Royal Oak makes deal with developer to regain control of Gateway Plaza

Thursday, July 31, 2008 | Source: metromode

Fear not worried urban enthusiasts, Royal Oak's Gateway Plaza is no longer in danger of becoming a suburban, strip mall-type development.

City officials and Schostak Brothers & Company have reached an agreement to swap control of parcels. Schostak has agreed to give control of the Gateway Plaza property at Woodward Avenue and I-696 on the southern edge of downtown. In return the city is letting it develop a LA Fitness facility on a 3-acres parcel at Washington and Woodward.

Schostak originally planned to develop the 4-acre Gateway Plaza property into dense, mixed-use urban buildings similar to what is being built in downtown. Those intentions changed last year when the developer presented plans to the city to construct a single-story building for LA Fitness surrounded by surface parking lots.

That prompted the Royal Oak Downtown Development Authority to advocate the city exercise a clause in the contract to buy the land back for $3 million. That pressure led the resolution to swap properties that is currently on the table.

If the deal goes through as expected by the end of this summer, the city plans to market the land again to developers. The idea is to still build something there that complements downtown's urban flavor.

"We're interested in having it developed in a certain manner," says Kevin Kalczynski, chair of the Royal Oak DDA.

Developing the Gateway Plaza property has been an odyssey of epic proportions where numerous plans have surfaced and sank over the last 20 years. Originally the site of a car dealership, what is now Gateway Plaza was cleared to make room for a more urban-style development with mixed-use buildings built up to the lot line. The city has made a point of encouraging the construction of dense, mixed-use buildings in its downtown to promote the area as a 24/7 destination.

Source: Kevin Kalczynski, chair of the Royal Oak Downtown Development Authority
Writer: Jon Zemke