Lee Plaza, the west-side high rise vacant for more than 20 years, could be sold soon to developers, who plan to make half its units available as affordable housing, multiple media sources are reporting.
Lee Plaza (Photo: Google Street View)
With City Council approval, the city would sell the site for $350,000 to a venture with developers the Roxbury Group and Ethos Development Partners.
The building, which sits about a mile west of the Fisher Building on West Grand Boulevard, has been vacant since 1997. Redevelopment plans call for 180 new residential units, with at least 50 percent of its units for residents earning “a range of incomes below the area median income level,” or below $40,000 annually.
The redevelopment could cost $50 million.
“An entire generation of young Detroiters has known Lee Plaza only as that vacant eyesore next to Northwestern High School. While this building has deteriorated significantly over the last two decades, we have tapped a development team that has saved many buildings others said were too far gone to be brought back to life,” said Mayor Mike Duggan. “In addition, Roxbury and Ethos are committed to making the redeveloped Lee Plaza available to families that have a range of income levels.”
Lee Plaza has some fantastic 1920s-era architectural details, with ground-level arched windows and doorways and terra cotta insets.
