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Brownfield plan at Livonia Mall OK'd; Observer Feb 5
Topic Started: Feb 5 2009, 03:00 PM (731 Views)
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Brownfield plan at Livonia Mall OK'd

By Ken Abramczyk • OBSERVER STAFF WRITER • February 5, 2009

The Michigan Economic Growth Authority approved a brownfield work plan Tuesday for the redevelopment of the former Livonia Mall. The $60 million redevelopment of the former mall, renamed Livonia Marketplace, will be supported through a state and local tax capture of $6.5 million.

The project will include the demolition of the existing mall building, discarded sewer and water infrastructure and parking lots. The site will be redeveloped with new construction of approximately 300,000 square feet of retail space, including a proposed Wal-Mart.

Additional retail space will be constructed as market conditions permit. Site improvements such as new parking lots, landscaping and private driveways will be included. The project is expected to create up to 486 new jobs.

Mayor Jack Kirksey and other city officials appeared before the authority Tuesday to share information on the significance of the mall to northeast Livonia. He was pleased with the approval.

"What (the brownfield plan) allows us to do is capture the Clarenceville school taxes and the state will replace the taxes to the school," Kirksey said.

The brownfield is critical to redevelop the mall site for future growth in the area, which Kirksey hopes follows a similar growth in new businesses opening on Plymouth Road after Wonderland Mall was redeveloped. "The brownfield allows us to set up a revolving fund," Kirksey said.

Once the mall is redeveloped, the city also can pursue the creation of a corridor authority for that area of the city, similar to the Plymouth Road Development Authority, Kirksey said.

State Sen. Glenn Anderson said the plan would have "great impact toward invigorating Livonia's economy."

"I look forward to seeing this project completed and this abandoned property transformed into a beautiful new, vibrant site for families to work, shop and play," Anderson said.

kabramcz@hometownlife.com| (313) 222-2591

http://www.hometownlife.com/article/20090205/NEWS10/902050731/1027
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Otis B.
Veteran
Mall developers ready to roll
By Ken Abramczyk • OBSERVER STAFF WRITER • February 8, 2009

Developers met Wednesday with nearby residents of the Livonia Marketplace to reassure them that construction will be a daytime operation and that construction trucks will enter from Seven Mile only.


Work will begin now that the Michigan Economic Growth Authority approved tax credits Tuesday to pay for the redevelopment of the former Livonia Mall, built in 1964.

The $60 million redevelopment of the former mall, renamed Livonia Marketplace, will be supported through a state and local tax capture of $6.5 million.

The project will include the demolition of the existing mall building, discarded sewer and water infrastructure and parking lots. The site will be redeveloped with new construction of approximately 300,000 square feet of retail space, including a proposed Wal-Mart.

Bryan Amann, an attorney who represents developer Livonia Phoenix in its discussions with the city, said crews would be working to remove hazardous materials, which can range from fluorescent light bulbs to tile that contains asbestos, which could take up to 40 days. Then the actual demolition of the structure would begin.

"We expect to have that done by the time people will be opening their windows," Amann said, meaning mid- to late May.

Amann said developers were pleased with the state's approval. "We're hoping it serves as a catalyst for the area and that by its design, layout and appearance, it will create new daily economic activity there," Amann said.

Developers met with neighbors to answer questions, Amann said.

In December, the City Council approved a planned general development agreement with Livonia Phoenix L.L.C. In doing so, the council approved changing a group of uses (drive-through pharmacy, theater, beer and wine sales at restaurants) from waiver uses to permitted uses for the Livonia Marketplace exclusively. The change allows for some flexibility for the developer.

City Planner Mark Taormina said signage plans and reviews of building uses at the former Baker's Square would take place as the project proceeds, reviewing everything from the grades of the excavation and construction site to the species of trees used in the landscaping. But Taormina believes the development will help energize that area's businesses.

"It's going to take an old mall that was obsolete and turn it into a viable new retail center," Taormina said.

http://www.hometownlife.com/article/20090208/NEWS10/902080539/1027
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Mrs.M
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Plymouth planners vote against Sheldon rezoning
http://www.hometownlife.com/article/20120315/NEWS15/120315002/Plymouth-planners-vote-against-Sheldon-rezoning?odyssey=nav|head
9:57 AM, Mar. 15, 2012 |
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Written by
Matt Jachman
Observer Staff Writer
Loud applause from the audience in a packed City Hall meeting room greeted the Plymouth Planning Commission’s 9-0 vote against a controversial Sheldon Road rezoning bid Wednesday night.

The request from Grand/Sakwa Properties, which has an option to buy the 36-acre warehouse property on Sheldon south of M-14, had drawn criticism from neighboring residents and others who said they feared a shopping center on the site would dangerously increase traffic, cause noise and light pollution, bring crime to the area and sap city resources.
Grand/Sakwa, which has developed several major shopping plazas in the region, is asking that the property’s zoning be changed from industrial to general business, which would allow for a variety of retail, restaurant, office and other uses. A Grand/Sakwa representative had touted a shopping center on the site as an economic boost for the area.

More than a dozen people, most with strong opinions against the plan, took to the microphone Wednesday to express their views to planners. The Planning Commission’s vote was a recommendation to the Plymouth City Commission, which will have the final say on the rezoning request.

“The lure for a lot of people is the quaintness here,” said Jim Lampson, who lives nearby, after the vote. A shopping center on Sheldon Road would turn the city’s quaint environment “upside down,” Lampson added.

Attorney Bryan Amann, representing Grand/Sakwa on Wednesday, said he wasn’t surprised at the vote, suggesting planners had their minds made up before the meeting.

Scant discussion of the issue among the planners before the vote “spoke volumes,” Amann said.
I'd agree with you, but then we'd both be WRONG.
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