Board of Trustees Denies Rezoning for $2-Bil Project

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI-The Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees has denied a rezoning request for a $2-billion mixed-use development. The property is currently zoned as a research park. The Harbor Companies filed an application with the township to adopt a new ordinance for a mixed-use development, including the rezoning request to allow 20-story building heights. The current master plan only allows buildings as high as 32 feet.

“They wanted to be as high as 200 feet, there’s a huge difference there,” says township Supervisor David Payne. “We’re 95% residential land, that’s a major change.” The Board recently voted 7-0 against the rezoning request.

The 80-acre Bloomfield Park is being proposed as a mixed-use development, incorporating 3 million sf of class A office space, 1,200 luxury apartments, a 500-room hotel, a health and fitness club, 450,000 sf of retail, (including 15 restaurants), open public spaces, parks, two large lakes and entertainment facilities–all grouped along a central “Main Street” within walking distances.The Harbor Cos. of Bloomfield Township is the owner and developer of the property, a mile north of Square Lake Road, east of Telegraph Road in an area surrounded by commercial uses, says Tina Bassett, a company spokeswoman.

Craig Schubiner, managing member of Harbor Cos., did not return phone calls from GlobeSt.com about what will now happen with the development. Payne says he believes the company can come up with an alternate plan.Bloomfield Park was expected to be completed within seven to ten years after receiving approvals from the township. It took the Harbor Companies eight years to assemble and acquire all of the land and to select the development team, she says.