A community known as a poster child for suburban sprawl in Metro Detroit is about to get a significant dose of urbanism now that the Troy city council has approved plans for The Pavilions of Troy development.
The developer, headed up by Virginia-based Richardson Development Group, plans to start razing the old Kmart headquarters site at the northwest corner of Big Beaver Road and Coolidge Highway in January. Construction of the mixed-use development -- which will feature condos, a hotel and office and retail space – is expected to take several years.
The $300-million project will be quite the contrast for the affluent Oakland County suburb dominated by traditional sprawling, car-centric infrastructure. The project will incorporate a dense and pedestrian-friendly new urbanism design on the 40-acre site. A town square will be surrounded by retail shopping, a theater, restaurants, a hotel and residential units. The town square will have a pavilion for concerts and can be used for ice skating and other seasonal events, similar to downtown Detroit's Campus Martius.
The first phase of construction will build 100-250 condos or lofts, a 250-room hotel and 200,000 to 600,000 square feet of commercial space primarily around the town square part. The second phase will be farther out around the perimeter of the parcel.
The project will feature a total of 750 homes, 300,000 square feet of office space, 500,000 square feet of retail space. That retail space will include room for a cinema, grocery store, fitness club, restaurants and recreation. All of this will replace the old office building, vacant since last December, which once housed up to 5,000 Kmart employees.
Source: City of Troy and Leslie Broughton, marketing manager for Rossetti Group
Writer: Jon Zemke
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