A five-story mixed-use, mixed-income, multi-family development with ground floor retail, on the site of the former Querfeld Funeral Home and two residential properties, has been proposed for the area bounded by Oakwood Boulevard, Park Street and Monroe Street, and north of but not adjacent to Beech Street, by 1200 Property Investments, LLC.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Times-Herald Newspapers
DEARBORN – Developers of a proposed five-story mixed-use development at the former Querfeld Funeral Home site asked the City Council April 2 to consider a Neighborhood Enterprise Zone request for the project.
A Neighborhood Incentive Zone, which is offered at the state level, provides a tax reduction for the development and rehabilitation of residential housing over a 15-year period. The tax savings helps the investor cover eligible project expenses and help support the project’s viability.
Managing members of 1200 Property Investments, LLC, Sam Fakih (left) and Dean Elali, listen during the April 2 special city council meeting to a discussion about their request for a Neighborhood Enterprise Zone certificate for a proposed mixed-use development on the former Querfeld Funeral Home site.
The non-voting public hearing, which was held April 2 during a special council meeting, provided the council with an opportunity to hear about the proposal and ask questions of Sam Fakih and Dean Elali, managing partners of 1200 Property Investments, LLC.
The site is bounded by Oakwood Boulevard, Park Street and Monroe Street, and is north of but not adjacent to Beech Street.
The mixed-use proposal would include the mixed-income multi-family redevelopment of the Querfeld Funeral Home site and two residential properties, with ground floor retail and surface lot parking.
The site is 1.59 acres, and would include 88 housing units, with a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom floor plans.
Each of the two buildings would have 1,250 square feet of rentable retail space.
The requested incentives include Brownfield Tax Increment Financing, Neighborhood Enterprise Zone status, and Michigan Economic Development Corporation Community Revitalization Program gap financing.
The program is tentatively slated to begin construction in the first quarter of 2025, with a third quarter 2026 estimated construction completion target.
The project would represent more than $25 million in private investment, and the 88 west Dearborn market rate rental housing units would be close to the Ford Motor Co’s. research and engineering campus.
Dearborn Economic Development Director Jordan Tardy said the estimated value of the incentives is about $4 million over 15 years.
He said that while the city would not be obligated to support the project if a NEZ is not established, taking the step to establish a NEZ helps applicants secure private funding and other critical support tools by sending a signal of confidence in the project.
Dearborn Economic Development Director Jordan Twardy (left) discusses the establishment of a Neighborhood Enterprise Zone for a proposed mixed-use development on the former Querfeld Funeral Home site, as Dearborn Deputy Assessor Dawn Burek, City Clerk George Darany, and City Councilmembers Mustapha Hammoud, Ken Paris, Leslie Herrick, Michael Sareini, Robert Abraham and Gary Enos listen.