1,000-acre Parcel Plans Outlined for Planners

NORTHFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI-Several different development projects are being proposed for a 1,000-acre site about 40 miles west of Detroit. The property, adjacent to US 23 and minutes from M-14 and I-94, has exploded with interest since city sewer was installed, says Township Supervisor Mike McFarland.

Residential and commercial development has followed a western migration line from the Detroit area, mostly along east-west thoroughfares I-94 and I-96.

The township is just now finishing up the final grading for the sewer lines, McFarland says. He adds most of the new uses will be research and technology, and light industrial.

Township planning commissioners recently heard a presentation by Jerry Sosnowski, project manager for Midwestern Consulting LLC of Ann Arbor.

Sosnowski says he represents many of the land owners planning projects on the large site.His company is working out zoning districts for the property in and around the site, and coordinating infrastructure improvements such as new roads. He says the site owners are working with neighboring land owners of mostly agricultural land to try to work out zoning classifications that will be friendly to all.

“Other property owners are very curious as to how we will affect their land,” Sosnowski tells GlobeSt.com. “We’re trying to show the commission and the neighbors that we want to think through the land uses.”

About 3,800 acres surrounding these parcels in this rural township are being investigated for rezoning issues, he says. Sosnowski adds the 1,000-acre parcel he’s working on could support more than 3 million sf of new development.

“We’ve done overall planning, and are moving toward creating site plans for the various projects in the zoning districts. The next step over the next two months will be creating hard plans and submitting them to the planning commission,” Sosnowski says.

For example, one project is labeled the Northfield Business Park, about 300 acres on the southeast quadrant of the property, owned by Newco. Developers such as Heritage Development Group, run by the late Heinz Prechter, and N.A.S. Family LLC have joined on for the Northfield Park project, Sosnowski adds.

Another project is a 250,000-sf machining building that would be built by a defense contractor, he says. The company may expand the building to twice that size, depending on how plans flesh out, according to Sosnowski.