say that Strather might just be setting himself up for failure as the listing was actually meant to discourage bidders from buying the foreclosed properties, which are deemed as a cancer to Detroit's neighborhoods.
Still, Strather is optimistic, he is working closely with the county to see what they can actually accomplish. So far there are 2,000 vacant lots and about 3,000 that would most likely be torn down - a very pricey undertaking.
While on average, it cost Strather and his group just $500 for each property in the blight bundle but the cost of demolition and rehabilitation could go for much, much more as per Detroit's average demolition cosr estimates that it would already take $30 million just to tear down blight.
