In Novi, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, near the intersection of Novi Road and Grand River, there is a public retail mall called Novi Town Center. The Twelve Oaks Mall is located on the other side of Interstate 96 from the center, which is owned by CBRE.
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| Novi Town Center Detroit Michigan |
The opening took place in 1987 after the groundbreaking in 1986. The opening, according to Novi's mayor at the time, Patricia Karevich, marked the start of the city's downtown. The development, according to Barbara G. Louie, author of No. VI on the Trail: A History of Novi, Michigan for the Novi Historical Commission, "drew the focal point back to what was formerly Novi's primary business sector."
The Lake Pointe Corporate Center and the mall's 485,000 square feet (45,100 square meters) of commercial space were both built by Trammell Crow. A 150-acre (61 ha) parcel of land was taken by the commercial and business districts. During the time, two significant projects were being worked on in Michigan by the Trammell Crow firm.
The property once housed an eight-screen movie theater. Up until December 1, 2005, it was handled by the chain Goodrich before being transferred to an Indian couple. Sonali and Rakesh Gangwani started showing Bollywood and other Indian movies there every day.
Up until 2011, the center struggled financially as a result of Borders, CompUSA, and Mervyn's closing. General Growth Properties, the Chicago company that was its owner at the time, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2010.
In a statement, Wal-Mart said it was exploring putting a store on the old Mervyn's at the Center location. As part of the reconstruction of Novi Town Center connected to the Walmart, the theater, and numerous other businesses closed in 2010, and the theater did not return. The theater did not pay any rent during its final three years of existence since it was excluded from the expansion plans.
By voting 5-2 in favor of granting Wal-Mart a special land-use permit and 6-1 in favor of approving its preliminary site design in 2011, the Novi City Council made it possible for the construction of the store to move forward. The 86th superstore to open in Michigan was Walmart, which did so in 2012. The Wal-Mart shop occupies 152,888 square feet (14,203.8 m2) of space on a 12.8-acre (5.2-hectare) parcel of land. When Wal-Mart was being built, more merchants were expected to start up, according to Greta Guest of the Detroit Free Press.