The site of the former Rogell Golf Course might get a new life, but not as a golf course. The City of Detroit’s Housing and Revitalization Department has requested to buy the 120-acre piece of land at Lahser and Seven Mile Road in northwest Detroit.
If the City Council approves the sale, the City would purchase the land for about $1.9 million using money from a federal grant.
The project would include multiple uses for public and private development.
There would be a new public park with nature trails that would connect to the planned Rouge River Greenway, and a new green stormwater management system would be put in place to keep homes from flooding.
“The volume of stormwater we will manage on the Rogell site is like no other location in the city,” said Gary Brown, director of the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department. “This is critical in meeting a permit requirement to reduce stormwater flows into our wet weather facilities. More importantly, residents and businesses in northwest Detroit have experienced basement backups and street flooding that can be lessened immensely by installing green stormwater infrastructure which Detroiters will see as beautifully landscaped bioretention gardens.”
The part of the site that is a 120-acre Rouge River floodplain would be converted to open public land.
There is also the potential, according to mayor’s plan, for new mixed-use developments including residential and retail along Seven Mile.
The ball on this project is now in City Council’s court. There is no hard timeline for them to make a decision.