Business & Tech

Is There a Buyer for the Fresard Property in Royal Oak?

Something is missing on Main Street: The 'for sale' sign in front of the long vacant property on Main Street last targeted for a Kroger store.

Attentive residents might have noticed something is missing on Royal Oak's Main Street: The big yellow “for sale” sign in front of the former Fresard Pontiac-Buick site is gone.

The property, which has been vacant since the auto dealership moved to Ferndale in 2008, was the center of a there this past summer. 

Michael Southen of Signature Associates, a commercial real estate business in Southfield, told Royal Oak Patch the property has an interested buyer.

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“The owner of the property asked us to take the sign down,” Southen said. “I can’t say anything more than that.”

City assessment records show the 400 N. Main St. property is still owned by Jim Fresard.

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Signature Associates lists the property for $3.5 million. "Rare large site in downtown Royal Oak on Main Street. Potential PUD rezoning for higher density development. Adjacent to Main North mixed use project," it says on its website. The existing buildings on the parcel include a 4,000-square-foot car wash, 11,550-square-foot showroom and 27,302-square-foot service and parts area, it says.

Tim Thwing, Royal Oak planning director and executive director for the Downtown Development Authority, said he heard a party has a purchase agreement on the property. "Those things can quickly fall apart,” he cautioned.

No formal applications for the property have been presented to the city's planning department at this time, Thwing said.

Fresard operated a dealership in Royal Oak for more than three decades before relocating to a new 40,000-square-foot building on Woodward Avenue in Ferndale.

On Jan. 12, the Troy-based Suburban Collection announced it purchased the Fresard Buick GMC dealership in Ferndale.

The Fresard clock tower on the east side of Woodward Avenue at West Harrison in Royal Oak now displays messages thanking Fresard for serving the community for 38 years and — at first glance — a confusing “Welcome to Ferndale” message that is intended for Suburban Buick GMC of Ferndale.


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