I-275 area is topic of land forum

[Allan]

I-275 area is topic of land forum

October 19, 2004

BY JOHN GALLAGHER

FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

The annual gathering of real estate professionals known as the UM/ULI Real Estate Forum will focus this month on new development along the I-275 corridor.

Sponsored by the University of Michigan's Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, the U-M School of Business Administration and the Urban Land Institute Detroit District Council, the Oct. 27-28 forum provides what many experts believe to be southeastern Michigan's premier conference on real estate trends.

"Fostering, managing and ultimately benefiting from real estate growth has become increasingly more complex," said Lawrence Hadley, president of the Novi-based commercial mortgage broker Hadley and Associates and chair of this year's forum. "The I-275 corridor provides us with an excellent opportunity to observe these issues in a number of communities that all exhibit various stages of growth."

As in the past, the first day will include a bus tour of recent developments. The tour begins at Summit on the Park, 46000 Summit Parkway in Canton Township, and concludes with lunch and a reception at the site. The tour will visit some older communities like Livonia and Plymouth, middle-stage communities like Farmington Hills and Novi, and fast-growing communities such as Van Buren Township and Canton Township.

"Some of these communities have a traditional downtown, but most don't," Hadley said. "Some are fostering in-fill development, while others are in strong greenfield development modes. So there is a tremendous spectrum of development issues and opportunities for us to observe and understand in these communities."

All sessions including meals on Oct. 28 will be held on the U-M campus at the Michigan League, 911 N. University, Ann Arbor. Local and national experts will discuss how growth issues can be confronted and resolved. Scheduled speakers include John McIlwain, a senior fellow with the Urban Land Institute, and Detroit-area developers Charles Allen of Graimark Realty Advisers and Ian Schonsheck of the Willow Creek retail project in Canton Township.

The two-day registration fee is $295. Registration is also possible for either day individually. For more information, visit the forum's Web site at www.tcaup.umich.edu/umuliforum/index.html .

Contact JOHN GALLAGHER at 313-222-5173 or [email protected]