Sterling Heights officials cheer Lakeside project momentum

STERLING HEIGHTS — City officials are starting to see some light in the Lakeside Mall redevelopment tunnel.

On the heels of adopting a finance plan that will pay for infrastructure and other public costs associated with a developer’s ambitious $1 billion plan that aims to turn the shuttered shopping center property into a modern residential and commercial destination, the City Council on May 19 approved a separate but related financial and development plan designed to upgrade areas nearby the site.

Under the auspices of the Lakeside Corridor Improvement Authority, the tax increment financing plan will account for more than $17.5 million over a 25-year period. The money represents increases in property value within the project’s boundaries. In other words, a portion of the money that would normally go to various taxing authorities will instead be captured and directed toward the objectives of the corridor improvement authority.

“Corridor improvement authorities are an economic development tool authorized by the state of Michigan through Public Act 57,” Dylan Clark, the city’s economic development manager, told members of the City Council. “

Boundaries are created around a commercial corridor of note, and a board is established to oversee public investment in that corridor. And the overall goal, of course, is to promote economic growth through a reinvestment loop in accordance with the approved development and tax increment financing plan.”

According to background material from the development department, the project boundaries include “all properties from the south side of Hall Road to the eastern side of Lakeside Mall, south to Canal Road.”

Primary objectives of the Lakeside Corridor Improvement Authority include enhancing public spaces within the development area, economic growth and increased property values, and creating a unified area with consistent designs and themes.

“The goal is to have a cohesive vision, not just within the Lakeside Mall property, but in the area itself, along Schoenherr and Hall Road,” Clark said.

“The physical design and framework of the development plan discusses the land use vision and mixed-use character of the area,” Clark added. “

It sets building design and streetscape standards. It defines the physical improvements that can take place in the district. Overall, the goal of those standards is to create a pedestrian-oriented urban district that encourages mixed-use development, promotes quality material and standards, integrates open space into private development, and ensures a cohesive long-term redevelopment vision for the area.”

The total scope of the CIA plan is estimated at $80 million over 25 years. In addition to tax increment financing authority money, other funding sources include bonds, donations and grants.

The City Council approved the CIA plan with a 6-1 vote, with most members hailing the recent momentum for the long-awaited Lakeside City Center project. The Michigan Strategic Fund Board is expected to approve the transformational brownfield plan on June 23, and construction could begin in the first quarter of 2027.

“This is all part of a process that started 10 years ago,” Councilwoman Maria Schmidt said. “

We’ve talked and talked about this and finally it’s coming to pass. …

This is something that we’ve been working at and finally the pieces are starting to fall into place.”

Councilman Michael Radtke said that although he didn’t support the creation of the CIA in 2023, he backs the upgrades included in the authority’s plan.

“This will be an enhancement,” he said. “Because if we just build (the Lakeside City Center) and don’t improve any of the area around it —

any of the storefronts or the businesses there — I think we’re doing a disservice to those folks. If we want to have a truly integrated district … we want a full mixed-use downtown area encompassing this entire corridor.”

Councilman Henry Yanez, who cast the lone vote against the CIA plan, said he believes the City Council should have direct responsibility for allocating funds related to the Lakeside project rather than an appointed board.

“I have not supported this since the very beginning. I don’t like the idea of unelected people spending taxpayer dollars,” he said. “This is a lot of money taken out of the hands of the people who are elected to spend the money. That’s why the people voted for us.”

City Manager Mark Vanderpool, however, said the City Council is not isolated from the corridor improvement authority.

“They work to establish the development plan with our administrators and staff, and now you are approving the redevelopment plan, which kind of sets it in motion,” he said in response to a question from Councilwoman Liz Sierawski. “So they will provide oversight of the activity that goes on out there. But you still have a lot of oversight and control yourself.”

Mayor Michael Taylor said he’s pleased to see Lakeside-related plans picking up speed.

“As a couple of my colleagues have said, we’ve been talking about this for a very long time.

But we are getting right toward the finish line here,” he said. “With the state’s approval in about a month, things are going to start moving very quickly.”

Taylor said the CIA plan approval is “hopefully one of the last procedural votes that the city will have to take.”

“This is really starting to come together, and I want the public to know that.

We are very, very close to making major progress on Lakeside Mall,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a great thing and I’m excited to see how it unfolds.”