Plans in Motion to Redevelop Prison Complex as Technology Center

Northville Township Supervisor Robert Nix and Plymouth Township Supervisor Richard Reaume have announced an economic development initiative branded as the Michigan International Technology Center (MITC).

The primary objective is to repurpose the former Detroit House of Corrections and the Robert Scott Prison for private development, returning those properties to the tax rolls and creating jobs.

Northville and Plymouth Townships, in cooperation with Wayne County’s Department of Economic Development, have engaged a highly collaborative team of stakeholders.

This team includes State Sen.Patrick Colbeck, State Reps. Kurt Heise and Laura Cox, Wayne County Commissioners Terry Marecki and Shannon Price, together with representatives from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Michigan Department of Transportation, Wayne County’s Department of Public Service, DTE Energy, Detroit Regional Chamber, Strategic Communication Solutions and experienced private sector development expertise to serve as planning, marketing, funding and regulatory advisors.

The goals of this project are to create a large scale, multi-jurisdictional real estate development containing private and underutilized public land holdings as a platform for investment. The primary goal is to create development ready sites that will be marketed to technology based users and developers. Initial properties are projected to be available early 2015.

The project will involve approximately 800 acres and could support 5 million square feet of facilities, $620 million of investment and provide more than 9,000 jobs.

Currently, many of the area firms are international entities operating on a global basis. Hence, the Michigan International Technology Center branding as a place for technology users and reflecting the current business attraction in Western Wayne County, Michigan.

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Photo via Google Earth