DETROIT-It took about a decade, but a retail project looks like it is finally going up next to the former Michigan State Fairgrounds at Eight Mile Road and Woodward Avenue, at the city’s northern border. And thanks to Gov. Rick Snyder signing legislation Monday, the 163-fairground itself may be sold for another development.
The $62 million project is now called Gateway Marketplace. Locally-based REDICO has said it is building a 200,000-square-foot Meijer store next to the fairgrounds, on property that has seen a number of failed project announcements, including a pullout by JCPenney. Even Meijer has still not yet confirmed it will open a store at the location.
Operating since 1905, former Gov. Jennifer Granholm pulled the plug on the fairgrounds in 2009 due to low visitor count. Now, with the legislation passed, the property will eventually be placed with the State Land Bank Fast Track Authority for whatever sale process will work best.
The only state rules are that the land can’t be used for a casino, or some sort of racetrack, either for horses or cars (though the property has previously been the site of former NASCAR races). A five-member State Fairgrounds Advisory Committee, appointed by Snyder from the neighboring community, will be the group to recommend a sale plan to the state. It’s reported that some believe a commuter bus or rail station would be a great prospect for the site.
Notwithstanding the neighboring Meijer project, the fairgrounds – surrounded by dilapidated homes – is not seen as a great draw for development. The property is polluted by lead paintand asbestos, and would require about $5.1 million worth of demolition and remediation, according to a Michigan Senate bill analysis written in February. The site was appraised at $13 million in 2007, but the pollution was not factored in, and a 2009 appraisal “found the property to have a negligible value,” according to the analysis.
There is still one tenant at the fair, a Joe Dumars Fieldhouse, run by the retired basketball star and current president of the Detroit Pistons team. His lease and other minor revenue from the site provided about $245,500 to the state in fiscal year 2010-11, with expenses for maintenance totaled about $1.1 million.
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