Planning Commission backs Somerset West concept plan, recommends U‑M medical facility anchor move forward

The City of Troy Planning Commission voted to recommend city council approve the Somerset West Concept Development Plan and the Phase 1A Preliminary Development Plan, a redevelopment proposal for the former Kmart/large-office site on Big Beaver that would include a 250,000‑square‑foot University of Michigan medical facility and mixed uses across roughly 40 acres.

The recommendation matters because the project would convert a long‑vacant corporate headquarters site into a mixed‑use node anchored by a constitutional corporation health facility, with the applicants estimating a quarter‑billion dollar capital investment and the potential for hundreds of thousands of patient visits annually. The commission’s approval is a recommendation; the final decision rests with Troy City Council.

Planning staff told commissioners the item is a two‑step PUD (planned unit development) request: a concept development plan for the whole site and a preliminary development plan for Phase 1A. The concept plan submitted by developers Forbes, Frankel, Troy Ventures LLC proposes up to 500,000 square feet of office, up to 300,000 square feet of retail, up to 750 residential units, up to 250 hotel rooms and up to 17 acres expected to be sold to University of Michigan Health. Brent Carlisle of the planning department reviewed the PUD process and the standards…