HARPER WOODS, Mich. (WWJ) – The Michigan Strategic Fund Board has approved plans to demolish Eastland Mall and replace it with three commercial and light industrial buildings.
Officials with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation announced Tuesday the City of Harper Woods Brownfield Redevelopment Authorities got approval from the MSF to receive $4.7 million in state tax capture for the alleviation of brownfield conditions at the site of the former mall to make it suitable for redevelopment.
The mall, which opened back in 1957, officially closed this winter after one final holiday shopping season.
When the facility is completed at the 81-acre site in Harper Woods, it will have an estimated one million square feet of logistics space that could be used by auto manufacturers and could create up to 550 full-time jobs.
The NP Eastland Commerce Center Industrial, LLC project – which will "transform an underutilized property into functional, available space critical for ongoing business attraction and expansion efforts in the region” – is expected to generate a total capital investment of $94 million, officials said Tuesday.
Planned infrastructure improvements include updated curbs, gutters and sidewalks, as well as road repairs.
The city is supporting the project through the local portion of the brownfield work plan valued at $12,668,748 and approval of a Commercial Redevelopment Act tax abatement valued at $12.2 million, officials said.
Completion of the project will also bring additional investment, increased worker traffic, and tax revenue to the neighborhood, city, and local businesses, officials say.
“Market analysis has repeatedly shown that large move-in ready sites are in demand in metro Detroit,” the MSF said in a press release. ”Supporting this type of property remains critical to retaining existing companies in the state as they grow and offers opportunities to attract new companies here to Michigan.”
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