The owner of downtown Detroit's Penobscot Building has died amid a flurry of negative media reports drawing attention to the sorry state of the once majestic skyscraper. Andreas Apostolopoulos was 69.
Apostolopoulos' company, Toronto-based Triple Properties, said in a media release that he died Monday.
The billionaire investor was controversial in Detroit. He also previously owned the former home of the Lions.
Crain's Detroit Business reports:
The Pontiac Silverdome fell into extreme disrepair after the family purchased it from the city in 2009 for $583,000, just 1.05 percent of the total 1975 construction cost of $55.7 million.
The city ultimately sued Triple Properties over things like violations of building and safety codes, as well as illegal storage of vehicles.
The 80,000-plus-seat stadium was razed for $8 million ...
The family also purchased the Penobscot Building in 2012 for about $5 million and that building has been accumulating blight violations and lawsuit threats from the city over its conditions in recent months.
At the time it was purchased, Apostolopoulos told Crain's that his company was "going to put some money into the building and try to attract more tenants."
He did not appear to make the promised investments. The building is on sale for $100 million.
But the writers of Apostolopoulos' press-release obit had a sunnier view, saying he "is best known as the modest businessman who revitalized properties in empty business areas and communities, redeveloping them into useful income-producing assets."
