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| Former NBA and MSU star Magic Johnson AP photo |
In a story written this week for Deadline Detroit, I reported
that the $250 million redevelopment of the State Fairgrounds on Eight Mile will
spring to life when springtime arrives.
The Detroit project, the brainchild of Magic Johnson and
developer Joel Ferguson, will break ground early next year. All the commercial
tenants have been lined up and a contractor for the apartment complex has been
secured.
Here’s a portion of the piece:
The proposed shopping
center and residential development could be one of the city’s most important
economic developments outside of the downtown/Midtown area in decades.
After the 162-acre
fairgrounds closed in 2009 due to state budget cuts, the site became home to
decaying historic buildings and an infestation of weeds three to four feet
high. Yet, the renaissance that’s about to take place could emerge as the
catalyst for more redevelopment around the sporadically seedy 8 Mile boulevard.
Within a village-like
setting, the development will offer more than a dozen stores, shops and
restaurants; a supermarket; hundreds of apartments; senior housing, including
assisted living; a Wayne County Community College District location;
recreational and park space; and possibly a massive movie theater created
within the historic State Fair Coliseum.
“We have been working very
closely with the city Planning Department and when we’re ready … we’ll be
working on all of these things simultaneously on different parts of the site,”
said Ferguson, CEO of Lansing-based Ferguson Development.
“There wasn’t the
interest in Detroit at that time (2009). Now, it’s a different world.”
To read more, click here.
