Planning Commission OKs a piece of 888 W. Big Beaver
TROY — Another piece of a mixed-use center on Big Beaver Road has fallen into place.
The Troy Planning Commission unanimously approved a one-story, 18,475-square-foot building, the last component of the mixed-use development at 888 W. Big Beaver Road, at its Jan. 9 meeting.
Last February, the Planning Commission unanimously approved conceptual plans for a development and an eight-story parking deck on 12.8 acres at the City Center Building, 888 W. Big Beaver Road, east of Crooks Road.
The concept plan called for two 8,500-square-foot buildings, which Jason Krieger, the architect for the developer, said they decided recently to change into one building.
“This is the last piece of the puzzle in this development,” Krieger said.
The Troy Planning Commission unanimously approved the plans for Zen Apartments at its Sept. 12 meeting. Work on the building has not started.
The units will range from 700 to 1,300 square feet. The apartment building will feature an eight-story, 272-unit apartment building with studio, and one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. It will sport an outdoor pool, a zen garden, an 8,000- to 9,000-square-foot clubhouse, a business center, a workout room and a gameroom/lounge. The plans feature a parking deck connected to each floor. The apartment complex will front Wilshire Drive.
The old parking deck was demolished in September. Work on the new deck is underway.
The new two-story Fidelity Investments building on the site is finished, and the Shake Shack restaurant opened on the site in October.
Unicorp National Developments purchased the building for $21 million in an auction in 2016. The Melting Pot and Morton’s The Steakhouse are currently located in the approximately 24,000-square-foot building.
The City Center Building was foreclosed on at a value of $23.7 million in January 2014. Troy City Assessor Nino Licari said the building is between 55 and 60 percent occupied. New World Systems was formerly located there, until it relocated to a site on Long Lake Road in Troy. Volkswagen of America also formerly had offices in the building.
Unicorp President Charles Whittall told the Planning Commission last February that the company was investing $150 million in the mixed-use site, which he said would include a five-story apartment building, a decorative internal street, retail space and restaurants — namely, Shake Shack, Yard House and Seasons 52.
Krieger said new tenants in the 18,475-square-foot building include Pure Sleep and City Barbecue restaurant, and that five total tenants are planned. It was not clear if Pure Sleep is relocating from a location on Big Beaver Road, near John R Road.
Planning Director R. Brent Savidant told the Planning Commission that the plaza in the interior of the development “makes it a really nice space. The owner is delivering with this development. It’s exciting.”
“There are very unique aspects to this design,” said Planning Commission Chair Ollie Apahidean.