Former Dearborn Hyatt Regency to be sold, feature apartments, firm says

The former Dearborn Hyatt Regency is headed for a sale and a new life with apartments, a real estate firm has confirmed.

The hotel and convention center, now owned by the U.S. Marshals Service and the Canadian government, was on the market "no more than 45-60 days," Simon Jonna, executive vice president of the Jonna Group, told The Detroit News on Wednesday.

The Jonna Group had been marketing the 18-story, 773-unit property that sits on more than 23 acres near the Fairlane Town Center shopping mall.

The group received 13-14 offers through its national and international platform for investment sales, Jonna said.

The buyer, identified only as an East Coast company that owns 15,000 apartment units across the country, "flushed out all the competition with a million dollars ... and a higher level price point than all but one because that buyer stalled" the owners, he wrote in an email.

The sale price is slated to be released soon, Jonna said. The deal is expected to close in the next 40 days.

The buyer plans to have 350-400 units at the 810,000-square-foot property, which according to an overview the Jonna Group provided, has an assessed value of $6.5 million.

"They are open to leasing components for retail or office or co-working spaces or salon suites," Jonna said. "All possibilities are open."

A Metro Detroit attorney representing the buyer did not respond to a request for comment on the deal.

Reached Thursday, Lynzey Donahue, a representative for the U.S. Marshals Service, said in an email: "We are unable to comment on any details regarding the sale process."

Jonna said the hotel sold "for well over double the expectations" and could mean a $50 million project. "It will certainly turn around the locale and uplift (Fairlane) in a big way as well as Ford country. This is a project that will yield them an exceptional return when all is said and done."

Paula Rivera, a spokeswoman for Dearborn, said the city "will eventually be working with the purchaser of the property to address all of their needs for the future of the site. We are hopeful that this long-standing property will be utilized in a way that supports the growth and expansion of Dearborn."

The development ends nearly a decade of management issues associated with the property, which once had a monorail linking it to Fairlane and was considered the state's second largest hotel.

Hyatt ended its management agreement in 2012.

In 2014, the hotel owed more than $850,000 in Wayne County property taxes while operating as the Adoba.

By 2016, managers confirmed it was sold to an offshore investment group for an undisclosed price.

Dearborn officials have said the hotel was acquired that year from Royal Realties by Chinese-Canadian business tycoon Edward Gong's company. It operated as the Edward Hotel & Convention Center.

In 2018, Gong was charged by Chinese prosecutors over a $275 million pyramid scheme.

That December, Dearborn officials closed the site amid safety violations.

In June, New Zealand authorities announced a settlement had been approved in which Gong would forfeit more than $70 million.