Update 3/1/18 – The Wayne City Council this week approved the sale of the East Michigan Avenue parcel to Metro Storage as well as a brownfield remediation for the site. The transaction is the city’s first such redevelopment deal, in which financial incentives are offered to help developers clean up sites with contamination issues, according to a source. The land was negatively impacted by the former radiator shop that stood on the property.

“I hope [Judge] is able to break ground by summer of this year. If all the infrastructure and foundations are up by the fall, he could have a spring 2019 ribbon-cutting,” said Matthew Miller, city planner.

12/21/16 – Metro Storage LLC, a Taylor, Mich.-based self-storage operator with three facilities, intends to build a 95,000-square-foot facility on East Michigan Avenue in Wayne, Mich. The city council favors the project and recently approved an agreement that would sell a 2.3-acre parcel to storage owner Tim Judge for $1. To accommodate the project, however, Judge will need to acquire two additional parcels from Wayne County, Mich., and receive zoning-change approval from single-family residential to industrial/business, according to the source. If approved, the facility would comprise 70,000 net rentable square feet and could break ground by the middle of 2017.

The Michigan Avenue property includes a former radiator business. It was one of several parcels acquired by the city and reserved for future development. Other business proposals for the site included an art center. Judge was solicited to submit a proposal by Lori Gouin, the city’s economic-development director. "They approached me. It was a fantastic initial experience for the city to be so welcoming," Judge told the source.

Gouin estimated the $3 million self-storage project would generate more than $100,000 in annual property taxes, with more than 90 percent retained by the Downtown Development Authority.

The storage facility would be in an area that has received recent revitalization, including a new police department and remodels to Arby’s and Wendy’s fast-food restaurants. "I think that other businesses in the area will have an incentive to spruce up their properties,” Gouin told the source. “That's exactly what we are hoping for."

"I think it creates synergy along the corridor,” agreed Judge. “People feel confident about spending money for the capital improvements."

Metro Storage operates self-storage facilities in Dearborn, Oak Park and Taylor, Mich., according to the source.

Sources:
Hometown Life, New Development in Wayne: Three Things Coming to Town
Hometown Life: A $3 Million Project Comes to Wayne