Former Kmart HQ redevelopment may soon take the next step

[Airforceguy]

The proposal in Troy to turn the 40-acre site into a mixed-use development called Somerset West goes before the Planning Commission for a public hearing and expected vote on the long-in-the-works vision on March 11. R. Brent Savidant, the city’s community development director, said the commission will vote on whether to recommend Somerset West’s planned unit development proposal to the City Council, which would have the ultimate say.

The property is owned by a joint venture between the Forbes and Frankel families, which also together own the luxe Somerset Collection shopping mall next door.

In September, Nathan Forbes presented a revised vision for the site the families have owned for close to two decades. It follows up on a 2007 proposal for the site called The Pavilions of Troy, which featured many of the same components, minus a proposed University of Michigan Health multi-specialty ambulatory center for clinical and diagnostic services that’s now proposed for the property.

In addition to that, the development could include up to 750 residential units, up to 500,000 square feet of office space, up to 300,000 square feet of retail and a hotel with up to 250 rooms and parking.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/real-e...ing-commission

[JBMcB]

The developer must be confident, as they've been grading the site for the last few weeks, when the weather has been clear.

[Gsgeorge]

There was a little drama at the last City of Troy planning meeting last week, when the planning commission was poised to vote on the PUD after Forbes implemented revisions - some defined by the Commission from last meeting, and other changes that came from U of M. The situation is outlined nicely in Crains [[trying to use a gift article link here):
https://www.crainsdetroit.com/real-e...gfta-ur-250430

Troy planning commission balked at part of the site being reverted to parking, and asked Forbes to further clarify use plans and square footage -- Forbes said those numbers were in flux still, but that maximums had been given. The commission wants minimums and is demanding the 1-acre park be expanded.

The meeting was further complicated by questions around U of M's purchase of sections of the site -- both the city of Troy and Forbes technically have no control over what the University builds, and they won't have to abide by Troy zoning restrictions either, as a state entity. The neighbors are also insisting on a buffer zone, that is defined in a legal consent agreement of 100 feet, but the neighbors are asking for more. Forbes did not have representatives from U of M at the meeting, but said he would've had them there if the commission insisted on it. The Commission voted to postpone a vote on the plan and requested further clarity and changes from Forbes, and Forbes approached the podium at that point. Forbes hinted at scrubbing the project entirely, and left with his team in a huff:
https://www.youtube.com/live/chmpYfi...a2m7F_&t=10039

[JBMcB]

There was a little drama at the last City of Troy planning meeting last week, when the planning commission was poised to vote on the PUD after Forbes implemented revisions - some defined by the Commission from last meeting, and other changes that came from U of M.

I couldn't use the link, but I'm pretty sure the issues are coming up from the fact that the property exists in the city of Troy's economic development zone, which supposedly loosens zoning restrictions to encourage new development.

What really happens is the city advertises the property as having relaxed zoning restrictions, but once a developer tries to get a variance in line with those guidelines, the zoning board enforces all the existing zoning restrictions via fiat. I've sat in on these meetings and have seen it happen.

[Gsgeorge]

I couldn't use the link, but I'm pretty sure the issues are coming up from the fact that the property exists in the city of Troy's economic development zone, which supposedly loosens zoning restrictions to encourage new development.

What really happens is the city advertises the property as having relaxed zoning restrictions, but once a developer tries to get a variance in line with those guidelines, the zoning board enforces all the existing zoning restrictions via fiat. I've sat in on these meetings and have seen it happen.

That's not what the drama is stemming from. The plan is already a PUD which has looser rules than a single zoning use property. The drama is coming from the ever-building list of demands the City of Troy Planning Commission is giving Forbes, and the complication of part of the site being purchased by U of M, which, as a state entity, does not have to follow city development standards.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

Among the commission’s requests: Having the university present a master plan for the 17 or so acres it controls, which includes five acres north of Cunningham Drive, plus 12 acres south of it where the new medical facility would go. The commission also requested that it be provided the minimum — not just the maximum — amount of housing, office, retail and other space that would be incorporated into Forbes’ Somerset West project, on the other side of Coolidge from his and the Frankel family’s Somerset Collection luxury shopping center.It also wanted Forbes to consider increasing the size of allotted park space from a little over one acre, and restrict the types of uses that could go on the site by excluding things like auto-focused businesses, trade schools, appliance sales, and certain types of residential, including townhomes, single-family housing and nursing facilities.
Through a spokesperson, Forbes declined further comment on Wednesday.
Luke Bonner, a development advisor who is CEO of Ann Arbor-based consultancy Bonner Advisory Group and also economic development advisor to the city of Sterling Heights, said there seems to have been a communication breakdown between the city and Forbes leading up to Tuesday’s meeting.

[EASTSIDER BALDUCK]

PUD has expired! Troy council sat on their asses too long.

[JBMcB]

Having the university present a master plan for the 17 or so acres it controls, which includes five acres north of Cunningham Drive, plus 12 acres south of it where the new medical facility would go.

And that's one of the many regulations that is supposed to be relaxed in the special development zone. As long as you follow the existing zoning guidelines, the zoning commission is supposed to leave you alone. I saw the exact same thing play out with an apartment building.

Builder: Here are some examples of apartment buildings we have built, we are going to build something in this style

Commission: Before approval we need to see exactly what you are going to build

Builder: That requirement is explicitly waived in the special development zone the parcel is located in

Commission: It is waived, but you have to show us what you are going to build before we approve it

Builder: That's not what waived means

And round and round and round.

[Airforceguy]

Troy planners move Kmart site project forward

The Troy Planning Commission unanimously signed off on recommending approval of a first step in a plan to redevelop the former Kmart Corp. headquarters site across from the luxury Somerset Collection shopping mall.
Tuesday evening’s vote came three weeks after planners postponed their decision, prompting Nathan Forbes, the project’s lead developer, to express his displeasure publicly during the meeting. With comparatively fewer fireworks, the Planning Commission voted Tuesday to recommend approval of a concept development plan — which spells out things like land use, site layout and open space — for the first phase of the project as well as a planned unit development agreement.

Both now head to the city council for its consideration. The Forbes and Frankel families, which own the 40-acre site at West Big Beaver Road and Coolidge Highway, also need approvals on a preliminary development plan and a final development plan down the road.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/real-e...s-forward-troy