FeedsHopes are high for Michigan Avenue retail business
The retail keeps coming.
Canton planning commissioners had a first look at the newest proposed shopping center for the township Monday night.
They recommended that a 325,000 square-foot center, proposed by Grand Sakwa, be given a special land use—a necessary designation since the retail space will exceed 200,000 square feet. It will be located at the northeast corner of Michigan Avenue and Beck Road.
Detailed site plans are forthcoming and the big box anchor for the project was not revealed at the meeting, but a representative for the development said the design will exceed expectations and help Michigan Avenue become a second retail draw to Ford Road.
Grand Sakwa is known for its ability to draw major tenants to their projects. Bryan Amann, who represented the developer, said the center is continuing momentum from the existing Home Depot and Kroger developments and a planned Costco store near Michigan and Canton Center Road.
“We are excited about the prospects of this project,” he said.
Amann said the customer base would extend into Van Buren Township and Washtenaw County.
Township engineers are concerned about a proposed drive in the concept plan that crosses over a drain that will be relocated on the southern end of the property. Planning commissioners agreed to put off that discussion until a detailed site plan came up for approval, though.
Amann said the drive was crucial if a restaurant was constructed on one of the out lots and needed its own access point. He expressed confidence in the developers’ ability to build the drive without disrupting the creek.
“They have crossed drains larger than this and more complicated than this many a time,” he said.
He also noted that Grand Sakwa was the creator of the large retail center at Six Mile and Haggerty in Northville.
The developer is conducting talks with Singh Development, which oversees the Meadow Villages apartments directly north of the proposed center. Amann said the center may connect to the apartments via a pedestrian walkway.
Once envisioned as a prime development opportunity for industry, Michigan Avenue has trended more toward retail recently.
Some residents of Meadow Villages, which also include houses, were wary of the changes, though.
“Please put yourself in my situation,” wrote resident Gregory Molchen, who was unable to attend the meeting but made his comments in a public letter, “and ask how you would feel if someone would take away your scenic view of the woodlands and wildlife and replace it with loading docks, garbage bins and an unsightly back end view of a shopping center.”
Amann promised the project would be adequately buffered from residents and that stores would limit delivery and trash pickup times.The commercial influx won’t end with the Sakwa project. A separate development on Michigan Avenue near Morton Taylor road is expected to include as much as 500,000 square feet of retail space.
