Event Photos - Click on thumbnail to view larger size photo
June 24, 2015 - M1 Concourse ground breaking - Pontiac, MI
After a few years in the financing and planning stages, the M1 Concourse has broken ground on the previous site of the GMC Truck Division on Woodward in Pontiac.
The M1 Concourse property started out as the Rapid Motor Vehicle Company, which was founded in 1902 by two brothers, Max and Morris Grabowsky. The brothers built their first pickup, a one-ton truck prototype, in 1900. They went on to build one-ton trucks and this was the beginning of the GMC Truck Division after they were acquired by Detroit’s General Motors in 1909.
Mark Thomas then owned the 87 acres from 1986, until Brad Oleshansky acquired the property from Racer Trust through the GM Bankruptcy. He has been engaged in putting Pontiac back on the map with the M1 Concourse project. His vision was to maintain the property’s historic automotive focus by building a facility focused around the automobile in almost every way possible. It will include private garages that can double as places to hold parties and hang out, restaurants, shops, car shows, and a track.
The M1 Concourse is described as the “auto lovers playground” by founder and CEO Brad Oleshansky. The M1 Concourse project has been in the works for about two years and it should be completed later this year, with the garages to be finished by spring of 2016. Phase 2 garages went on sale Wednesday. These will take three to five years to complete and next spring the sold out 80 garages will open. The track will open before that. The 1.5 mile performance track is NOT a race track, and it is for use by the owners of the garages only. The first year’s use of the track is free, but it is rumored to cost $3,700 to join a “car club” and access the track after that.
At the groundbreaking on June 24, garage owner Matt Zubrick was sitting next to Mayor Waterman of Pontiac on stage. Mayor Waterman used the words revitalize, reimagine, and expressed excitement for the project, saying that the M1 Concourse was referred to as the “Diamond Corridor” in the new master plan.
Sheriff Bouchard spoke and said that we were all going to be given a $1,000 parking ticket to pay for his Lamborghini Sheriff’s car (see photos). In a Pontiac update, he informed us that the response time has improved from 80 minutes to 6 minutes since the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department took over the Pontiac Police Department and that violent crime is down 37%. He jokingly added that if you invest in Pontiac his office will give you a 2-3 miles per hour break on speeding tickets! He is quite the comedian. Brad Oleshansky went on to say that Auch Construction Co. loves Avon Donuts and he thinks he is their biggest customer….Bouchard said he was their biggest customer, “you know cops, donuts…” and he added that a bag of donuts from Avon would be handed out to us as we left (Brad was not kidding; we got yummy donuts).
Several other dignitaries were present at the groundbreaking, including the office of Governor Rick Snyder who sent Senior Vice President of Community Development the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Mark Morante. Oakland County Treasurer Andy Meisner said that because Brad is inspiring other people to tackle some of the challenging properties in the area, he needs to tackle the Silverdome next. Pastor Doug Jones from the Pontiac Church Welcome Missionary Baptist was also present and celebrating his birthday.
In addition to the Sheriff’s Lambo, there were a number of other cool cars represented at the event, everything from classics to current high performance. Among them were a 2016 Viper, which is not even released yet, and a Fire Maker 1956 Cadillac Sled de Ville!
In a recent email from Brad Oleshansky this is to be noted: In case you missed the big news…..M1 Concourse is officially under construction. We are entering our second week of site work and the transformation is well under way. We have been overwhelmed with the media attention since our groundbreaking on June 24. You can see some of the highlights here:
http://m1concourse.com/media.php
We officially started Phase 2 Private Garage sales this week and have already sold 10 units! Due to the rapid sellout of the 80 Phase 1 units and the significant demand for Phase 2, we want to be sure everyone understands the details and process.
1) Phase 2 will include the following unit types:
- 2,400 sf units (drive through unit - garage doors on either end of the unit) that hold 10-12 vehicles on the floor ($500,000 each);
- 1,200 sf units that hold 5 vehicles on the floor ($250,000 each);
- 1,000 sf units that hold 4 vehicles on the floor ($220-240k each) and
- 600 sf units that hold 2 vehicles on the floor ($125,000 each).
For more information, check out our photos above and the following links:
http://m1concourse.com
https://www.facebook.com/avondonuts
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_Motor_Vehicle_Company
The M1 Concourse property started out as the Rapid Motor Vehicle Company, which was founded in 1902 by two brothers, Max and Morris Grabowsky. The brothers built their first pickup, a one-ton truck prototype, in 1900. They went on to build one-ton trucks and this was the beginning of the GMC Truck Division after they were acquired by Detroit’s General Motors in 1909.
Mark Thomas then owned the 87 acres from 1986, until Brad Oleshansky acquired the property from Racer Trust through the GM Bankruptcy. He has been engaged in putting Pontiac back on the map with the M1 Concourse project. His vision was to maintain the property’s historic automotive focus by building a facility focused around the automobile in almost every way possible. It will include private garages that can double as places to hold parties and hang out, restaurants, shops, car shows, and a track.
The M1 Concourse is described as the “auto lovers playground” by founder and CEO Brad Oleshansky. The M1 Concourse project has been in the works for about two years and it should be completed later this year, with the garages to be finished by spring of 2016. Phase 2 garages went on sale Wednesday. These will take three to five years to complete and next spring the sold out 80 garages will open. The track will open before that. The 1.5 mile performance track is NOT a race track, and it is for use by the owners of the garages only. The first year’s use of the track is free, but it is rumored to cost $3,700 to join a “car club” and access the track after that.
At the groundbreaking on June 24, garage owner Matt Zubrick was sitting next to Mayor Waterman of Pontiac on stage. Mayor Waterman used the words revitalize, reimagine, and expressed excitement for the project, saying that the M1 Concourse was referred to as the “Diamond Corridor” in the new master plan.
Sheriff Bouchard spoke and said that we were all going to be given a $1,000 parking ticket to pay for his Lamborghini Sheriff’s car (see photos). In a Pontiac update, he informed us that the response time has improved from 80 minutes to 6 minutes since the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department took over the Pontiac Police Department and that violent crime is down 37%. He jokingly added that if you invest in Pontiac his office will give you a 2-3 miles per hour break on speeding tickets! He is quite the comedian. Brad Oleshansky went on to say that Auch Construction Co. loves Avon Donuts and he thinks he is their biggest customer….Bouchard said he was their biggest customer, “you know cops, donuts…” and he added that a bag of donuts from Avon would be handed out to us as we left (Brad was not kidding; we got yummy donuts).
Several other dignitaries were present at the groundbreaking, including the office of Governor Rick Snyder who sent Senior Vice President of Community Development the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Mark Morante. Oakland County Treasurer Andy Meisner said that because Brad is inspiring other people to tackle some of the challenging properties in the area, he needs to tackle the Silverdome next. Pastor Doug Jones from the Pontiac Church Welcome Missionary Baptist was also present and celebrating his birthday.
In addition to the Sheriff’s Lambo, there were a number of other cool cars represented at the event, everything from classics to current high performance. Among them were a 2016 Viper, which is not even released yet, and a Fire Maker 1956 Cadillac Sled de Ville!
In a recent email from Brad Oleshansky this is to be noted: In case you missed the big news…..M1 Concourse is officially under construction. We are entering our second week of site work and the transformation is well under way. We have been overwhelmed with the media attention since our groundbreaking on June 24. You can see some of the highlights here:
http://m1concourse.com/media.php
We officially started Phase 2 Private Garage sales this week and have already sold 10 units! Due to the rapid sellout of the 80 Phase 1 units and the significant demand for Phase 2, we want to be sure everyone understands the details and process.
1) Phase 2 will include the following unit types:
- 2,400 sf units (drive through unit - garage doors on either end of the unit) that hold 10-12 vehicles on the floor ($500,000 each);
- 1,200 sf units that hold 5 vehicles on the floor ($250,000 each);
- 1,000 sf units that hold 4 vehicles on the floor ($220-240k each) and
- 600 sf units that hold 2 vehicles on the floor ($125,000 each).
For more information, check out our photos above and the following links:
http://m1concourse.com
https://www.facebook.com/avondonuts
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_Motor_Vehicle_Company
