During a brief hearing this morning in U.S. bankruptcy court, Judge Steven Rhodes declared his intention to make a final ruling on Detroit's plan to get out of bankruptcy.
Rhodes said he'll make his decision during the first week of November.
His announcement comes after the city announced that it had reached a deal with one of its last remaining major creditors. The Financial Guaranty Insurance Company will no longer oppose Detroit's plan to exit bankruptcy under the terms of a deal reached at 2:30 in the morning last week.
FGIC, which stood to lose $1.1 billion, agreed to terms that gives the company the right to develop the area where the Joe Louis Arena and parking garage now stand. The deal also gave them millions of dollars in credits for future purchases and city notes.
Rod Meloni of WDIV-TV was in court this morning live-blogging. He wrote about what we can expect next for the days remaining in Detroit's bankruptcy trial:
We will be back in court 9am tomorrow morning when we will hear three or four witnesses on the FGIC settlement with the city that includes the Joe Louis Arena demolition and reconstruction. Then on Wednesday we will hear from Martha Kopacz, the judge's own expert on plan feasibility. That may be a long slog because we will hear from her regarding the numbers, whether they work out. She has previously said it is feasible but it is a very difficult path getting there. Her report came out more than a month ago and it was long before the Syncora and the FGIC settlements. How all the changes will impact the bankruptcy are what will likely be discussed Wednesday. Then a week from today, October 28th is the start of closing arguments. It is likely to take a couple of days for that. Then the judge has set the end of election week as his time for making his ruling regarding whether Detroit's plan of adjustment is feasible and whether it can exit bankruptcy. It is not set in stone, he said his "oral decision will be in open court near the end of the week of November 3rd."
