2/24 - Detroit News - Land Purchase
Hospital site sale weighed
Officials OK $23.5M deal for old psychiatric center land, contingent on passage of millage.
Steve Pardo / The Detroit News
NORTHVILLE TOWNSHIP — The township could become the owner of the majority of the 414-acre former psychiatric hospital site if voters approve an August millage to purchase the property.
Officials approved a letter of intent to buy about 330 acres of the land at Seven Mile and Haggerty from the development company REIS for $23.5 million.
“While the letter of intent does not now lock us into buying the property, it does allow us to meet with residents and decide if this is something that they believe we should pursue,” Township Supervisor Mark Abbo said Monday.
The deal would reduce the scope of the commercial development and would keep the mature trees on the site and preserve a green space, said Sue Hillebrand, township clerk. A brownfield development plan funded by the developable portion of the property would stay in place.
Any deal is contingent on voters approving a millage in order to raise the capital — an admitted tough burden to shoulder given these economic times, Abbo said.
“However, the board strongly felt that we needed to provide the voters the opportunity to let their voices be heard on this issue,” he said.
Steve Emsley, a member of the grass-roots group Citizens for Public Accountability and Responsible Development, says the issue has promise but more information is needed.
“On the surface this looks like it could be a very good deal for the township and the surrounding cities,” Emsley said. “One of our main goals is to see the property responsibly developed.”
But the group is in litigation against the township over an open meetings squabble related to the site. That issue would have to be cleared up before the organization throws any support to the proposal, Emsley said.
“We can’t support this initiative until our litigation is resolved,” he said.
After the hospital closed in 2003, the state struggled for two years to sell the property. In 2005, the site was sold for $31.5 million and REIS unveiled a $1 billion development plan designed to create an urban village of 1,000 homes and a commercial district with seven-story buildings.
The plan went against local ordinances in its scope and size and officials rejected the plan. The fallout led to a $100 million lawsuit being filed against the township by the developers. A development agreement was reached just days before the land was up for annexation to Livonia last August. Livonia residents voted down the issue, keeping the site on township soil.
You can reach Steve Pardo at (734) 462-2191.