DETROIT – Some neighbors in Detroit’s Old Redford community are trying to stop a business from reopening a liquor store at a property many have described as a nuisance.
The store at the center of the controversy is located on Grand River Avenue at the corner of Lahser Road.
Some community members said the proposed liquor store is not what the community needs, based on the property’s history of past problems.
“It brings stress to the community,” said salon owner Kathy English, who has a shop nearby.
English and her neighbor Emmanuel Reeves are among the neighbors who planned to attend a town hall on Tuesday (April 9) night. The topic of that meeting is the plans to reopen a liquor store on the corner.
“Since I’ve been here, I’ve seen growth and productivity,” Reeves said. “But if that liquor store opens, that will definitely decline.”
Many neighbors who oppose the plans to reopen a liquor store hoped their voices would have been heard during a Land Revocation Hearing the city of Detroit held about the property on March 22, 2024.
However, the hearing officer would not consider the hundreds of petitions neighbors submitted or letters objecting to the liquor store plans.
Instead, attorneys for the property owner argued past crimes and trouble at the site were due to a problem tenant. They said they worked with city building inspectors to improve the property and worked behind the scenes to secure their own liquor license.
The attorneys told the court that despite the property being vacant for some time, it was always their goal to lease the building with the possibility of continuing a liquor store operation.
The court found that the city’s attorney did not provide enough evidence to justify a Land Revocation Order. Many neighbors were left stunned after that hearing.
“They are doing a major, whole uplift, with changing the community to revitalize it,” English said. “Having a liquor store on the corner would just diminish that.”
In February 2024, a couple of men who identified as the new liquor store owners were on-site working on the property.
Gorgees Beniameen said, “Yes, we’re the owners of the property. Now we’re looking to make this a nice property.”
Beniameen and his business partner gave Local 4 a tour inside the building and said they were in the middle of renovations in preparation for opening their new liquor store.
“Whatever shady things they had going on, that will not be happening here,” Beniameen said.
Neighbors said they are not giving up on the issue. They said Tuesday night’s town hall was another step in making their voices heard.
The Old Redford Business Association is hosting the town hall meeting, which will be held at 6:30 p.m. in Artists Village, located at 17336 Lahser Road, Detroit.