Beaumont Considers Hotel for Northwood Shopping Center Property

ROYAL OAK, MI — Beaumont Health plans to demolish the 62-year-old Northwood Shopping Center, a property it has been “land-banking” since the 1980s, and possibly replace it with a hotel, according to media reports.

Hospital officials have submitted a preliminary plan for the property, located at Woodward Avenue and 13 Mile. Road, that includes a request for brownfield tax incentives.

Carolyn Wilson, Beaumont Health’s chief operating officer, told The Detroit News that although plans for a 183,000 square-foot commercial development aren’t firm, “the hotel is really important to the local community and to us.”

It would add both needed conference rooms to the area and spruce up the gateway to Royal Oak, she said.

The 213,000-square-foot shopping center is about 59 percent occupied and plagued with multiple maintenance issues, according to Crain’s Detroit Business. Its 12 tenants include a Kroger grocery store and four Beaumont affiliates, and all are renting space on month-to-month leases.

Beaumont surveyed more than 6,000 of its employees on the best uses for the property. Based on their feedback, the redeveloped property could also include a grocery store and other businesses, Wilson said.

Royal Oak Mayor Jim Ellison told The Detroit News officials have known for years that Beaumont “didn’t plan to run a shopping center forever and were just land-banking the property until it could be used for other purposes.”

A timeline for redevelopment hasn’t been firmed up, but demolition could begin this fall. The property will remain open through the Woodward Dream Cruise, which takes place later this month.