The Warren City Council has rezoned 20 acres of the property for multiple-family housing. Gallo already owned an adjacent strip that he plans for 19 houses ranging from 1,500-sf ranches to 2,500-sf colonials, with lots from 60 feet wide to upward of 80 feet. Complete with attached two-car garages, basements and brick on all sides, the units will cost between $160,000 and $280,000, he says.

Nearby homeowners, corporate neighbors at People's State Bank and other residents who spoke during a public hearing on the proposed rezoning overwhelmingly supported the project.

Gallo, whose company also builds car washes, became interested in purchasing the former farm property from an owner in 1991, shortly after graduating from high school. "She used to chase me out of there and say, 'It's not for sale,'" he says. Gallo, who plans to move his company headquarters to the Ryan-13 Mile site, admits that the property would be ideal for commercial development. But he notes many commercial storefronts are vacant and that he wants to please nearby property owners. The next step for the project will be review of a site plan by the city's Planning Commission.