"This is huge," says DDA Director Gina Cavaliere. "This is the next major step, to seek authorization from the planning commission and the city council, to go from design to steel in the ground, and bricks and mortar."Mayor Mark Steenbergh has been pushing a plan to create a "new" Downtown including new private office buildings, condominiums, shops and restaurants in a pedestrian-friendly, urban setting. The new municipal complex is seen by the mayor as step one in this process.

In all, the city expects to spend some $75 million on the project.

The DDA recently approved a construction budget that includes $32.7 million for the new 115,000-sf city hall and library just east of the current city hall on Van Dyke, north of 12 Mile Road; $9.4 million for a four-story parking deck; $4.2 million for a 1.8-acre park; and $8.6 million for streets.

A planning commission public hearing on the plan is tentatively scheduled for Jan. 26. The plan could go before the city council at the council's March 9 meeting.

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