Singh Development in West Bloomfield Township has received approval from the Royal Oak Planning Commission for South Main, which will offer apartments and commercial tenants. The $35-million, five-story project will be built on a vacant, city-owned parcel at I-696 and Woodward Avenue.
The 244-apartment community, along with 10,000-square feet of commercial space to be called Shops at South Main, would fill a long vacant 4.2-acre parcel bounded by I-696, Woodward, Main Street, and Tiffany Lane. The land was cleared in the 1980s to make way for the construction of I-696, which opened in 1989.
The apartments would come in a range of sizes and offer studio, one-, two-, or three-bedroom units along with bathrooms, kitchens, and other amenities. The apartments would border the project exterior, while a parking deck would be built in the interior, with access from Tiffany Lane.
“If you have an apartment on the third floor, your parking would be on the third level of the parking deck so you can come and go very quickly, bring groceries in very quickly, and be off to work very quickly,” says Avtar “Avi” Grewal, project manager of Singh Development, which was founded by his father, Gary Grewal, and brothers Lushman and Jeat, in 1973. The company has built hundreds of single-family homes, apartments, senior centers, and commercial offerings in Michigan and elsewhere.
Exterior materials will consist of brick, stone, metal panels, and glass. Common amenities will include a state-of-the-art fitness center, a swimming pool and courtyard, a rooftop lounge, dog wash area, bike storage, and other offerings. The design team includes Krieger Klatt Architects Inc. in Royal Oak.
The commercial space will be located along Woodward, with the shops to be built into the complex with parking available out front. Potential retailers include a coffee shop, a sandwich shop, a yoga shop, and complementary uses for residents and surrounding neighborhoods and businesses.
Singh Development will finance the project, and has not applied for any incentives. Preliminary construction is scheduled, with city approval, to start later this year. The project will take two years to build, with a planned opening in the first half on 2019.
“There is a unique residential project for the area, it will be a cool place to live, have nice clubhouse-like amenities, it’s well located, and it is safe,” Grewal says. “We’re looking forward to getting started on construction and opening what will be a first-class apartment-and-retail project.”
