In Wyandotte’s thriving downtown, a dilapidated property that has sat vacant for over a decade is about to take on a whole new life.
City and state officials have announced a major multimillion-dollar project that will transform the former City Hall building into a mixed-use development consisting of 35 units of rental housing, with retail and restaurant space on the first floor.
The Federal Building Redevelopment Project will rehabilitate the existing two-story building, 3131 Biddle Ave., including the construction of three additional floors.
The project also will include a rooftop restaurant, adjacent to the surface parking, and public improvements including new right-of-way, parking and alleyway improvements.
The property has been a thorn in the side of city officials for over a decade. City officials and employees moved out of the former Wyandotte City Hall during the summer of 2012.
After municipal employees moved across the street to a former bank building, the former City Hall remained open for a time to groups that used its basement, until it started to leak. The property was in such bad shape that the former city engineer considered condemning it.
But the property remained standing and each fall, for about a decade, the Wyandotte Jaycees temporarily set up shop, converting the building for use as the group’s annual haunted house fundraising attraction.
Since the time of the closure, the city has sought redevelopment proposals for the building, but nothing has ever worked out — until now.
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Back in 2017, Downtown Development Authority Director Joseph Gruber said he had specific things in mind when the city issued a request for proposals.
“This is the last great development opportunity in downtown Wyandotte, on Biddle Avenue, with views of the Detroit River and the Detroit skyline,” Gruber said six years ago. “We are going to be very selective with our chosen developers and their proposed project, ensuring it delivers high impact in our downtown over the next several decades. Downtown Wyandotte is ready for a large-scale, mixed-use project hopefully including residential, retail and parking possibilities.”
It took a while, but Gruber and Wyandotte elected officials got their wish.
The project is expected to generate a total capital investment of $9.7 million and create 60 jobs, supported by a $1.5 million Michigan Community Revitalization Program loan. It’s hoped that the project will act as a catalyst for additional revitalization in downtown Wyandotte, increase walkability and generate new economic activity in the downtown area.
The city of Wyandotte Brownfield Redevelopment Authority also received Michigan Strategic Fund approval of nearly $1.4 million in state tax capture to be used for reimbursement of brownfield activities at the site.
Local support includes a $100,000 grant from the Downtown Development Authority, approval of local tax capture valued at $2.3 million and a local Brownfield Revolving Fund loan of $1,242,000.
The city of Wyandotte is engaged with the Michigan Economic Development Corp.’s Redevelopment Ready Communities program.
Ron Thomas, CEO of Rise Above Ventures, acknowledged that the vacant property in the center of the downtown district sat blighted for too long, so a project of this magnitude is bound to have a positive effect.
“With the support of the city of Wyandotte and the MEDC, its redevelopment will serve as an economic catalyst for the city,” Thomas said. “As a developer, it is the highest honor to be entrusted with such a pivotal project.”
Today, Gruber remains executive director of the DDA and said he couldn’t be more pleased about the redevelopment plans. He said the former Federal Department Store building has been the single most important and challenging redevelopment site in downtown Wyandotte.
“It has sat vacant as the last great development opportunity along our primary commercial corridor, Biddle Avenue,” Gruber said. “Over the past decade, our community has experienced a tremendous amount of private investment, growth and redevelopment. But our local expectations and desires did not align with any of the failed suitors who came and went.”
But then Thomas and Rise Above Ventures entered the picture, and Gruber knew this was the proposal the city had been waiting for all these years.
“The proposed redevelopment will deliver a truly wonderful project that achieves a multifaceted goal for Wyandotte,” he said. “The redevelopment is an elegant and thoughtful rehabilitation of the property and the surrounding public infrastructure that will help propel our downtown into the next generation of positive growth and vibrancy.”
State elected officials who represent Wyandotte are praising the redevelopment announcement.
State Sen. Darrin Camilleri (D-Trenton) said with the development of the former Federal/City Hall building, Wyandotte will have even more new opportunities for rental units, retail and restaurant space downtown.
“I was proud to support this project, and it's an excellent example of how we can continue to revitalize Downriver's downtowns and urban corridors,” Camilleri said. “I applaud the Michigan Strategic Fund board’s decision to approve this project and hope they will consider supporting similar projects to foster Downriver's growth and revitalization in the future.”
State Rep. Jaime Churches (D-Wyandotte) said that as an advocate for small business growth and community revitalization, she is excited for another opportunity to expand developments in the Downriver community.
“The approval of this redevelopment project will bolster our local economy, bringing in new jobs and much-needed improvements to our community’s infrastructure,” she said.
