Intern Daniel contributed to this report.
In case you did not notice, Borders, the Barnes and Noble-ish book, music and I-don't-know-what-to-get-my-dad-for-father's-day-so-here-is-a-giftcard store, died off this year. When the headquarters in Ann Arbor, MI were first listed in October 2010, the asking price was a whopping $18.349 M. Back then Borders posted a $46.7 million loss in second quarter, but did not declare bankruptcy until February 2011. So what is up with the building now? After the shut-down this palatial corporate atmosphere with 330,322 square feet can be yours for just $10 M! It belonged to Agree Realty, a real estate company based in Farmington Hills, but now that the loan is in default, Ann Arbor's real estate firm McKinley Inc. will manage it. The last sale date is from July of 1996 for $7,965,396. The place has apparently been entirely vacant since the other tenant (Recellular) moved out a couple of weeks ago.
And while Ann Arbor is it's own real estate bubble, the no-longer-needed building remains of a formerly profitable company that built too much and then died is a very "Detroit" problem. So we are curious to see what happens.
· 100 Phoenix Drive [LoopNet]
· McKinley to manage former Borders HQ building while property changes hands [Crain's]
· Timeline: From the founding of Borders in Ann Arbor to Chapter 11 bankruptcy [AnnArbor.com]