The former Joe Louis Arena parking garage traded hands in late May for $30 million after its previous owner defaulted on a land contract.

The Detroit Regional Convention Facility Authority, which runs the Huntington Place convention center, bought the roughly 3,000-space deck at 900 W. Jefferson Ave. from an entity tied to Detroit-based developer and landlord The Sterling Group, according to online city property sale and land records.

The DRCFA board unanimously signed off on the purchase May 23, according to meeting minutes. Building a new five-story parking deck was also under consideration, board subcommittee agendas reflect, although precisely where is not known. The property sits across from where a new nearly $400 million convention center-style hotel is being constructed. 

“The DRCFA purchase of the Joe Louis Arena garage was the most cost-effective solution to creating additional parking for the Huntington Place expansion, hotel project and other projects in the area,” Claude Molinari, chairman of the DRCFA board, said in an emailed statement on Friday. “Purchasing and upgrading the existing JLA garage will save significant taxpayer dollars versus alternative approaches such as new construction.”

Sterling Group had sold the deck in 2021 to Grosse Pointe Farms-based Foster Financial Co. in a land contract deal, but a judgment recorded in Wayne County shows that the property went into forfeiture last year.

The judgment says less than half of the purchase price had been paid. The 36th District Court in Detroit found that Foster Financial had an outstanding balance of about $27.2 million, including principal and interest.

Emails and voice mails seeking comment were sent to Sterling Group; Foster Financial; and Sterling Group’s attorneys on the case from Detroit-based Barris, Sott, Denn & Driker PLLC on Friday morning.

The deck sits across from Sterling Group’s multi-tower development on the old Joe Louis Arena site, which was demolished after the Detroit Red Wings moved to Little Caesars Arena.

The site has become home to new residents and, in the coming years, is set to add a large hotel. 

Sterling Group has built a roughly 500-unit, 25-story market-rate apartment tower called The Residences at Water Square that opened earlier this year and has started construction on a 25-story, 600-room JW Marriott Detroit Water Square that is expected to open in 2027 by the time the city plays host to the NCAA Men’s Final Four basketball tournament. 

Foster Financial picked up the garage in March 2021 in a $36 million land contract deal not long after it, along with a joint-venture partner, bought the 28-story 211 West Fort office tower in October 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Foster Financial said on its website at the time of the deck purchase that it planned to do millions of dollars in renovations, including new LED lighting, electric vehicle charging stations, a car wash facility, dry cleaning pickup and drop-off services plus a shuttle. 

The company is now out of both of those deals.

The Grosse Pointe family office Tribus LLC bought Foster Financial out of its ownership of 211 West Fort in October 2023. On its website, Foster Financial says it sold its interest for five times the amount of equity it put in.