Hotel planned at corner of Crocker, Detroit
Rezoning ordinance would require voter approval
By Kevin Kelley
Westlake
Published July 4, 2007

Stark Enterprises, the main developer of Crocker Park, has submitted plans to the city which would add The Promenade shopping center and a 6.8-acre lot at the corner of Crocker and Detroit roads to the Crocker Park planned unit development (PUD) district.

According to Bob Parry, Westlake’s director of planning and economic development, the proposal is being made so Stark can build a hotel at the corner of Crocker and Detroit road.

Stark wants to build a hotel with retail businesses on the first floor, Parry said.

Retail would not be allowed under the city’s hotel-motel zoning category, Parry said, so Stark wants to add the corner lot to Crocker Park’s existing PUD district, which allows for mixed use development.

“The only (zoning) district we have that you can do that (combine a hotel and retail) is PUD,” Parry told West Life.

However, because the rezoning would add retail development next to an existing or proposed area of retail 30 acres or larger (Crocker Park and Promenade), the rezoning requires voter approval under the City Charter, Parry said.

Stark wants to get the rezoning issue on the ballot this November, Parry said.

The proposed ordinance that would make the zoning changes was placed on first reading at City Council’s June 28 meeting and then referred to the planning commission. Parry said it was the intention of the planning commission to discuss the proposal at Monday’s scheduled meeting. The earliest the planning commission would vote on the ordinance would be at its July 16 meeting, Parry added.

In addition to obtaining approval from the planning commission, the proposal must be passed by council by August in order to be on the November ballot.

A parking garage and some office space would also be included in the corner parcel, Parry said.

Steven Rubin, chief operating officer at Stark Enterprises, told West Life that Stark manages the 6.8-acre parcel for the limited partnership that owns it. An office building that will be occupied by Fidelity Investments is currently being built on part of that parcel, Rubin said. The hotel would be built south of the office building, he added.

Stark has not yet settled on which chain will run the hotel, Rubin said. “We are talking to several (hotel chains),” Rubin told West Life. “It will be a significant hotel brand.”

Rubin said the development of the corner parcel in the style of Crocker Park will complement the area.

“First of all, it completes the edge along Crocker Road,” Rubin said. A hotel/retail/office complex would also ensure that a finished façade faces Crocker Road instead of the back of The Promenade’s stores, he added.

In 2005, Stark obtained approval for a hotel at the south end of Crocker Park’s Main Street, just west of Trader Joe’s grocery store. However, those plans were later abandoned.

The proposed ordinance would also add The Promenade, which covers 29.9 acres, to the Crocker Park PUD. The purpose of this, Parry said, was to enable a possible redevelopment some time down the road of that area in the style of Crocker Park.

The ordinance states that “in the event that The Promenade is redeveloped in the future, such redevelopment will be subject to the limitations imposed by the PUD zoning and consistent with the standards and high quality of Crocker Park.”

Parry said any redevelopment of The Promenade, built in the early 1990s, is not imminent.

“They’re not intending to do anything to The Promenade now,” Parry said.

However, Parry said that Stark may ultimately decide to focus on joining only the corner lot with the PUD for the planned hotel and put off adding The Promenade for now.

Rubin also said the addition of The Promenade to the PUD is not definite. “This is a subject that is being discussed,” he said.

The proposed ordinance would amend some standards set in the 2000 ordinance that voters approved that gave birth to Crocker Park.

One change is increasing the total percentage of retail permitted in the PUD from 35 to 40 percent. Another change would permit the hotel building to be up to 100 feet high, which would be about eight stories tall, Parry said.

Overall, Parry said that he believed adding to the existing PUD would expand the success of Crocker Park.