(05-23-2020 06:48 PM)Jerry Weaver Wrote:  

(04-24-2020 08:39 AM)JonesGoddard Wrote:  From what I've heard...

Lowell street is more of an investment opportunity later down the road like IHA @ EMU. Worst case, probably parking and storage for now.

COB, rumor has it plans will be, based off market research to design condos on 2nd/3rd floors and retail/businesses below to continue to attract downsizing retiring folks and new professionals that don't want to pay the Ann Arbor housing tax.

This is great news and imagine if we didn't make tough decisions 4-5 years ago (sports, parking, online learning, decrease faculty, dining, etc.) to gain more revenue streams to EMU. We would need to be purchased by U-M in order to still be a university. An example of leadership when you need to make tough decisions need to be made even if it's not what people want.

Your post has been judged in my opinion as incredibly prescient. The carnage at other Universities has been rampant. Smith looks like a genius today, although one might argue that he is the Allan Mulally of University presidents. Mulally and Ford hit bottom first in 2006-7 and arranged future financing while Chrysler and GM were still solid. When the 2008 Great Recession hit, Ford was in a far better place.

Smith, like Mulally, apparently heard the train wreck coming and reacted accordingly. Selling those assets when he did fetched a far higher price than they would have in our current environment.

BTW, Hertz gets the un-prescient award. They managed to turn a silk purse into a sow's ear...

Too many companies played with too much debt. Never learned that cheap debt is still debt.