Detroit sues Mammoth building owners over blight, seeks demolition
The city of Detroit announced Friday that it is suing the owners of the long-vacant Mammoth Building on the city's west side for failing to clean up or rehab the building and is urging the court to order demolition of the crumbling three-story eyesore.
In a lawsuit filed last week, the city said the building at 15401 W. Grand River Ave., at the intersection of Grand River Avenue and Greenfield Road — formerly known as Federal Department Store — has fallen apart since its closure in the early 2000s and shows signs of neglect to the façade and clock tower, such as crumbling concrete, and a deteriorating pedestrian bridge that spans Grand River. The city is asking the court to require the owners to correct all violations or demolish the building and attached bridge plus any other structures on the property deemed dangerous.
The move by the city was heralded by residents and small business owners who were present at the news conference Detroit officials held outside the property announcing the lawsuit. In the nearly two decades since the building closed, new businesses have sprouted in the area with the promise that the Mammoth Building would be redeveloped as part of a massive reinvestment in the Cadillac Community, Grand River-Greenfield, Hubbell-Lyndon and Grand River-St. Mary's neighborhoods that surround the derelict structure.
Detroit Corporation Counsel Conrad Mallett said the city is not seeking city ownership of the site, but would rather someone purchase it for future development. The nuisance abatement lawsuit was filed against defendants Grand River Place, LLC; Greenfield Penthouse Manor, LLC; Park High Apartments-Phase I Limited Partnership, Christine Strather, Herbert J. Strather and Carlotta Duraine Jackson. It is unclear who is responsible for the site because of several transfers in ownership and companies over the years, but city officials expect to clarify the matter through the courts, Mallett added.
Herb Strather, who said he had hired an architectural firm and submitted blueprints to redevelop the site into a community and event space, and who attended Friday's announcement, told the Free Press the city is "absolutely right" about the blight and that he seeks to demolish the property next year.
"We've done the best we can. We've redeveloped the other corners. We've built everything brand new," Strather said of other developments he was involved with in the area. "We thought we had the Opportunity Zone (for this property). When we found out we didn't have the Opportunity Zone, we didn't have the funding mix to make it happen."
City Council President Pro-Tem James Tate said the site has been dragging the community down with the number of complaints his office received about its neglect.
"No longer are we going to stand and allow our community not to receive what they deserve," Tate said.
Strather verbally sparred with city officials at the announcement and spoke to the dozens of residents in attendance who demanded to know why Strather did not keep up the property or fix it. He said he has spent $20,000 a year to keep the site clean and is "happy" to tear the building down.
Detroit's Buildings, Safety Engineering and Environmental Department issued correction orders and blight violation tickets for the Mammoth Building for at least 10 years, according to the lawsuit. Since March 2022, BSEED conducted eight inspections and found dozens of violations — from maintaining structural integrity to maintaining a site free of solid waste — at the 135,000-square-foot building, which sits on about 2.7 acres.
The city alleges the building is no longer suitable for public use and is open to trespassers, making it "susceptible to criminal activity." The site's bridge also poses a "significant threat" to pedestrian and vehicular traffic passing underneath and may be exposed to falling materials.
After the company was liquidated in 1980, Kingsway Department Stores acquired and operated at the site until 1990. The building was purchased by Mammoth Department Store, which closed in 2000, and was sold two years later to Park High LP, where Herbert Strather is a general partner, according to the lawsuit.
Area residents like George Perdue said the removal of the building could bring the neighborhood "great possibilities" as the area sees a surge of revitalization.
"We want the best for our community. We don't want eyesores and blight in our community," he said.
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Mallett said this is one of 22 lawsuits the city is filing against property owners neglecting to correct their violations with the help of American Rescue Plan Act dollars, which need to be spent by 2026.
"Owners of these properties fight back," Mallett said. "They want to keep control of what they think is property that will increase in value while they do nothing. We are going to force a decision. Either it's going to be demolished, it's going to be repaired, (or) it's going to be in the hands of a receiver. But we are going to have progress."
Clayton Carter, owner of custom printing company Can You Picture This, has been in the area since 1994 and recalled major plans for the site that encouraged him to invest in the area.
"As a community, we need to feed off of each other. I think it'd be good for the community for this building to take off and have something nice for the neighborhood," Carter said.
Dana Afana is the Detroit city hall reporter for the Free Press. Contact Dana: dafana@freepress.com or 313-635-3491. Follow her on Twitter: @DanaAfana.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit files lawsuit against Mammoth Building owners for blight
