TROY — The Troy Public Library, City Hall, the police station and 52-4 District Court could be nestled amid a public square, ponds, a fountain, retail shops, restaurants, a hotel, a food market and homes in coming years.
The city hired Robert Gibbs, an urban planner and president of Gibbs Planning Group, to present options to redevelop the 127-acre city complex and look at mixed uses on the site. The study costs $200,000.
Gibbs presented four different plans for the 127-acre Civic Center site during a forum held at the Troy Community Center Aug. 18.
After compiling feedback from those who attended, which included past and present city leaders and city staff, Gibbs and Matt Farrell, of Core Partners, a real estate consulting company, presented a draft of a master plan for the Troy Town Center to the Planning Commission and City Council at a joint meeting Oct. 24.
Troy City Manager Brian Kischnick said the Oct. 24 presentation was a “stop and check point. We’re looking for consensus to move forward with the project,” which he described as a walkable, urban town center, “a downtown, if you will.”
A draft of master plan for the Troy Town Center shows what officials hope to see at the site.
The council and the Planning Commission, by consensus, unanimously approved the draft of the master plan.
In December, Gibbs and Farrell will take the concept to the New York National Deal Making Conference, sponsored by the International Council of Shopping Centers, in New York City to glean interest from developers.
Gibbs said the Troy Town Center Master Plan draft proposes 180,000 square feet of retail development, 100,000 square feet of restaurants, up to 1,000 homes and a public square modeled on Cranbrook House and Gardens — which he said he envisioned would be the “most beautiful (square) in southeast Michigan.”
