Shovels are set to go into the earth today, breaking ground on Unity Studios in Allen Park.
The ambitious project plans to turn about 100 acres of mostly industrial area into a movie-making Mecca for Metro Detroit. The first phase of this construction will be happening fast.
Unity Studios plans to have four sound stages and its media school up and running by the end of October. More production space is set to come online a few weeks later. The second phase of more movie-making space and a village area is set to begin in the spring.
"We are anticipating to start on additional stages," says Jimmy Lifton, president of Unity Studios. "That is almost a certainty."
The first phase calls for renovating a 600,000-square-foot building to add four feature-size soundstages on 10 acres. Each measures out at 25,000 square feet. The building (which sits on 40 acres) will house space for the Lifton Institute of Media Schools and room for production support vendors.
The second and third phases will include developing the 64 acres into Unity Village, a tourist destination with housing, retail, and complimentary commercial business. The whole project is worth $146 million.
The new City of Allen Park municipal building complex will be built south of the existing city offices around the same time.
Source: Jimmy Lifton, president of Unity Studios
Writer: Jon Zemke
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