Posted by – Steve Cohen, Director of Community Development

More good news!

An application has been submitted by Burton Katzman to the City of Auburn Hills to allow the construction of a 109,395 sq. ft. light industrial building on a 7.20 acre parcel of land located at the northwest corner of Opdyke and Featherstone Roads.  The proposal also involves rezoning the site from commercial to industrial to facilitate the development, which will be considered concurrently with the site plan review.  The initial investment for this project is estimated at $9.5 million.

This project is moving forward as a “speculative” building, which means that it is not being built for a specific company.  Why?  To get ahead of the market and meet demand.

The industrial real estate market has rebounded strongly since the Great Recession.  Experts have informed us that vacant available industrial space in the City of Auburn Hills has declined from over four million sq. ft. in 2010 to less than 500,000 sq. ft. today; as the vacancy rate has dropped to a record low of 3.82% (see report).  Since almost all of the existing industrial buildings have been absorbed, businesses looking to expand or locate in our City have nowhere to go.  Burton Katzman wishes to meet that demand by constructing a new building – which takes about one year to complete – and have it ready for future companies wishing to make a quick move in 2016/2017.

Those interested in learning more about this proposal are encouraged to attend the public hearing at the Planning Commission meeting scheduled for Tuesday, October 20th at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber at City Hall.  A final decision on the project is anticipated to be made by the City Council on Monday, October 26th.