STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. – A plan to redevelop Lakeside Mall was brought to a vote Tuesday night, with council members deciding to move forward with a massive revamp for the struggling mall.
The new billion-dollar plan calls for turning the 110-acre property into a mixed-use development.
Sterling Heights signed off on a memorandum of understanding by a 5-2 vote with the developer but doesn’t expect the ground to be broken any time soon.
The idea has always been to turn the dying mall into more than just a retail space but an entirely new community, the council, got a look at the latest renderings Tuesday (Nov. 1) night.
Read: Here’s the proposed redevelopment plan for Lakeside Mall in Sterling Heights
Lakeside Mall looks vacant, but what the developers envision is a livable, walkable community with retail, office, residential assisted living for seniors, restaurants, plenty of green space, and community buildings.
The financing is multifaceted, including the city of Sterling Heights bonding out $45 million.
“$45 million,” said Henry Yanez. “We’re acting as a Wall Street bank to make sure that this project goes forward.”
Those bond money would go for utilities, roads, and infrastructure that the city would continue to own and would be paid off with tax increment financing and not homeowners’ tax bills.
“Bond payments come entirely from within the Lakeside project,” said Sterling Heights Mayor Mike Taylor. “So the way it works for those who aren’t familiar, the tax revenue will increase because they’re going to be building and building and building; At the end of this project, we anticipate that the total value of all of the property and there will be $700 million?”
The renderings presented Tuesday are not something that is written in stone but rather a concept that will change as the process goes along, and it’s going to be a long buildout, likely 12 years.
Council members said 2023 would be spent getting the financing components in place, assuming everything is good to go. Demolition of the property will come around 2025.
