(WXYZ) — What was once farmland and a former prison site in western Wayne County is now largely under construction.
The area off Five Mile Road in Northville and Plymouth townships has been getting primed for development for at least a decade.
"The momentum was slow to start because we didn’t have things like supporting water main and sanitary sewer and a nice concrete road. We didn’t have those things in which we needed to set up the platform for our vertical construction, said Planning consultant Gary Roberts.
Extended interview: Gary Roberts talks about the MITC
Local leaders say they are starting to see real progress on the 800 acres dubbed the Michigan International Technology Center (MITC), a collaboration between local, county and state governments.
"We've been excited about the potential opportunities at MITC for a long time and those opportunities are now coming to fruition. So we're excited about the growth that's going on there," said Mark Abbo, Supervisor for Northville Township.
The most visible work is on a Meijer store and gas station on the Plymouth Township side in the VTech business park.
Denny Constantino lives nearby.
"We’ve been living here 16 years, and this is probably the best thing I’ve seen happen so far. The grocery store is complementary as to something we needed close around here," Constantino said.
Roberts, an architect in charge of planning and engineering, says the vision has changed since initial conception.
"Originally conceived of to have high-tech types of businesses that are similar to those along the M14 corridor, and we wanted to facilitate sites that would have the supporting road and infrastructure things to make them go," said Roberts. "The market has changed slightly where we're seeing some more distribution, some larger projects, some retail oriented projects, and some housing that has come into our designated district."
Chuck Curmi, Supervisor of Plymouth Township, says he still hopes to see tech interest.
"It has gone well, but it has gone slow, admittedly. COVID may have interfered with that. We have some exciting new developments going on, which are at least speculative buildings that are going to be built starting this calendar year, all in the target that I want, which is technology and research buildings. On our side, we want more of that because it creates what we call career jobs that pay high wages that are permanent and then people can live in the area and work here."
MITC is divided into 15 parcels. One side of Five Mile Road is in Northville Township, and the other side is in Plymouth Township.
The area is being filled in with projects like Northville Lumber, a multi-tenant tech warehouse, an auto supplier and housing development that is already selling quickly. It also includes a DTE substation, a potential data center and day care are also planned.
Rita Roric lives nearby and has mixed feelings about the changes.
"We moved in here about 20 years ago. I guess I’m a little disappointed at the Five Mile and Ridge area because when we moved in, they said that that was not going to be developed and so we were hoping to have more nature here. The Meijer across the street I guess I’m okay with it for the convenience factor," Roric said.
Roberts said there are only a few properties left on the market.
"Now the vision is to complete it. To get all of these sites occupied and paying taxes and generating revenue and generating employment opportunities," Roberts said.
Local governments have started to capture some tax money but expect to see more once construction is complete. They can collect tax revenue a year after completion.
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