METRO DETROIT | Development & Projects

[DetroitMan]

Novi convention center owner’s mega development proposal grows to $400M-plus with added housing

Novi City West, an effort spearheaded by Blair Bowman Sr., owner of the nearby Vibe Credit Union Showplace convention center, is now expected to cost $407 million. That’s up from $270 million due to the addition of hundreds of housing units to the plan for the Grand River Avenue, Beck Road and Interstate 96 area. In all, the proposed development would include multiple components — a hotel, apartments, townhouses, condos and dining options, among other features — spread across some 50 or so acres west of the 600,000-square-foot Vibe Credit Union Showplace, formerly Suburban Collection Showplace.

There would be some 320 multifamily units built as part of a project called North Grand. Additionally, there would be some 200 units of neuro-inclusive condominiums for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to be developed by Plymouth-based Three Oaks Communities. That project, dubbed Novi Oaks, would be the second such community in the region that Three Oaks is developing, along with the $30 million-$35 million, 55-unit Auburn Oaks project that kicked off construction earlier this month off of Auburn Road in Rochester Hills.

Substantial portions of the overall Novi City West vision are contingent upon lawmakers expanding the Transformational Brownfield Program, a large-scale public incentive that has pushed major development and redevelopment projects in Detroit and elsewhere across the financial finish line.

Some lawmakers have sought to more than double the program’s $1.6 billion cap to $3.5 billion, and double the annual limit on post-construction tax captures — things like sales taxes on goods and services at a redeveloped site, as well as income tax captures for people living and working there — from $80 million to $160 million. Recently, Michigan Speaker of the House Matt Hall has said he’s open to expanding the program in conjunction with property tax cuts as part of state budget negotiations.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/real-estate/commercial/cdb-novi-city-west-grows-20260629/

[DetroitMan]

Former Blue Cross office complex in Southfield to undergo $65.1M housing redevelopment

Part of a former Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan campus in Southfield is expected to be turned into more than 300 units of workforce housing in a $65.1 million redevelopment.

An affiliate of Manchester, N.H.-based Brady Sullivan Properties plans on building 85 one-bedroom units, 131 two-bedroom units and 87 three-bedroom units in the vacant office buildings at 27200 and 27300 W. 11 Mile Rd., according to Southfield City Council documents. The project is expected to receive $27.4 million in brownfield tax-increment financing reimbursement over the course of 30 years, per the documents.

“This redevelopment demonstrates Southfield’s commitment to transforming aging commercial properties into vibrant destinations that meet today’s market needs,” Southfield Mayor Kenson Siver said in a press release. “By attracting significant private investment and creating new workforce housing opportunities, we are strengthening our tax base, supporting local businesses, and continuing to position Southfield as a premier place to live, work, and invest. Every new housing project brings us one step closer to achieving our goal of expanding housing opportunities across Southfield.”

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/real-estate/commercial/cdb-west-11-redevelopment-southfield-20260707/

[Velvet_Highground]

11 Mile and Inkster is a pretty prime location Carpenter Lake Park is right around the corner & there’s some cool mid-century modern architecture or older in a very wooded area with a lot of streams. It would be good to see something that benefits the community I can’t read more, I’m left feeling a bit vague about what’s happening and the timeline.

Southfield has potentially a pretty large task and the city is currently without arguably its most important transportation artery. I’m generally very positive about Southfield but there has been more than one instance of idle high rises becoming blighted. There’s also the scandal about contaminated dirt from Northland that was used to backfill demolished homes in large part on the Eastside.

Well this would be a good opportunity for Southfield create a successful model for dealing with office vacancies in its extensive commercial & office districts. I hope to hear more about the project and related efforts.

[DetroitMan]

The site of an ambitious $400M residential development proposal in Pontiac is up for sale

Four years after the announcement of a large residential vision costing up to $400 million for a former Pontiac public housing site, the property’s owner is putting it up for sale.

Tzvi Koslowe, however, may still try to proceed forward with his grand 1,300- to 1,500-unit vision for the 34-acre property on Crystal Lake, said one of his brokers, Tony Fayne. “He is keeping all options open at the moment and is not opposed to moving forward with the project,” said Fayne, who is vice president with The Jonna Group, a brokerage team working for the local offices of Toronto-based Colliers International Inc. “He is simply relying on us to test the market and possibly deliver a joint venture as well.”

Koslowe did not respond to a request for comment. n 2022, Koslowe’s Florida-based SK Investments Group, working with a local team of architects and development advisers, submitted conceptual plans to the city for the site on Crystal Lake west of Woodward Avenue and south of Orchard Lake Road that used to be the 364-unit Lakeside Homes public housing complex.

The vision for the peninsula that juts out southward into the lake featured more than a dozen new market-rate residential buildings, including a pair of 14-story mid-rises, plus 11 three- to five-story buildings with apartments and townhouses. There would also be 50,000 square feet of commercial space under the 2022 plan.

The Lakeside Homes complex was demolished a quarter-century ago in 2001, but has a long history, ranging from World War II military barracks to apartments to public housing with streets named after prominent Black Pontiac residents, the Oakland Press reported four years ago.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/real-estate/commercial/cdb-crystal-lake-pontiac-20260714/

[Velvet_Highground]

I can see why the developer would be looking for a partner for the Crystal Lake project costs are rising and it's a difficult but desirable site with the potential to be a flagship project. SW Pontiac, Keego Harbor and Sylvan Lake have the potential to become a real destination Telegraph and Orchard Lake is a mess but there's lake access affordable property.

The Orchard Trail Greenway goes through the woods along the Clinton River between Crystal Lake and Sylvan Lake is a bit of a hidden gem & ties in with adjacent parks. Seminole Hills and Franklin Blvd are stunners of grand old neighborhoods. The road network in the lakes of Oakland County eventually turns into spaghetti and Pontiac is a hub for freeways, highways, avenues & major roads of all stripes.

It will be interesting to see how things change after Oakland County finishes the GM towers and Phoenix Center redevelopment. Addressing how the Woodward Loop isolates downtown from the neighborhoods needs to be addressed but a more vibrant downtown should help make that more self evident.