Developer planning $25 million upgrade of Dearborn shopping center that's mostly abandoned

Three days after the Detroit Free Press asked the City of Dearborn about blighted conditions at a mostly abandoned shopping center, the spot on Michigan Avenue had been somewhat cleaned up, a check for the back taxes was in the mail, and the owner was planning a $25 million redevelopment of Garrison Place.

A Free Press reader sent photos of the shopping center, which once housed a Kroger and CVS, to the Free Press showing a broken window, graffiti, litter and weeds around the building on Monday. But some of that was gone by Wednesday afternoon, including the graffiti, while a second-story window remained broken and there was still litter on site.

According to the property owner, the city contacted the business on Tuesday and it dispatched workers to the shopping center on Wednesday.

A company called Dearborn Retail Management III, a limited liability company affiliated with a development company, Alrig USA of Bingham Farms, bought the shopping plaza in 2022 for $8 million. By then, just three tenants remained — a restaurant, dentist office and nail salon.

Mike Schuchman, who works with Dearborn Retail Management III, said the company is planning to spend $25 million to revitalize the center.

He said plans would be submitted to the city next week, and declined to name any retailers that have agreed to be tenants.

Records from the Wayne County treasurer's office show that just over $151,000 in back taxes, interest and fees were owed for 2022 as of Thursday, putting the property in danger of foreclosure, and another just over $311,000 in 2023 taxes were delinquent.

A City of Dearborn spokesman said in an email response to questions from the Free Press that the city’s assessor’s office was aware of a tax delinquency for this property, but that Wayne County is responsible for enforcement of overdue tax bills.

"Furthermore, the City routinely monitors all properties, including the building at 23000 Michigan Ave, for code violations and conducts enforcement when violations are identified," the statement said.

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Schuchman said Thursday that tax payments were "en route" to the county. As for the blighted conditions that were at least partly remedied this week, he said: "We want our property to look as great as possible."

He said the existing tenants will be welcome in the revitalized center.

"We want them to be with us in the future," Schuchman said.

The Free Press reported in May that the site was expected to become one of nine Amazon Fresh brick-and-mortar grocery stores in Southeast Michigan. While some locations had finished exteriors, others were not completed and the Dearborn location was blighted, with a work truck parked inside the former Kroger.

Among the other locations, the site in Grand Blanc is being redeveloped for other tenants after Amazon simply walked away. Seven other cities and townships have empty big-box shells, some with the signature Amazon Fresh stripes on the facade, the Free Press reported.

According to property owners, contractors, and subcontractors, they were required to sign nondisclosure agreements about the future tenant at the nine sites, enveloping the whole process in secrecy. City officials say Amazon never approached them directly about opening a store in their community.

The other locations were in Roseville, Shelby Township, St. Clair Shores, Madison Heights, Rochester Hills, Plymouth Township, and Livonia.

Contact Jennifer Dixon: 313-223-4410

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Developer planning $25 million upgrade of Dearborn shopping center that's mostly abandoned