Birmingham, Troy

Grand Sakwa files lawsuit to take transit center back

By Terry Oparka and Mary Beth Almond

C & G Staff Writers

TROY/BIRMINGHAM — Plans are on track for a Troy-Birmingham multi-modal transit center despite a lawsuit filed against the city of Troy by the original property owner of the site.

The Troy Planning Commission and the Birmingham Planning Board met in Troy July 27 to consider plans for the layout of the transit center building and locations of the elevators at the site. The plans include construction of an Amtrak platform, a public plaza, a pedestrian tunnel and sidewalks to access the rail platform in Birmingham and to link to the transit center building in Troy at Maple and Coolidge. 

The city of Troy acquired the property for the transit center from Grand Sakwa, developer of the 77-acre mixed-use commercial and residential Midtown Development at Maple and Coolidge in a consent judgment awarded June 2, 2000.

Under terms of the ruling, Grand Sakwa was permitted to construct the mixed-use center even though the city had no zoning ordinance at that time that allowed planned unit developments. In return, Grand Sakwa was required to transfer a triangular piece of property adjacent to Birmingham, west of the development, for a transit center.

The agreement stated that if the property were not used for a transportation center, it would revert back to the developer, and required that the city fund the center within 10 years from the date of the judgment.

In court documents, Grand Sakwa states that the transit center was not been constructed, was not fully funded by the judgment date and the property now reverts back to them.

Steve Estey, attorney for Grand Sakwa, said he couldn’t comment.

 In court documents, Grand Sakwa argues that the city requested a 5-year extension of the 2010 deadline in the fall of 2007 in order to fund the project and that “evidence obtained … demonstrates that the city has not received all funds from the purported funding sources for the transportation center and such funds were not immediately available for the transportation center parcel as of June 2, 2010.”

It further states, “As such, the transportation center parcel automatically reverted to the plaintiff on June 3, 2010. Thus, the so-called ‘funding sources’ do not mean that the transportation center is funded at all by the city, but rather constitute only potential funds which are not yet secured or immediately available, and indeed, may be cancelled at any time.”

Sticking points

Grand Sakwa also states that the city is now attempting to expand the scope and use of the transportation center contrary to the intent of the parties and spirit of the judgment, and that the increased scope of operations was never contemplated nor agreed upon by the parties and would have a far greater impact and burden on the property, residents and tenants, customers of the shopping center, and public roadways and traffic than originally intended by the agreement.

“We’ve been fully funded,” said Troy City Attorney Lori Grigg Bluhm. She explained that the city has allotted funds from the city budget for the transit center since 2006, at $500,000 initially and $1.5 million in subsequent years, and that federal appropriation works on a “reimburse-able basis.” Bluhm added that the judgment allows for a center “10 times larger than the planned center.”  

Also at issue is a $250,000 grant for the transit center from the state of Michigan that Grand Sakwa contends may not be awarded.

The Troy City Council agreed to the conditions of the grant May 17, which will fund LED lighting in the tunnel and in the proposed building.

Bluhm said the state always reserves the right to revoke in case the project does not come to fruition or the guidelines are violated, and added that this is only for a very small and dedicated portion of the project.

Under the Urban Development Appropriations Act, $1.3 million has been appropriated for the project, and the cities of Troy and Birmingham are also recipients of grants for $8.4 milllion from the High Speed Inter-City Passenger Rail Program under the arm of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The developer states that the presiding Judge Wendy Potts be disqualified from the case because she is married to Oakland County Commissioner David Potts, who is running for re-election in the Aug. 3 primary and has an interest in the outcome of the case because he has supported the transit center as an elected official.

“The potential conflict of interest is unavoidable,” the developer’s documents state.

In response, Bluhm stated in a brief that the city disagrees with the contention that the decision in the case would have any impact on the Oakland County Commission race and that the judge would base a decision on any factor other than interpretation of the law and facts of the case. She said the judge has no bias in connection with the matter.

The motion to disqualify Potts from the case was denied in Oakland County Circuit Court July 21. Grand Sakwa has appealed. A hearing on the matter before Oakland County Circuit Judge Nanci Grant is scheduled for Aug. 11.

Plans move ahead

After meeting in closed session on July 26, the Birmingham City Commission rejected a $925,000 counter-offer made by Edgemere Enterprises for a parcel abutting the railroad tracks immediately to the east of the end of Holland Street.  

Planning Director Jana Ecker said the city had offered to purchase the land for $397,162 on an appraisal for the property that was completed by a licensed appraiser and was based on comparable properties and recent sales.

“The counter-offer received from (Edgemere Enterprises) and rejected by the City Commission did not provide any explanation nor documentation to justify the exorbitant amount requested for the parcel which does not have road frontage, nor any existing buildings or improvements on the site,” Ecker said.

Given the federal funding awarded for the Birmingham-Troy transit center project, Ecker said the city is constrained by federal acquisition guidelines to purchasing the property at fair market value as determined through the appraisal process.

“The price per square foot offered to (Edgemere Enterprises) by the city was the same price per square foot that was offered to, and accepted by, Birmingham Public Schools for their property abutting the western property line of the parcel,” Ecker said.

The city of Birmingham purchased two small pieces of property adjacent to the district’s new bus garage facility at 2205 Holland from the Birmingham Public Schools district in April. Ecker said the property would be used to access the transit center on the Birmingham side and to provide approximately 35 parking spaces.

The joint boards plan to meet again Sept. 8.