Farmington Hills council approves amended Hunter’s Square PUD with conditions; tenants named

The Farmington Hills City Council on Oct. 13 approved an amendment to Planned Unit Development 02-2023 for Hunter’s Square Shopping Center, authorizing a revised site plan and several zoning deviations while requiring the developer to satisfy outstanding engineering, planning and fire-safety issues before the PUD agreement is finalized.

The approval affects the northern portion of the shopping center at the southwest corner of 14 Mile and Orchard Lake Road and allows reconfiguration of a major anchor building into two tenants (five major tenants total), the addition of a 503-square-foot rooftop cooler to accommodate Buffalo Wild Wings, and revised internal circulation and access. The council’s action requires the applicant to address outstanding items in Giffels Webster’s 08/11/2025 (revised 10/08/2025) review, the city engineer’s 10/08/2025 interoffice correspondence, and the fire marshal’s 08/07/2025 correspondence before a final PUD agreement is brought back for council approval.

Why it matters: the amendment permits reuse and retenanting of large vacant retail space and aims to keep Buffalo Wild Wings in the center while adding new retailers and outlot restaurants; the changes include specific dimensional deviations that could affect nearby property lines and require city oversight during final design and permitting.

Planning staff and the city’s consultant described the technical changes during the public hearing. Jill Boehm of Giffels Webster said the amendment includes relief from setback requirements (for example, a rear setback of 69.59 feet where 75 feet is required and a south-side setback of 61.03 feet instead of 75 feet), and noted there was some discrepancy in reported loading spaces (the consultant recommended using 15 loading spaces in its review to be conservative). Boehm told council the proposal meets required parking and that previously planned land-banked parking will instead be developed as green space.

Frank Drabble, owner/developer with Signature Management, said the developer had worked through several revisions and inherited the project during purchase but intends to move it to completion. “We are the third owners of this project, but we're the ones to intend to see it through,” Drabble said. He told council the 40,000-square-foot single anchor originally contemplated did not attract tenants, so the applicant reconfigured the space to multiple tenants and added the cooler to keep Buffalo Wild Wings on site.

John Friel, director of design at Symmetry, identified several committed tenants: Meijer at the corner, Total Wine and Nordstrom Rack in the main center, and outlot restaurants Five Guys, Kava and First Watch. Friel also said additional tenant interest has increased now that named anchors are committed.

Council and staff noted several technical issues that must be resolved as part of final approval. The motion that passed requires the developer to resolve outstanding items to the reasonable satisfaction of the city planner, city engineer and fire department and instructs the city attorney to prepare an updated PUD agreement reflecting the approved deviations and conditions. The council and applicant indicated the final PUD agreement could return for council consideration at the next possible meeting, dependent on internal-review signoffs.

Next steps: the developer said limited demo and utility shutoffs have already begun and anticipated larger demolition later in October, with building permits sought toward the end of the year. The council’s approval is conditional on satisfying the outstanding review comments and formalizing the PUD agreement.

The council vote approved the amendment; the motion recorded that outstanding items identified in the cited review letters must be addressed before final PUD language is presented for council consideration.