Hazel Park receives development grant   By Jeremy Adragna C & G Staff Writer The city of Hazel Park will be one of the first suburbs in the state to receive funding and support to make redevelopment efforts less complicated for investors over the next two years. Hazel Park was one of five cities named to test out a program called Redevelopment Ready Communities that will bring in $30,000 in technical assistance from Ferndale-based Michigan Suburbs Alliance to streamline the redevelopment process and attract investors. City officials pointed to the rehabilitation of La Casa Inn Hotel, once a haven for prostitutes and drug dealers, as a sign that Hazel Park is on the rebound. The hotel, built in 1960 and soon to be transformed into a Days Inn, was the location chosen to announce the program last week, drawing even Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who touted RRC's benefits. "We've said all along that the older communities, they've already got the infrastructure, they've already got the concentration of people, they have all of the dynamics. You don't need to go anywhere else," said Granholm. "And the response often from the private sector had been, 'It's too much of a hassle, too much bureaucracy, too much red tape, too much waiting.' So what you've done here is too really set the example for how you can streamline, how you can invite developers and invite jobs into these communities." Chicago-based developer Joseph Keyes purchased the hotel last year and plans to have its 104-rooms up and running by summer and to reopen a vacant restaurant inside within months. "It helps change the image," said Keyes. "It was an eyesore. Everybody knows about this place. We had 40 different contractors in and out of here, and everybody has a story to tell me. But nobody has a good story to tell me about this place. Not one." The city has been working for the past year to be certified for the program by cataloguing vacant land, passing new zoning ordinances and updating a plan for future redevelopment. Some of the recommendations handed down by the Michigan Suburban Alliance have been to create different housing choices, make neighborhoods "walkable" for residents and provide a variety of transportation options. "I think that everybody knows that older, fully developed and mature communities in the state of Michigan … are facing challenges," said Hazel Park City Manager Edward Klobucher. "The Michigan Suburban Alliance has done a great job of helping us face those challenges with regional collaboration." Other cities involved in the project are Eastpointe, River Rouge, Southfield and Ypsilanti. All of the cities underwent a process of restructuring their procedures for attracting development based on a point system. After two years each will have to be reevaluated to remain part of the program. "We are open for business," Granholm said. "We are going to bend over backwards to bust the bureaucracy and invite economic development within our borders. Older communities are just as competitive as newer communities." You can reach Jeremy Adragna at jadragna@candgnews.com City of Hazel Park, 111 E. Nine Mile Rd., Hazel Park, MI 48030 Disclaimer