FARMINGTON (WXYZ) — It's a project in Farmington that has been 12 years in the making. A vacant downtown high school, now getting it's next chapter, with the property being transformed into a new housing development.
Farmington is pretty much built out and the only way for more housing in this small town is to tear down buildings like this. This old school building and what's going to to be going in there is 53 new townhomes. It's a beautiful and walkable town, and now more people will be able to enjoy it with new housing.
I spoke with city leaders about those next steps, and spoke with residents who had mixed feelings on the project.
Some who live in Farmington, like longtime resident Genevieve Lilley, are pumped about this new economic development.
"I'm excited to see what comes of it," Genevieve said. "I've been a Farmington resident my whole life. I actually live down the street from the building. The fact that something is getting put in it (after) it's been abandoned for a long time, like you said, is also exciting."
On Monday, major stakeholders, including the mayor, were in attendance as demolition crews continued the tear down of the former Maxfield Training Center.
"In order for us to met any growth objective here in the city, we have to find a way to densify property that becomes available," said Mayor Joe LaRussa. "We don't have a lot of green field that can be built on."
"Projects like this are absolutely important," said Hilary Doe, Chief Growth and Marketing Officer of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. "Housing is economic development, it's really the foundation of growing our state."
Once construction is all complete, it will become Hillside Townes, a new $16 million community consisting of seven three-story buildings with 53 townhomes with the first units available beginning next year.
Larry Cook says this project is a great idea, but he does have some concerns.
"You can only make a condo or an apartment building so much beauty, but the space between that and the river and the park is very important," Larry pointed out.
Luke Lefiles says he wishes they could've kept the building to put it to different use.
"I am not looking forward to more construction," Lefiles said. "We always thought it was a strange neglected spot that should be utilized for the community. I never understood why we're building more and more homes, I mean there's plenty of homes here."
"The timing was about finding the right combination of factors leading to success," said Mayor LaRussa.
