Although a great deal of the specifics are still yet to be determined, this morning I was able to get a peek of what could be coming to more than 7 acres of property at the southeast corner of Woodward and Mack avenues in Detroit’s Midtown.
As a refresher, it’s that site, owned by father and son developers George and Adam Nyman, where Target Corp. has been a rumored possible tenant.
George Nyman, sitting at a long table in a conference room in his downtown Birmingham office on West Brown Street, confirmed a meeting with the Minnesota-based retail giant, but both he and his son said it’s still a long way off before tenants and the specific mix of uses is determined.
“We are kind of working through our conceptuals on how we want to proceed with the site. It’s a big, important site, a big corner, so we want to be sure we are thoughtful with what we do,” Adam Nyman said, looking over renderings designed by Detroit-based Neuman/Smith Architecture.
“We don’t want the tail wagging the dog,” George Nyman said.
What’s clear is that the first phase of the project is slated to be a parking structure with 500-600 spaces. It’s likely that the development, referred to in marketing materials as SOMA (South of Mack Avenue), will have a mix of office and retail space.
The site, which spans almost the entirety of two city blocks (take a look at some drone footage), has two buildings — one, 100,000 square feet, and another, 60,000 square feet — currently used by American Red Cross, which is downsizing into the smaller of the two, leaving the larger available for lease. It could be demolished and the site redevelopment, depending on how the development and tenant recruitment process goes.
Also included in the project is a plan to connect Eliot Street to John R. A pair of small, nondescript buildings on the property were demolished last month as part of the development project.
It’s one of the larger development projects in greater downtown on peoples’ radars right now, and it will be a fun one to watch play out as more details become available.
Professional Property Management Co. of Michigan, the Nymans’ Birmingham-based company, has hired Friedman Integrated Real Estate Solutions LLC and Howard Schwartz Commercial Real Estate LLC, both based in Farmington Hills, to market the office and retail space to potential tenants.
It hasn’t been determined yet whether residential space will be included in the development, the Nymans said.
