One of every five Detroit properties in Detroit are in the process of foreclosure under an unprecedented effort by Wayne County to take possession of every property that is three or more years behind in taxes.
Investigators believe someone fire-bombed the Birthday Cake House on Heidelberg Street.
The Detroit Medical Society claimed it had no idea the house was up for foreclosure and said members invested more than $400,000 into the building.
Losing the three properties could break up significant sections of the project.
But will the Wayne County treasurer enforce the deadline and invalidate the bid of Chicago-area investor Bill Hults?
All houses and buildings started with a $500 bid. There were bargains, surprises and duds.
The symbol of Detroit’s industrial decline attracted 111 bids from around the world.
Some of the properties are abandoned and gutted, while others could fetch more than $85,000 in any other community.
Metro Property Group is blamed for turning investors into “unwitting and unintentional slumlords.”
Time is running out for a developer to transform Detroit’s symbol of industrial decline into housing, restaurants, retail space, offices and a hotel.