Southfield Bids for Old Stouffer's Hotel

SOUTHFIELD, MI-This city, known as the business belt of Detroit for its mid-way location between Oakland County, Detroit and Ann Arbor, wants to demolish the Stouffer’s Northland Inn.

The U.S. Marshal’s Service has possession of the 128,000 sf hotel. The 3.4 acre property is located at Northwestern Highway and Northland Road.City Manager Don Gross said the city has offered $5,000 to purchase the hotel, and a $one-million bond to prove it can afford to demolish the 39-year-old facility.

“The hotel was vacated by Stouffer’s 17 years ago. One day, they just padlocked the door and told employees they no longer had a job,” Gross says.Since then, the building has deteriorated, and vandals have completely defaced and damaged the inside portion. The building was turned over to the Marshall’s Service in 1999 after a convicted drug dealer forfeited the property.

The city would have to pay about $20,000 in back taxes for the property. Gross said the city estimates the demolition cost would run at about $650,000, which it hopes to offset with a brownfield grant from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

Once cleaned and vacant, the property would be extremely valuable, Gross says.”The value is definitely in the land,” Gross said. The property is zoned as regional shopping, which could accommodate an office or retail project. Others can bid for the property within the next four weeks, but Gross said the city is confident it will win the property.