In Thursday’s (5/31) Detroit Free Press, Mark Stryker reports, “After years of difficult negotiations, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra has reached a deal with its banks to retire the $54 million in real estate debt that had threatened to push the cash-strapped orchestra into bankruptcy. The deal removes a huge roadblock in front of the DSO as it rebuilds in the wake of last year’s six-month musicians strike and the downward economic spiral that precipitated it. The agreement also paves the way for an endowment campaign long considered crucial to fixing the orchestra’s finances once and for all. The DSO and its banks had been caught in a standoff not unusual when nonprofits find themselves with mortgages they can no longer afford. Major donors needed to build the endowment won’t pony up millions if they think the money is going to banks rather than the organization. At the same time, banks typically view the same donors as a prime source for repayment. … Financial details were not disclosed by either side, but the agreement was consummated Friday with a onetime payout that was almost certainly far less than the original $54-million bond on the Max M. Fisher Music Center, which opened in 2003.”
Posted May 31, 2012
