04/21/2015
I want us to have a truly iconic Skyline, and something in this city to be proud of.
Hit LIKE if you agree ! ! !
1965 -- The announcement that Genesee Towers will be built at the corner of First and Harrison Streets is heralded with the front page headline, "DOWNTOWN GETTING NEW OFFICE TOWER," in The Flint Journal. It would be the first project of its kind since 1929, when the Union Industrial Bank Building (now known as the Mott Foundation Building) was put up.
1968 – Genesee Towers is completed at a reported cost of $6.5 million. Soon after, Genesee Merchants Bank & Trust Co. opens Dec. 1 in the new building.
1969 – The private University Club opens in the top floor of the Towers building. The club preferred its members have college degrees, but did not require it. It also started as a male-only club in some sections. A bylaw change in 1972 permits women to serve on the board and visit parts of the club from which they had been prohibited.
1979 – Building is sold by its original owner, First & Harrison Inc., to Ann Arbor-based Barton Associates, owned by brothers Fred and Ned Shure.
1981 – A slab of concrete falls three stories off the side of the building after a car hit the parking bumper inside the parking garage. No one is injured.
1983 – The building’s owners, Fred and Ned Shure, are indicted by a federal grand jury in New Orleans on charges they imported 40,000 pounds in Colombian ma*****na. They each plead guilty to two counts of conspiracy to distribute ma*****na.
1985 – Genesee Towers is sold to Stephen D. Barker and Daniel J. Murphy of Tower Associates. Also, NBD acquires Genesee Bank, and the University Club begins a large-scale remodeling project in their home on the 19th floor.
July 23, 1990 – The Genesee Bank sign is removed from the top of Genesee Towers. It is reported that the sign, with its bright orange neon lettering, is visible by night from an airplane as far away as Port Huron.
1991 – The building is sold to a Georgia institutional investment company, Genesee Towers Inc.
1996 – The building is foreclosed on after being controlled by a Texas-based real estate investment trust since 1993.
March 1997 – NBD, the building’s largest tenant, announces its decision to vacate Genesee Towers, citing a need for more modern facilities. The Flint Journal reports the building manager is searching for a buyer as the structure requires “millions of dollars in repairs,” including improvements to its parking deck and heating and cooling systems.
October 1997 – The building is sold at auction to real estate investor V. Kumar Vemulapalli for $500,000.
1998 – NBD vacates Genesee Towers after its lease expires.
December 1999 – Radio stations WFDF and WDZZ vacate Genesee Towers. The stations’ general manager says at the time that the building is “rundown.”
2001 – The city issues code violations for building deficiencies, including broken fire alarms, faulty wiring and damaged or missing air filters. Vemulapalli contests the citations.
2003 and 2004 – The building’s owner files lawsuits against the city, claiming the city is attempting to seize the building through inverse condemnation.
2006 – The parties agree to enter into binding arbitration in the case.
2007 – Arbitrator Valdemar Washington, a former circuit court judge, orders the city must take ownership of the building and awards Vemulapalli $6 million.
2009 -- The city appeals the decision, claiming the arbitrator exceeded the scope of his authority, but the Michigan Court of Appeals upholds the arbitrator's ruling and the city appeals to the Michigan Supreme Court.
2010 – The Michigan Supreme Court declines to hear the case.
December 2010 – A judge orders the city to assess Flint taxpayers to cover the Genesee Towers judgment, legal fees and interest. An extra 6.751 mills was placed on property owners’ tax bills. The city takes over the building.
August 2012 – Flint emergency manager Michael Brown signs a development agreement to transfer Genesee Towers to Uptown Reinvestment Corp. for $1 to be demolished. The transfer is contingent upon property inspections and other “due diligence” activities, according to the agreement.
