City of Monroe updates progress on redevelopment of former La-Z-Boy HQ
MONROE — The City of Monroe continues to make progress in the redevelopment of the former La-Z-Boy World Headquarters site.
Mark Cochran, the city's director of economic and community development, made a presentation to the city council during their July 17 meeting on progress at the 26-acre property along North Telegraph Road.
"We've had a lot of stops and starts on the La-Z-Boy project," Cochran said. "We are at a point where we do have a lot to talk about. There's a lot going on, there's a lot that's happened, a lot that's on the horizon."
The city took ownership of the property in November 2021 and demolished the old headquarters the following summer with a goal to transform it into a mixed-use development with both commercial and residential space.
While progress has been slow at times, Cochran said, a lot of work has already been completed. The city worked with multiple state and local partners on rezoning and site plans along with a total redesign and approval of outdated infrastructure.
Two commercial properties have been constructed, including a Dairy Queen and also a three-tenant strip mall featuring Chipotle Mexican Grill and SVS Vision. Five Guys, a fast-foot burger chain, will soon fill the last spot. Plans to extend Holiday Boulevard east to Huber Drive and extend Huber Drive north to Greenfield Drive should be completed in full later this year.
"We've really done a lot of work," Cochran said. "This was not a development ready site. This was not a greenfield site that all it needed was water and sewer ran to it. There were a lot of challenges."
The city recently came to an agreement with Aldi Grocery Stores to build a new development on the southern-most parcel of land running just along Telegraph after back and forth negotiations. Aldi had sought a commitment from the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) to add a left turn signal at Holiday Boulevard before making a commitment, but the state would only agree to the modification if justified by traffic flow.
Despite that setback, the city's promise to continue to push the issue with the state convinced Aldi to commit to the project.
"We gave a letter to them signed by the city manager and myself letting them know that after they move in and move forward with construction, we're not going to let up the gas," Cochran said. "We're still going to diligently try to move forward with getting the left turn signal installed and they signed. They saw that the city was doing all that we possibly could."
Aldi hopes to begin construction this fall.
Two other developers have agreed with the city to start construction on parcels east of Aldi, including a five-unit commercial development with a drive-thru along Holiday Boulevard and two six-unit residential buildings on Huber Drive. Construction on both is expected to begin in August.
"So you're going to be seeing a whole lot of activity yet this year," Cochran said.
The city also recently reached an agreement last week with MDOT and the Monroe County Drain Commission (MCDC) to replace the crumbling Mason Run Drain culvert that runs under Telegraph. That agreement saved the city around $300,000, Cochran said, but construction is not expected to start until next summer. Telegraph will be limited to just two lanes of traffic during that time.
Those negotiations caused delays in work at the site which have now been cleared up, Cochran said.
"We didn't want to install all the sidewalks if they were going to come in and rip them up during this project," said Cochran, who thanked MCDC Commissioner David Thompson and his staff for expediting the project.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: City of Monroe updates progress on redevelopment of former La-Z-Boy HQ
