WATERFORD (WWJ) - Saying goodbye to a decades-old shopping mall, while saying hello to the future.
A farewell ceremony for the abandoned Summit Place Mall in Waterford is taking place at 10 a.m. Tuesday, followed by a groundbreaking for the proposed commercial Oakland County Business Center.
A “groundbreaking and farewell ceremony” at Summit Place Mall in Waterford Twp., demolition of the closed shopping center at Telegraph and Elizabeth Lake Rd set for later this month to make way for the Oakland County Business Center and expected 2,183 “permanent jobs.” @WWJ950 pic.twitter.com/Rh2CK8VJ32
— Mike Campbell (@reportermikec)
May 7, 2019 Sears is the first store to be demolished at the old Summit Place Mall at Telegraph and Elizabeth Lake Rd in Waterford Twp. County Exec L Brooks Patterson joined the groundbreaking (center, in wheelchair) for the Oakland County Business Center, to be completed in 2 yrs. @WWJ950 pic.twitter.com/NE1LmjPPCz
— Mike Campbell (@reportermikec)
May 7, 2019 Demolition of the mall, which has sat empty along Telegraph and Elizabeth Lake roads since 2014, is expected to be completed by the end of May.
Developers are still waiting on approval of a zoning ordinance that would place restrictions on the types of businesses that could be located on the 74-acre property, among other things. The development is currently being marketed for engineering and other businesses related to the auto industry.
When Summit Place Mall opened in 1962, it was the state’s first enclosed shopping mall. The mall closed in 2009 and surrounding businesses shut down soon after, leaving the site completely abandoned since December 2014. The property's future was in legal limbo until its sale to a Southfield-based real estate firm last fall.
