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Market grows for used computer~ PAGE 'jO ~MotorCity
likes billboards PAGE 22
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Plant closing bill stirs controversy PAGE 13
WEEK OF MAY 27 - JUNE 2,1985 VOLUME 1 0 NO. 17
GMF plots sales pitch on site vote
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Bonds eyed for airport renovation
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BYWAYNELOEWE Special to CRAIN'S DETROIT BUSINESS
The concern these days at GMF Robotics Corp. is not limited to the latest in robot technology. These days, top corporate officials are busily reviewing voter registration lists and public opinion polling data. They are designing strategies- for a July 9 referendum vote that may determine whether the three-year-old joint venture between General Motors Corp. and Fujitsu-Fanuc Ltd., the Japanese manufacturer of hal( of the world's industrial robots, will locate its corporate headquarters in Rochester Hills. The comp~ny is clll!ently leasing office space it.l Troy. The vote may also go a long way toward determining whether Southeast Michigan develops into a world-renowned cradle of robotics activity. GMF spent two years looking at 70 sites in the United States and Europe before selecting Rochester Hills last year, to the delight of city and county officials. But homeowners living near the 40-acre parcel GMF optioned from Jensam Properties of Troy expressed concern that the facility would cause pollution and traffic problems and eventually a decline in property values. After the Rochester Hills City Council rezoned the property from single-family use to office-research use in April, homeowners spearheaded by residents of the Quail Ridge subdivision had little difficulty collecting more than 7,000 signatures - twice the number necessary - to force a referendum vote on the rezoning question. Quail Ridge, where the cost of homes is in six figures, is about a half mile east of the disputed wooded parcel, which lies along the Clinton River near the border of Rochester Hills and Auburn Hills. The Oakland Technology Park, an 1,800-acre development which has attracted such companies as Comerica Inc. and Electronic Data Systems Corp., is west ofthe proposed GMF site. "We want to be a good neighbor," GMF pro-
See GMF, PAGE 26
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COB charts rank financial institutions From the giants to the corner bank they're all included in the Crain's Detroit Business comparison of financial institutions in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw counties. Separate listings are made for bank holding companies, independent banks, and savings and loan associations. The rankings are by assets, earnings and Ioans,with comparisons between 1984 and 1983. PAGES 14-15.
BYBRADFORDWERNLE CRAIN'S DETROIT BUSINESS
RICK LIEDER
Bill Steen (left) and Dan Heathcote of Great Water Yachts survey the Detroit River scene from the bow of the Wayward Princess.
Another cruise boat will join river fleet Built in 1979, the $750,000 Wayward Princess is owned by NautiCRAIN'S DETROIT BUSINESS cal Adventures in Windsor, a group There is a saying that a boat is of Canadian and American invesjust a hole in the water surrounded tors. The boat's former home was by wood into which you pour Toronto, and it cruised Lake Onmoney, but Great Water Yachts in tario and ran on excursion trips to Niagara Falls. Birmingham doesn't believe it. The leasing agent for Detroit's Docked at Windsor, the boat will new cruise boat - the Wayward pick up passengers at Hart Plaza, Princess - says it expects to book Chene Park and the Roostertail camore than $300,000 worth of busi- terers on Marquette Drive. ness this year on the "floating hosUnlike the Star of Detroit, a pitality suite." cruising restaurant moored at Hart The boat joins the Lansdowne, a Plaza and open to the public, the permanently moored ferry-restau- Wayward Princess is expected to rant near Cobo Hall, and the Star draw 85 percent of its business of Detroit in a growing use of the from private charters by DetroitDetroit River for dining and enter- area businesses, Steen said. The taining. boat will also offer Sunday brunch The trim, 109-foot, three-deck cruises for the public. Wayward Princess makes its De"We are concentrating on the troit debut on Sunday, June 2, corporate markets, where there is a kicking off a season that may last need for this kind of entertaininto December, said William Steen, ment ... something other than president of Great Water Yachts, which leases 12 yachts in the DeSee BOAT, PAGE 25 ~ troit area. BY AMY BODWIN
Sidewalks that move, more parking spaces, and major road reconstruction are likely to be among major improvements at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport under a bond issue proposal that should be complete within 45 days. Louis Sugo, director of public information at the airport, said details of the proposed bond issue aren't complete, but he estimated the value of the issue at between $50 million and $100 million. The last time the airport floated bonds was a $69 million issue in 1969. That issue financed the International Terminal and runway development. Metro has been experiencing record growth recently, and 1985's passenger figures are running well ahead of 1984, a record volume year. During the first two months of 1985, passenger business was up 17.8 percent over January and February 1984. Timothy Ward, Wayne County director of airports, notified the Committee on Public Service of the Wayne County Board of Commissioners of the plan during the committee's airport tour Thursday. If all goes smoothly, Sugo said, construction on some of the projects could begin later this year or early next year. The developments are in line with a 1984 airport master plan prepared for Metro by TransPlan Inc., a New York City airport consulting firm. Sugo said one likely result would be a moving sidewalk between the north and south terminal. A moving sidewalk is a conveyor system that moves passengers between areas. Also probable on the list are additional parking, probably in the form of a new deck next to the existing deck, and more open lots around the International Terminal. Reconstruction of
See AIRPORT, PAGE 25
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Fast food wins battle against WSU cafeteria BY AMY BODWIN CRAIN'S DETROIT BUSINESS
Wayne State University's cafeteria has closed its doors because of competition with a Burger King restaurant that opened in February in the same university building, Wayne State officials say. Goodbye, cafeteria; hello, fast-food haven. The university may drop the cafeteria - the only one on campus - altogether, in favor of a fast-food mall. A Taco Bell, Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop or Little Caesar's pizza restaurant may join the Burger King if the 17-year-old cafeteria food
service program in the Student Center Building on Gullen Mall is abandoned, university officials say. ''We have letters of interest from a number of fast-food corporations, indicating that they are interested in space," said David Johnson, director of the student center. "Cafeterias are pretty much an old method for delivering food." Fast food doesn't seem to have many opponents, even though the average cost of a meal is $1 dollarmore than a cafeteria meal, Johnson said.
See WSU, PAGE 26
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