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ROSEVILLE — The Roseville City Council voted Nov. 11 to move forward with a proposed redevelopment of a local hotel.
At its Oct. 28 meeting, the Roseville City Council had voted to table discussion regarding a proposed brownfield redevelopment incentive for the Days Inn and Gratiot Huddle, located at 31327 Gratiot Ave.
The developers are planning to raze the current building and divide the property into three commercial buildings — a Portillo’s, a Raising Cane’s and an El Car Wash.
A brownfield redevelopment uses a tax increment financing board to help with the redevelopment of properties that might have been contaminated with chemicals such as asbestos. The board captures tax revenue, then reimburses the developer for the costs of eligible activities.
According to the proposal in the meeting agenda packet, the proposed plan would capture just under $700,000 from 2027 to 2032. Through the brownfield redevelopment, the developer would pay for any up-front costs, such as environmental cleanup or demolition.
The developers, Alrig USA, would be investing just over $10 million into the project.
The Roseville Planning Commission heard the applicant at its Oct. 20 meeting; however, it tabled the discussion pending further information and revisions to the plan. Previously, Tim Tomlinson, Roseville city attorney, said normally it wouldn’t have gone before the City Council before being approved by the Planning Commission, but the county — which would be overseeing the brownfield — needs to know the city is interested.
“We kind of put the cart before the horse by going to the Planning Commission before receiving the designation on the brownfield, and the City Council doesn’t have the ultimate authority on it,” Albright said. “It actually ends up being the county, but the county wants the locals to approve that because it takes taxes out of the city’s coffers for a period of time for the brownfield to be conducted.”
The discussion was tabled at the City Council’s Oct. 28 meeting until it could hear a formal presentation on the proposed development. However, at its Nov. 10 meeting, the Roseville Planning Commission approved a site plan for all three parcels.
The proposal came back before the City Council at its Nov. 11 meeting.
“Today is a resolution of support for the brownfield plan. We ask that all communities, we want their buy-in,” said Amanda Minaudo, the Macomb County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority’s program director.
Minaudo added that the City Council would not be approving the actual development plan; it would just be voting to support the brownfield redevelopment plan and financing.
“Our environmental consultant will take a deep dive into it. There may be something that we find where an eligible activity isn’t eligible, or an issue with the timetable,” she said. “Typically, it would just be a minor adjustment that would be made to make sure that it is compliant with all state statues and legislation.”
Luke Bonner, from the Bonner Advisory Group, who is representing the developers, said a master assessor determined that the hotel was “functionally obsolete.”
“Basically this site, if it were built today, would not be built this way, right? So, it’s sort of outlived its function as a hotel, and what we would expect at this point is that right now it’s probably at the tipping point of its decline,” he said. “Where our client is buying and proposing the redevelopment of it now, versus this getting into a situation five, 10 years down the road where we’ve seen other hotels like this, and the community is saying, ‘OK, what do we do with this property now?’ … We’re sort of on the front-end of that,” he said.
Gabe Schuchman, managing director of Alrig USA, said he couldn’t respond to the profitability of the location, though he said the company was excited to be making the investment in the community.
“We’re going to be making a significant investment. The car wash, the equipment, the soft costs and everything else will be north of $10 million, and we’re excited to be making that investment here in the community,” he said. “What the individual profitability of this location will be, I don’t know that offhand today. We’re hopeful that it’s going to be profitable; we wouldn’t be building it if we didn’t believe that.”
Councilman Kurmell Knox said that El Car Wash has a reputation for being involved in the communities where it has locations, which Schuchman said they have been doing in communities around metro Detroit by sponsoring football teams and other school programs.
“We’re supporting local marching bands and various other things that we’re doing, and we’re excited to bring that community feel to the city of Roseville,” he said.
Additionally, Schuchman added that El Car Wash is building a corporate headquarters for The Rainbow Connection, an organization that grants wishes and provides support services to Michigan families with children battling life-threatening illnesses, on top of a car wash.
“We’re giving them free office space and productivity on top of one of our car washes,” he said.
Mayor Pro Tem Catherine Haugh asked if any of the concerns of residents, which were heard at the Planning Commission meeting, had been addressed.
After what Schuchman called “a great Planning Commission meeting,” they decided to raise the height of the wall surrounding the car wash from 6 feet to 7 feet.
Schuchman also said they met with neighbors at the meeting and had since been in contact with some of them.
“We’re talking about a construction plan. Once we start construction, how are we going to make sure that we’re not interrupting (the neighbors’) sleep patterns and making sure they can lead a normal life, that we’re not creating any additional pollution or construction debris and all that,” he said. “So, we’re coming up with a construction plan with them right now to make sure that during the eight, nine months it takes to construct these buildings, they’re going to be taken care of.”
Before City Council voted on it, Roseville administrative services specialist Jim Gammicchia added that the project was a “win, win, win” for the developer and the city of Roseville.
“We’ve got national chains that don’t have a real presence in the metro Detroit area, let alone Michigan, that we’re bringing here,” he said. “So, those folks that want to visit Raising Cane’s and Portillo’s, they’ll be driving through. They’ll be getting gas. They’ll be stopping at the bank. They’ll be doing other things here. And we bring that traffic to Roseville. We bring economic development to Roseville.”
In the end, the City Council voted unanimously to support the brownfield redevelopment plan.
Call Staff Writer Brian Wells at (248) 291-7637.
