Signature Associates

Developers plan $150 million development, 850 jobs at old Ford Wixom plant site

An Ohio-based company is planning a $150 million brownfield redevelopment of a former Ford Motor Co. plant in Wixom that would create 850 new jobs.

The project at the 182-acre site would reactivate the property with 1.66 million square feet of commercial/industrial space, according to the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

Construction on the first of seven warehouses at 29311 S. Wixom Road is expected to start in April; the project is estimated to be completed by December 2021.

The new development calls for six buildings totaling 1.34 million square feet on the north part of the site and one 320,000-square-foot building on the south portion.

The development proposed by Detroit Wixom LLC, a subsidiary of Solon, Ohio-based Industrial Commercial Properties LLC, is being supported by a $3.48 million grant from the state that was approved Tuesday The grant is administered through the Michigan Strategic Fund via a Brownfield Act 381 Work Plan, which is funded through local and school tax capture.

Tenants have not been identified for the development, but the developer is in discussions with manufacturers and distributors, said Chris Salata, COO of Industrial Commercial Properties. Given the high demand for build-to-suit in metro Detroit, he said he does not foresee any problem filling it.

“We believe that greater Detroit is the hottest industrial market in the country right now,” Salata said. “It’s very difficult to find a piece of property with the size and amenities (of the Ford Wixom site).”

The old Ford plant property is a prime location in Oakland County, situated north of I-96 along Wixom Road. Detroit Wixom LLC bought the property last year from Boston-based investor Trident Barrow, which had been locked in a federal legal battle with Ford over the property. The two parties eventually reached a settlement, according to court records, but terms were not disclosed.

Detroit Wixom LLC also owns former General Motors Co. property in Pontiac at 2000 Centerpoint Parkway totaling 888,000 square feet, of which 359,000 is vacant, according to its website. In a joint venture with California-based Industrial Realty Group, Industrial Commercial Properties also owns 84 acres of land that used to be part of the American Axle & Manufacturing headquarters at I-75 and Holbrook, Crain’s reported.

The company has not previously received incentives or grants from the state, according to the MEDC.

The Michigan Strategic Fund approved the brownfield grant that was requested by the Oakland County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority. MSF had originally approved Brownfield MBT credits for the site redevelopment in 2011. Because the timing and scope of the project changed, as well as the property owner, the credits request was amended.

Posted By: Crain’s Detroit Business on March 26, 2019.  For more information, please click here to read the source article.

To receive the In The Know from Signature Associates, please click here to be added to our mailing list.