FeedsBest of a bad market
Some may question the sale of the land that once housed the waste-to-energy incinerator plant in western Wayne County for less than half the price at which it was originally marketed.
We don’t.
The decision to sell the 32-acre parcel at Inkster and Annapolis roads to the City of Dearborn Heights for about $1 million makes sense in the current economy.
It might not be what anyone wanted to get for the land, but it represents the best deal today and, probably, the best price it will fetch for several years.
The proceeds of the sale will be distributed to the five communities that make up the Western Wayne County Sanitation Authority (WWCSA)—Westland, Wayne, Inkster, Garden City and Dearborn Heights—through a formula based on the amount of trash picked up and disposed in the communities. Westland is the largest portion of that and will receive the most in funding.
Even though the money can only be used for sanitation purposes, it will still be welcome in cash-strapped municipalities—and most of them are hurting for cash, anyway.
The sale will most likely be finalized next month, too, which takes a lot of the guesswork that has followed the land out of the equation. The sale to Dearborn Heights was only made possible because several deals with private firms fell through. With the city in charge of what happens on the land, it will help ensure a quality development there. With the property off the market, it will be another closed chapter of this sad, failed project. And, with municipalities using the money to help start more eco-friendly programs—like the curbside recycling program in the City of Westland—it signifies another turning away from the past and a look to the future.
