The city of Sterling Heights will unveil new conceptual plans for a re-imagined Lakeside Mall later this month.
For several years, the city has been working with the mall’s owner to chart a course for the behemoth 150-acre site along Hall Road.
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Sterling Heights City Manager Mark Vanderpool acknowledged that the mall is open and even doing well, but that the current model “isn’t promising.
“We’re doing what we can as a city to ensure future success,” he added.
That’s why the development plan will be “evolutionary” and will focus on the first shuttered anchor site: Sears. The 30-acre parcel of land at the southwest corner will be included in the first phase of redevelopment.
Vanderpool said the whole redevelopment may take years, but the city wants to ensure that it happens in phases as stores close and developments unfold.
Parts of the initial redevelopment will include greenspace, pedestrian-friendly routes and could work its way up to more radical ideas such as waterways throughout the site and residential and commercial opportunities, said Vanderpool.
The city will invite the public to see the new design concepts and voice their opinion on Sept. 27 at the Velocity Collaboration Center, located at 6633 18 Mile Road. The meeting will be from 6-7:30 p.m.