OT: Fingerle Lumber sells to UM
A $33 Million Gift to the Law School today wasn't the only big transaction involving UM today. The UM Regents approved the puchase of the Fingerle property for $24 Million. Besides being an Ann Arbor institution,the Fingerle land was the site of some great football tailgating. From Mlive:
ANN ARBOR, MI - Just one week after Fingerle Lumber announced it was planning to close after more than 87 years of business, the University of Michigan’s Board of Regents approved the purchase of land owned by the business.The Board of Regents approved the purchase of 6.54 acres of land for $24 million. A closing date has been set for prior to March 31, 2019.
UM will have 90 days to complete due diligence on the property. The current owner intends to enter into a lease with the university, concurrent with the sale, that would allow it to continue to operate at the location along South Fifth Avenue, south of East Madison Street until Dec. 30, 2019. The university would receive a negotiated monthly rent for use.
The university’s future use of the property is yet to be determined, UM Chief Financial Officer Kevin Hegarty said.
“Its acquisition will provide a future opportunity for the expansion of Central Campus,” Hegarty said.
The three parcels of land include warehouse buildings, none of which are suited for university use, UM noted.
December 6th, 2018 at 10:16 PM ^
"Fingerleeeeee lumber. We'll walk you through a project..." Something something something
December 6th, 2018 at 10:25 PM ^
I had to hear that ad like a hundred times before I realized they say "walk you through a project not point you down the aisle"
I think
December 6th, 2018 at 10:36 PM ^
I will certainly miss the jingle when back in town with 107.1 inevitably on.
December 6th, 2018 at 11:02 PM ^
Never mind all this - the REAL question is would you want Brady Hoke back to coach the D-Line?!
December 6th, 2018 at 11:16 PM ^
You should hurry and create a MGoBoard post on that topic before anyone else does.
December 6th, 2018 at 11:59 PM ^
Chaco, I'd be willing to make a pretty strong bet that your mom told you that you were clever and smart way too many times. Easy money.
December 7th, 2018 at 7:27 AM ^
Or my version of it: "we'll point you down the aisle while we sit and shoot the shit... Fingerle Lumber".
December 7th, 2018 at 12:43 PM ^
The people in the commercial really are that nice. Three years ago I went down the street to Chelsea Lumber to talk to someone about buying either $400 or $1,200 of cedar. I couldn't even get any of the three people who walked right past me acknowledge my presence. After standing there by myself for 10 minutes, it was obvious I should have just gone to Fingerle. I ended up being helped by Tony Goodlow from one of the radio commercials. I hate that Fingerle is closing.
December 6th, 2018 at 10:16 PM ^
24 million for less then 7 acres, damn they should've sold in 2007. Would've been a sound business move.
December 6th, 2018 at 10:18 PM ^
Might not be OT.
There are plans for a Michigan Volleyball/Wrestling/Gymnastics arena that is still happening per Volleyball arena. Had no idea where they were gonna put it this might be it.
The coliseum is so close by which is still part of Athletics.
December 6th, 2018 at 10:35 PM ^
This parcel probably wouldn't be large enough for something like that. And they made it pretty clear that this was an expansion of Central Campus, not the Athletic Campus.
All of these parcels together could be a campus for its own small academic unit. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they decide to build a whole new department here.
December 6th, 2018 at 10:37 PM ^
I've heard that too... also a railway station (it's right by the rr track), or campus buildings/parking. Edwards Brothers on State Street quickly became the LAX field and track complex, so who knows?
The land's drainage and the springs in the area (the same ones that plagued the building of Michigan Stadium) may be a development issue. The Weinberg Coliseum across the street not only was the home of UM hockey from 1909 - 1973 (and a loud Wurlitzer organ) but also a swimming pool fed by these springs.
December 6th, 2018 at 10:46 PM ^
How about a new dorm? Even with North Quad and the Munger Grad dorm I think they are still a little short on student housing.
December 7th, 2018 at 12:39 AM ^
This location seems a little too far off the beaten path for students
December 7th, 2018 at 1:01 AM ^
Google Maps may prove me wrong, but I bet this is closer to Angell Hall (arguably the heart of LSA) than, say, Markley. I might take the same bet for Couzens, even.
December 7th, 2018 at 9:39 AM ^
Yeah, but it's an up hill walk. Do not want.
December 7th, 2018 at 10:52 AM ^
Soft, much?
Or maybe I didn't see that it is uphill both ways....
December 7th, 2018 at 7:40 AM ^
If you include a dining hall it's not really any farther off the path than Fletcher. And that place doesn't have a dining hall.
December 6th, 2018 at 10:49 PM ^
They'll have to spend a lot of money getting this site ready to develop, but it will be worth it for UofM. They don't really have many other acquisition options within close proximity of Central Campus anymore.
December 7th, 2018 at 7:12 AM ^
Well, yeah. The property is basically in a flood plain. I imagine building anything brand new there will be somewhat of an engineering challenge.
December 7th, 2018 at 3:55 AM ^
I thought the new volleyball stadium was going where the old indoor track building was?
http://support.mgoblue.com/victors-for-michigan/explore/
Click where it says New multi-purpose arena and watch the video. It zooms In on the ITB. Of course that page is 6 years old now and plans may have changed.
December 7th, 2018 at 1:42 PM ^
Exactly right. Plans have changed.
The old U-M Indoor Track Building is now the Indoor Training Center, a fieldhouse for lacrosse, soccer, softball, baseball etc. practice.
December 6th, 2018 at 10:21 PM ^
Fingerlee lumber really helped with our Mechanical Engineering project giving 5 M.E.'s some clue what we were doing.
Since none of us actually had a wood shop class before. #fulfilling the stereotype.
But yeah they were sitting on a valuable piece of property.
December 6th, 2018 at 10:21 PM ^
Fingerle has been a go to tailgate option for me. Bummed to see it go...
December 6th, 2018 at 11:24 PM ^
Isn't Fingerle one if the biggest lots other than Pioneer HS for RV parking?
I haven't parked and tailgated there more than a half dozen times over the years, but the potential loss of that many game day parking spaces is going to really make a dent in the supply of nearby parking north of The Big House.
December 7th, 2018 at 8:21 AM ^
I RV tailgated there for the Wisconsin game in October.
Supreme location. It will be tough to replace.
And where will the B-School party bus go?
Tailgating is a defining 100 year Michigan tradition, pat of its very DNA. Yet it's treated as pretty much an afterthought, even an annoyance.
But the University will miss it when it's gone.
December 7th, 2018 at 7:59 AM ^
They’re still going to lease from UM so all is not lost
December 7th, 2018 at 8:26 AM ^
That won't last very long though. The UM is not spending all that $$$ to be in the lumberyard landlord business, they want to build more shit.
December 7th, 2018 at 8:30 AM ^
Good point, maybe one last hurrah in 2019 then
December 7th, 2018 at 3:06 PM ^
If this means that we will net even less football game day parking going forward, the University and the Athletic Department need to be questioned.
We lost parking when they remodeled Crisler. I think we lost a modest amount of UMGC Green Lot space when they did that project. We lost parking space when the Stadium Blvd. bridge project was done.
It seems as if every new athletic campus project ignores our dire parking and tailgating shortages. And many of those projects are actually making the problems worse.
December 6th, 2018 at 10:36 PM ^
I lived next door to Fingerle on the corner of S Fifth and Madison my final year of undergrad. I wonder if the university will try to obtain that apartment building as well depending on what they have in mind. Considering they'll pretty much almost everything on that stretch of S Fifth between Madison and Hill now (Fingerle plus Coliseum) coupled with Elbel Field on the other side of Hill, a sports facility makes sense based on the footprint.
December 6th, 2018 at 10:39 PM ^
As a carpenter on the Old West Side of A2 this affects me greatly. I've probably been in there at least once every two weeks for over 30 years. My father in-law was an accountant there for over 30 years also. The best lumber yard in the county by far.
December 6th, 2018 at 10:52 PM ^
They seemed to have everything. Sometime going in those remote buildings to find a window screen or something was like an Indiana Jones adventure. A real A2 instituion.
December 7th, 2018 at 7:19 AM ^
I think that was part of their challenge since the home centers sprang up. Retail shoppers want convenience and don't really like maneuvering their cars through big crowded lumber sheds while dodging forklifts, to pick up their 3 2x6's
December 7th, 2018 at 10:50 AM ^
As a mechanical engineering student (who had taken wood shop, and auto shop, props to high school!) I was drafted by my fraternity to rebuild the fire escape to pass code. Went to Fingerle for the fire treated lumber, they looked over my hand sketches, made suggestions, and really made the project a success. Sad to see it go, but hopefully the payout helps everyone invovled.
December 6th, 2018 at 10:40 PM ^
You know who else had a huge transaction today?
This guy!!!
On a hunch, I picked up Derrick Henry at the last-minute for my flex fantasy football spot.
The young man is having himself a game tonight!
December 7th, 2018 at 1:08 AM ^
Well played sir! He's still sitting on the waiver wire in my league. Would have been a nice piece for the first weekend of the playoffs. Cheers to you!
December 6th, 2018 at 10:41 PM ^
The b-school 'bus' tailgates were a major selling point of the school.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-09-16/b-school-traditions-michigan-mbas-get-on-the-bus
Hopefully UM allows the tradition to continue
December 6th, 2018 at 10:59 PM ^
I would imagine it's going to be 5+ years before anything is built on the site. That site needs quite a bit of drainage planning and underground work, and whatever is developed will probably incorporate the Colisseum site along with the actual Fingerle Storefront space and barn across John Street. With all these crappy lumberyard buildings gone, that area is going to be significantly different and improved once they develop it.
December 6th, 2018 at 11:33 PM ^
Very interested. My In laws own a rental on John Street.
December 6th, 2018 at 11:19 PM ^
Probably not coincidental timing that they just sold a different property for 26.7M.
December 6th, 2018 at 11:40 PM ^
Always wondered how a lumberyard managed to keep operating smack dab in the middle of a major college campus for so long. I'm sure they've been bombarded with numerous acquisition offers for that prime piece of real estate over the years. Best of luck to them. I'm sure the University will put that property to good use.
December 7th, 2018 at 8:28 AM ^
THey probably have gotten a lot of offers over the years, but I will say, Fingerle was tough to beat in terms of a service and quality. I've run into people in the store who drove from the east side of the metro area just to get items or some millwork done at Fingerle.
December 6th, 2018 at 11:47 PM ^
Bought the wood for our loft in West Quad-Rumsey in 1984 from Fingerle.
December 7th, 2018 at 1:27 AM ^
I bought the wood for our loft in South Quad/Gomberg at Fingerle in 1975.
P.S. West Quad sucks!
December 7th, 2018 at 6:36 AM ^
You must be directionally challenged given that it's South Quad that sucks.
December 7th, 2018 at 8:30 AM ^
“Directionally challenged?” I’d say that pejorative belongs to the University itself. Just what is South Quad south of besides West Quad???
And, yeah, South Quad sucks - but even worse in the 80s when I was there. At least the cafeteria is pretty awesome now.
December 7th, 2018 at 9:20 AM ^
I believe, after the remodel a few years ago, West Quad doesn't even have a cafeteria. Its residents have to walk over to SQuad.
December 7th, 2018 at 5:49 PM ^
That is correct.