WATERFORD (WWJ) - The abandoned Summit Place Mall in Waterford finally has a date with the wrecking ball.
The property's latest owner and developer says all structures at the 74-acre site along Telegraph and Elizabeth Lake roads will be leveled in the spring, with the cleared land being reincarnated as the Oakland County Business Center.
The development would be up to a million square feet, being marketed for engineering and other businesses related to the auto industry.
Demolition could start in April and is expected to happen quickly, according to a report in the Detroit Free Press. It could be mostly done in one month. The cost of demolition has previously been estimated around $4.5 million.
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.





