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| City of Romulus officials and department heads joined NorthPoint Development executives last week for the official groundbreaking of the multi-million dollar Romulus Trade Center. Photo by Roger Kadau |
Local officials and corporate representatives were enthusiastic about the new Romulus Trade Center, a 171-acre project that will offer a combination of retail and industrial space along Smith Road, along the east of Vining Road and the north side of Wick Road in the city. Construction of the first phase of the development is expected to be complete by next summer when the first confirmed tenant in the trade center, Royal Farms, could be open. Royal Farms is a fried chicken fast food chain, which also serves gasoline, based out of Baltimore. The development will eventually provide nearly 2 million square feet of space.
The company will host a local job fair prior to opening hiring to the public, as part of the negotiated contracts with the city.
“We're pleased to announce another development coming to the City of Romulus in partnership with NorthPoint Development, who we've worked closely with in the past on projects like Ecorse Commons,” said Romulus Mayor Robert McCraight. “Romulus Trade Center will serve as a catalyst to bring in new retail businesses and jobs, something we know residents would like to see as we continue to grow our community.”
Members of the Romulus City Council negotiated multiple concessions from NorthPoint Development for the construction of the new trade center during nearly three years of negotiations. Plans for the project were initially denied by council members who expressed concerns of residents about traffic, road use and the lack of retail development in the city. Representatives of NorthPoint Development, however, agreed to consider the concerns and made multiple adjustments to the original plans. City officials worked closely with the NorthPoint representatives to develop a new master plan and conducted community perception surveys and spent extensive time in the city to better understand residents' concerns.
Based on that direct community feedback, NorthPoint Development agreed to install sidewalks and benches along public streets and private roads for pedestrian connectivity to the building. More than 8,500 greeneries, from trees to bushes, will be planted to improve beautification and trucks will not be permitted to travel north toward residential areas. NorthPoint Development, the largest privately-held developer in America, is also investing more than $2 million to accelerate infrastructure development in an effort to attract retail, restaurants, and technology companies to the massive complex.
McCraight, who was born and raised in Romulus, said the development is a huge asset for the city. He said the final plans for the project demonstrated cooperation from the developer and elected city officials.
“We developed a relationship with NorthPoint. We saw about three years worth of the work to get us here. It's a product we think Romulus residents can be proud of,” McCraight said.
“Romulus Trade Center is a vision of the community,” said NorthPoint Development Chief Marketing Officer Brent Miles. “Nearly every aspect of the development plan was put together using extensive feedback from Romulus residents, because we made a promise to invest in the communities where we develop. Our commitment to Romulus is long-term, and we look forward to years of continued growth together.”
Northpoint Development Chief Marketing Officer Brent Miles said the company chose Romulus for multiple reasons.
“Overall, we wanted to make an investment in Detroit. We did that in the last several years.
“We've invested hundreds of millions of dollars here. Romulus has always been on our map because we love the access,” Miles said.
“That access is what makes the land so desirable. It's a short distance to DTW, the freeways, hotels, Ann Arbor, and Detroit,” he added.
“I just think this is an untapped gem here. I think this is something that over time as we build industrial, build employees, traffic counts continue to build out here, housing in general, in the area can support that,” Miles said.
