DETROIT (WXYZ) — City officials and developers shared their vision on Monday for the redevelopment of a large portion of the former Packard Plant site in Detroit.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, Detroit Mayor-elect Mary Sheffield, other city leaders and developers discussed their plans for a 28-acre portion of the site Monday morning. The Packard Plant once housed the world's largest auto factory.
Watch Darren Cunningham's video report:
The redevelopment will reportedly include the reuse of a southern portion of the plant and a new 400,000-square-foot building for manufacturing. There will also be residential, commercial and community spaces.
"I made the decision we were not going to take down the frontage on Grand Boulevard ... the first institution built on the new Grand Boulevard was the Packard plant in 1903," said Duggan.
Watch the announcement below:
The site sits about two blocks from where Duggan says he was born.
"For a long time, Detroiters, they know the Packard Plant closed in 1956. It took us 10 years to knock down 45 of the 47 buildings, and now we're starting to develop the site. So, to have hundreds of jobs, and historic and cultural activities here, it's a great use, and I'm excited to see East Grand Boulevard activated again," Duggan said.
He said they made the decision to break the site into two portions, with developers Oren Goldberg and Mark Bennett taking the south side of the property for their vision.
The plans are what they refer to as “Packard Park."
Renderings illustrate what's to come. As co-developer Bennett explains, it's mixing the new with the old.
"The key, the mayor said, we're preserving and that's the important thing,” he said.
Built in 1903 by famed Architect Albert Kahn, one of the salvaged buildings will have 42 affordable housing units designed for people to live and work from home.
"They are going to take a historic site and create a destination right here on Grand Boulevard," Duggan said.
There's an emphasis on community engagement with this project.
"There's going to be Detroit's first indoor skate park, and there's going to be several museum-type of activity. So, it's really a cultural destination,” Bennett said. “Outside, this open area here is gonna be sort of an open amphitheater space with meeting space… sort of a community gathering space."
Adjacent to that will be a new manufacturing facility on 393,000 square feet designed for 300 permanent jobs. As for who's going to move into the space, that hasn't been determined yet.
However, Bennett said the team is in place to make this vision happen.
"This site is unique to the whole city… because of the nature of the Packard Plant and Albert Kahn legacy. This is an internationally recognized development. So, we expect the cultural activities here will draw in people internationally. So, this will be a tourist draw for people to come and visit the old buildings and learn about the old buildings,” he explained.
"It's really special beyond the neighborhood itself.”
"It was exciting,” resident Tara Moxley said.
She said that’s the feeling she felt when learning new life would be brought to the site after witnessing decades of decay.
"For a long time, the residents over here, we all felt forgotten about and so now, to see that there is some development, there is some movement around here, ya know, it's starting to feel like we matter,” Moxley told 7 News Detroit.
As president of 313 Packard Club, she said she's lived near the site since 1972. It’s been an eyesore for as long as she can remember.
Previous story: Demolition phases of Detroit's Packard Plant
"Four-hundred-thousand square feet of new class A industrial space with 300 new jobs. This building right behind us is 116,000 square feet, which will be completely redeveloped, adding 2 acres of outdoor recreation for our neighbors and the broader community, and 42 make-live affordable housing units," Bennett said.
Developers anticipate this project will be finished by 2029.
