DDA to Begin Selecting I-696/Main Street Site Developer

The Royal Oak Downtown Development Authority (DDA) will begin taking proposals next week from developers interested in remaking the long vacant I-696/Main Street parcel.

“We have three groups interested in the property right now,” said  DDA Chairperson Jay Dunstan. “In the next couple of days an RFP (request for proposal) is going to go out to those three groups and they are going to report back by (March) 13th." 

Dunstan made the announcement during public comment at Monday's Royal Oak City Commission meeting. He expects the DDA to make a decision on the developer it will go with at its meeting on March 19.

The RFP will include each group’s monetary offer on the property and whether or not there will be a request for tax increment financing (TIF). 

"TIF occurs when a local government freezes the tax base within a specific development district and uses the revenues generated by reassessment or new development to finance selected improvements within the district," according to the Michigan Association of Planning.

Dustan said the DDA wants to know up front if there will be a TIF request "so there will not be any big surprises.”

The three proposals include: 

• Schostak Brothers plan for an office building
• Singh Development LLC plan for luxury apartments 
• Versa Development, CG Emerson Real Estate Group and Farran Group's concept to build apartments, a 4-story medical/office building and a retail area 

 RELATED:

• Developers Present Luxury 'Woodward Grand' Concept for I-696/Main Street Parcel 
• Developers Present 'Gateway' Concept for I-696 Site to DDA