JV Buys 276,000-SF Fairlane Green Center

ALLEN PARK, MI-Deerfield Beach, FL-based Konover South LLC, West Bloomfield, MI-based Lormax Stern Development Co. and Miami Lakes, FL-based FVP Management and Investments have formed a joint venture to buy the Fairlane Green shopping center here. The 276,000-square-foot center is located between the Southfield Freeway and Interstate 94.

The center is anchored by Barnes & Noble, Bed Bath & Beyond, Michaels, Old Navy and TJ Maxx and is 85% occupied, according to David Coppa, a principal of Konover. The center was built on top of a landfill, and Ford Land, the real estate division of the automaker, owns the actual property. “We own the top of the land and everything above,” Coppa tells GlobeSt.com. The site is next to two other retail properties that include Target, Home Depot, Best Buy, Lowe’s, Meijer and Staples.

He says the purchase price of the 5-year-old center was much less than similar centers that have sold in Konover’s home state of Florida. For comparison, “And the returns would not be as good as here,” Coppa says. “This is a very stable suburb of Detroit.”

Konover is also partners with Lormax in the redevelopment of the Livonia Mall in Livonia, MI, just a few miles from the Fairlane property. The venture, in one of the only development projects currently ongoing in Michigan, tore down most of the mall, leaving only the privately-owned Sears. “Wal-Mart will open late this summer on the balance of the 40 acres, and then we’ll build another 125,000 square feet to 140,000 square feet,” Coppa says.

There’s no signed leases yet at the Livonia site, but there are letters of intent for about half of the first phase, which will consist of three buildings of about 10,000 square feet each. “We’re also talking to big-box tenants now that are looking to take 30,000 square feet to 50,000 square feet,” Coppa said.