Response to Downtown Park, Redevelopment Mostly Positive

ROYAL OAK, MI – Response to a $100 million plan to build a seven-story office building and establish a downtown park on the site of the current city hall and police station is mostly positive — especially because the development’s price tag requires zero investment by taxpayers.

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“I’m blown away by the fact it’s not going to cost (taxpayers) anything,” resident David Ambroziak said at Monday’s meeting of the Royal Oak City Commission.

Here’s more about the project from the city of Royal Oak on its Facebook page:

Royal Oak’s $56 million share of the civic center area project would be paid for with bonds and revenue from a six-story parking deck next to the office building and the sale of surface parking lots fronting City Hall and the public library.

Here’s more about the financing plan:

City Hall would occupy two floors of the reconfigured building, and a new $18 million police station would be built in the parking lot of the Royal Oak Farmers Market, next door to 44th District Court, The Daily Tribune reports.

Not everyone at the packed City Commission meeting liked the plan, though.

Residents will have more opportunities to comment on the plan as it moves forward, but Mayor Jim Ellison said it meets several city goals, including meeting the needs of local retailers.

“It’s going to be a boost to retailers and it’s going to add more parking (spaces), which we need,” he said.

» Read more about the response to the plan on The Daily Tribune.

Image and video credit: City of Royal Oak Facebook page