Voters clearly defeat Livonia facilities proposal
Candidates advance in Livonia, Westland council races
By Dan West/August 6, 2025
By a two-to-one margin, Livonia voters crushed a $150 million proposal to revamp the city’s Civic Center which would have created space for a future mixed-use development on the site.
In the measure that would have increased property taxes by 1.43 mills a year, 18,140 voted no and 9,028 voted yes in the August 5 election.
In the proposal advanced by Mayor Maureen Miller Brosnan, funds would have been used to build a new police headquarters, renovate the city’s five fire stations, build a new library, build a new central park and bike trails, and demolish old buildings. This would have created as much as 27 acres of land at Five Mile and Farmington roads for a private development designed to be central gathering space with housing, restaurants, and stores surrounding the central park.
Opponents of the measure said it was too expensive with too many unknowns. Some opponents supported the public safety enhancements but questioned the need to demolish the Bennett Library that opened in 1989.
Supporters said the proposal would have provided necessary updates to the city’s aging infrastructure and created an exciting new look for the heart of the city that would lead to other economic development and tax revenue for other city needs.
Regardless of the election results, Livonia still aims to build a new city hall through a planned bond sale that would be repaid by savings from a restructured employee health insurance program with a groundbreaking likely taking place next year.
The Livonia election also pared a crowded field of 19 city council candidates to eight. In order of votes, the general election field will be Kathleen McIntrye, Robin Persiconi, Steve King, Kayleigh Kavanagh Reid, Patrick Brockway, Eileen McDonnell, Jenny O’Connor, and James Hooper. There are no incumbents running for re-election in this race.
In the November 4 general election, Livonia voters will elect four new council members out of this field.
It was also election day in Westland on August 5 where a field of 12 candidates for Westland City Council was pared to eight. In order of votes, the November election field will be Emily Bauman, Antoinette Martin, John Sullivan, Lekisha Maxwell, Michael Londeau, Jim Hart, Delano Hornbuckle, and Josh Powell. Bauman, Hart and Hornbuckle currently serve on city council.
Voters also nominated four candidates to fill two partial terms that will last from mid-November until the end of December. Those candidates are Martin, Maxwell, Sullivan and Londeau.
Current councilmembers Doug Wishart and Hornbuckle were appointed to those seats until the November election.
In both cities, the top three vote getters in November will receive four-year terms and the fourth-place finisher will earn two-year terms on their respective city councils.
The Livonia-Westland Chamber of Commerce will host separate candidate forums this fall featuring the city council candidates in both cities.
Facts and Analysis: Livonia Bond Issue
City voters will determine fate of $150 million proposal to build new city facilities, clear old ones to redevelop Civic Center on Aug. 5
By Dan West/July 22, 2025
Driving through Livonia in recent weeks, motorists can’t help but see a wave of orange “Yes” signs and black and white “No” signs as residents debate whether to spend taxpayer money on plans to redevelop Livonia’s city campus at Five Mile and Farmington.
Livonia is celebrating its 75th anniversary as a city this year. In 1950, voters approved Livonia’s transition into cityhood fueled in large part by the construction of a large horse racing track, the Detroit Race Course, at Schoolcraft and Middlebelt. This sparked significant spinoff developments that launched Livonia from a sleepy township into a major Metro Detroit suburb.
Advocates for the bond issue believe the $150 million proposal is visionary and it will lead to a new generation of private spinoff development that will preserve Livonia as a leading, attractive, centrally located community for decades to come.
What is the proposal?
The Livonia Municipal Facilities Proposal asks voters to finance up to $150 million to start a multiple-step process to redevelop the Livonia City Center campus. These funds would be repaid by city taxpayers via an increase of 1.43 mills over 25 years.
Rendering image of the new City Hall and Bennett Library side-by-side.
This money would be used to construct a new Livonia Police Headquarters and parking structure, renovate the city’s five fire stations, construct a new building for the Bennett Library, develop a city center park, biking and walking trails, and demolish several old city buildings on the campus.
This would create up to 27 acres of vacant land on the corner of Five Mile and Farmington for a private, mixed-use development around the proposed city center park and Nehasil Memorial Park. None of these private projects would receive any funding from the bond issue.
The private development will likely involve retail, dining, apartments and townhomes, and small offices in a walkable space centered around the new city center park. This is designed to be a central gathering space for events such as art fairs and summer concerts, and the concept is like the ongoing redevelopment work at the former Northville Downs property.
Jessica Katers, a Livonia resident, civil engineer and partner at OHM Advisors, said it is rare and valuable for 27 clear acres to be available – and under city control – in the middle of the city next to new construction. The private development process, she added, will take several years to complete.
What else is going on with city facilities?
Separately, there is ongoing construction at the Kirksey Community Recreation Center for the new Livonia Senior Wellness Center and additional rec center space that was funded by a combination of city, county, state and federal funds. The senior wellness center is scheduled to be completed later this fall. The rest of the rec center is scheduled to be done early next year.
Regardless of the bond issue vote, the city plans to finance the construction of a new Livonia City Hall by selling bonds this fall and paying them back with money saved from a reorganization of employee health care benefits. Groundbreaking for the new building will likely take place next year.
What city buildings would be demolished?
Several of the city buildings that would be demolished under this plan were built in the 1960s and 70s. The Livonia Police Department and City Hall annex date back to 1961. The rest of Livonia City Hall opened in 1979. The old courthouse was built in 1971 and has been vacant since the McCann Courthouse on Five Mile opened in 2010.
Sam’s Place Restaurant, the adjacent empty office, formerly occupied by the Livonia Chamber of Commerce, and the current senior center, all built before 1970, would also be razed.
The Robert and Janet Bennett Library opened in 1989, but Mayor Maureen Miller Brosnan said the building needs significant HVAC, roofing, handicap accessibility, and technology upgrades to the point constructing a new, more-efficient library is not that much more money.
If the bond issue is approved, plans call for the new Bennett Library and Livonia City Hall to be constructed adjacent to each other.
None of the five Livonia fire stations would be demolished but each would see major renovations. Aside from the Livonia fire station on Seven Mile and Wayne that was built in 1999, the other four Livonia fire stations were built between 1960-1971.
Why is there one big question before voters?
One of the most-debated parts of the proposal centers around the city’s decision to seek more money to add a new library and recreation components beyond the more popular ideas to build a new police headquarters and revamp fire stations.
Livonia City Councilman Rob Donovic said the bigger vision allows the city to reorganize the Civic Center Campus to maximize land available for the private development. This creates more potential for an exciting project and attracts more spinoff developments in other parts of Livonia which generates more tax revenue for the city. He added having new city buildings will be more efficient and save the city money on future maintenance costs.
Without this effort, a recent needs assessment indicated the city would need some $100 million over the next decade to maintain and repair current facilities. “We would just continue to throw good money at aging buildings,” Donovic said. “Then we put off replacing the buildings when that would only cost us much more in the future.”
What is the Chamber’s position?
The Livonia-Westland Chamber, a nonpartisan, nonprofit trade organization representing more than 1,200 members, endorses the Livonia Municipal Facilities Proposal. Brandon Grysko, a Livonia resident and local attorney who chairs the 29-member board, said this proposal “provides great opportunity and value in the heart of the city.”
When all phases are completed, he said it will provide an attractive hub that will make great first impressions and spark other economic development that will bring more residents, visitors and businesses to Livonia.
For more information, visit the City of Livonia’s “Livonia Built” website: livoniabuilt.org.
New construction surrounds major Livonia intersection
Meijer Fresh, Scooters Coffee, townhouses coming
By Dan West/July 15, 2025
This is a rendering of a Meijer Fresh grocery store.
With demolition completed on the site of a former Kmart store on the northwest corner of Seven Mile and Farmington, work crews have begun the infrastructure work of a two-phase redevelopment of this 16-acre parcel.
The first phase will produce a 75,000-square-foot Meijer Fresh grocery store, closest to Farmington Road. This Meijer facility is smaller than the grocer’s big box building on Middlebelt near Schoolcraft. The new store will be a traditional grocery store and pharmacy, without a garden center, sporting goods, and clothing.
The project is being developed by Livonia-based Schostak Brothers and Company, a four-generation, family-run operation since 1920. Jeff Schostak, the company’s president, said the store should be complete by next summer. He added the second phase of the project will likely begin next year with the construction of 102 townhomes on the west end of the property.
“We are still in the design phase, but we hope to be able to start construction on the townhouses next year at the same time we are finishing up the store.” Schostak said.
Schostak said the townhouses will include two-bedroom and three-bedroom places that will offer more space than traditional apartments. He said this project will help with metro Detroit’s shortage of townhouses and apartments which are sought by young professionals and others who want modern-looking places to live without yard work or a long-term mortgage commitment.
Schostak Brothers and Company developed the Kmart store and adjacent strip center in the 1970s. The Kmart store was closed in April 2017, and it stood vacant until this spring when the entire site was razed.
Meanwhile, across the street on the southeast corner of the Seven Mile-Farmington intersection, construction is active for the construction of a Scooters coffee shop, which features a drive-through only operation. And directly to the south of the coffee shop, a former veterinary clinic is being rebuilt into an ice cream shop. Both shops will share the newly paved parking lot.
This project is being developed by George H. Pastor and Sons, which is also a family-run operation celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Company president John Pastor said both shops could open as soon as next month.
This corner parcel was occupied by a gas station before it was demolished years ago.
For more details on the northwest corner of Seven Mile and Farmington project, check out our newest episode of CityScape featuring Jeff Schostak at www.youtube.com/@TheLivoniaWestlandChamber.
Revamp Six Mile-Haggerty begins
Whole Foods construction starts work on 22-acre Livonia site
By Dan West/June 17, 2025
Work began this month to redevelop the former Comerica Bank operations center on the corner of Six Mile and Haggerty.
Construction crews have moved into the northeast corner of Six Mile and Haggerty roads to begin work on a multiple-phase redevelopment of the former Comerica Bank operations center in Livonia.
It’s a process that is expected to take at least two years. The initial phase involves the north edge of the property for construction of a new 38,000-square foot building for a Whole Foods grocery store.
This is the first step in what analysts are calling a transformative project that will convert the 22.3-acre office site into a collection of stores, restaurants, a health club, and a five-story apartment complex. The original site plan, approved last year by city officials, was recently modified to drop plans for a hotel and replace the spot with two fine-dining restaurants, said Mark Taormina, Livonia’s city planner and economic development director.
After the Whole Foods store is completed, future phases will include demolition of the old 366,000-square-foot bank operations center to make room for constructing the other new buildings. The next phase, Taormina said, will likely involve construction of new buildings for two new strip retail centers along Haggerty Road. Plans call for keeping the parking structure for those living in the apartment complex, which is currently designed to be located on the east edge of the property closest to I-275.
Comerica Bank sold this property to Markus Management Group, based in Birmingham, in 2023 for $21.1 million, according to Crain’s Detroit Business. The original building dates back to 1986 and was used as a check processing center.
This project, along with others nearby, will add to the shopping and dining options on the Haggerty Road corridor. On the other side of I-275, along Six Mile Road, work has begun to develop new business around the Holiday Inn hotel. Work crews demolished the banquet hall from the hotel that was built in 2015. This will make room for another hotel plus two restaurants along Six Mile Road, which are expected to be Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurant and Capital Grille.
The combination of the I-275 exit at Six Mile and the growing business activity along Haggerty Road has made nearby properties attractive to developers, said Peter Ventura Jr., a veteran commercial real estate broker and member of the Livonia Planning Commission.
“Everybody is starting to realize there is a tremendous concentration of wealth in the western suburbs with Livonia, Plymouth, Northville, Canton, Novi and Farmington Hills, and I-275 is the only major artery to reach this area,” Ventura said. “Property near the exits along I-275 are very attractive for restaurants and other development.”
With development advancing at the Comerica Bank and Holiday Inn sites on Six Mile, Ventura said there is increased interest in the shuttered Buca di Beppo restaurant site which is located in between the two on Six Mile Road.
“We’ve been talking about the potential of the Haggerty Road corridor for several years and it is finally coming to fruition,” Ventura added.
Also nearby, a Nino Salvaggio International Marketplace is under construction on the campus of Schoolcraft College, and it is expected to open this winter.
New Westland fire station to modernize operations
Old Hawthorne Valley site will be home for fire, training, administration
By Dan West/May 28, 2025
A new Westland fire station under construction on Merriman near Warren is set to open in late summer.
The construction of a fire station and training facility in Westland should be completed by the end of the summer.
The new building, a nearly 14,000-square-foot structure, is taking shape on Merriman Road just south of Warren Road. It will have bays for three vehicles, house five firefighters on duty, and provide new offices for the Westland Fire Department’s administration. The 11-acre site will also have a separate three-story training structure, the first of its kind for the Westland department, said Fire Chief Darrell Stamper.
Aside from the modern amenities, this project will provide new continuity by bringing three fire department operations, currently at separate locations, into one location:
· This will be the new home for Fire Station No. 2, currently located on Merriman near Ann Arbor Trial,
· Fire administration offices will move here from their current space within the Westland Department of Public Services building on Marquette near Newburgh,
· WFD will no longer have to rent facilities from Livonia Fire and Rescue or Wayne County Community College for training.
“It gives the fire personnel and vehicles they drive more space,” Stamper said. “It will be nice to have the technology upgrades, but it will also be good for our fire administration to be in the same building as firefighters.”
The new facility is being constructed on the site of the former Hawthorne Valley Country Club which closed in 2011. Overall, Stamper said the project is expected to cost $9.5 million for construction and furnishings. Without any additional costs to Westland taxpayers, the city secured $2.5 million in federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act and $7 million in a state grant secured by then-State Representative and current Mayor Kevin Coleman.
The city plans to decommission the current site of Fire Station No. 2, a 6,500-square-foot building that opened in 1956 – 10 years before Westland became a city. Stamper said there was a renovation to the
living quarters in 2004, but there wasn’t adequate space on the one-acre site for needed upgrades. City officials have not yet decided what to do with this property once the old fire station closes.
City officials, Stamper said, are looking to upgrade fire station No. 4, a 6,500-square-foot, two-bay structure located on Palmer Road near Newburgh which was built in 1972. Westland has secured $3.5 million in additional state grants toward a new 10,000-square-foot, three-bay station either on the current site or a new site nearby. Stamper said he estimates this project would cost between $5.5 million and $6 million.
“This is a part of the city that has the highest increase in calls in recent years,” Stamper said.
Westland has two other fire facilities: The Ralph Salvini Fire Station (No. 1) on Central City Parkway near Nankin Blvd., and Station No. 3 on Annapolis Road near Middlebelt Road.
In 2024, Westland Fire responded to 16,500 calls, which is double the volume of what the department responded to in 2000. The department currently has a total of 89 firefighters and ancillary employees.
Huge fields for City Council races
19 running for 4 seats in Livonia, 12 running for 4 seats in Westland
By Dan West/May 19, 2025
Campaign signs will be plentiful as you drive through Livonia and Westland this summer.
Both cities will have competitive primary elections on Aug. 5 to pare the field to eight for the general election on Nov. 4. Eventually, each city will elect four people to their respective city councils; however, there is a statutory caveat to the Westland race.
At the same time, Westland will hold a separate election for two partial-term seats, that would essentially last from mid-November to the end of December. In this race, a field of 10 will be pared to four in the primary vote and those four would compete for the two partial seats in November.
Incumbent City Council members DeLano Hornbuckle and Douglas Wishart were appointed to complete the terms of Jim Godbout, who became deputy mayor, and Peter Herzberg, who was elected state representative.
City Clerk Richard LeBlanc said the Hornbuckle and Wishart appointments last until the next city election is certified, according to the city charter. The two partial-term winners take office upon certification. On the November ballot, there will also be another election on the ballot to fill the four seats to serve full terms.
“The partial term winners can be the same – or different – people that win full terms.” LeBlanc said.
In total, 10 candidates are seeking the partial term: Hornbuckle, Wishart, former Wayne Westland school board member Bradley Gray, former mayor and city council member Micheal Londeau, along with Lekisha Maxwell, Antoinette Martin, Linda Flizetti, Joshua Powell, John Sullivan, and Timothy Wilhelm.
Two other incumbent council members, Emily Bauman, and Jim Hart, were elected to terms that expire on Dec. 31. Each Bauman and Hart join the other 10 candidates in competing for the full-term seats. They will first appear on the August primary ballot. The eight top vote-getters would advance to the general election in the race to fill the four seats for full terms that would begin Jan. 1. 2026.
The top three vote-getters will earn four-year terms on the Westland City Council and the fourth-place finisher will garner a two-year term.
Westland Mayor Kevin Coleman was elected to a two-year term in 2023. He is seeking re-election and is unopposed in this year’s election which would earn a four-year term as the city’s chief executive officer.
In Livonia, 19 candidates will appear on the August primary ballot which include former city council member Kathleen McIntyre, past candidates Steve Alexander, Steve King, James Hooper, and Eileen McDonnell. New city council candidates include Kayleigh Kavanagh-Reid, Marlene Katafias, Yvette Warren, Nicholas John Pickard, Jacki Graham Karns, Alex King, Jennifer O’Connor, Adam Stathakis, Patrick Brockway, Frances Janis, Brian Meagher, Nicole Hefty, Robin Persiconi, and Rola Makki.
The eight top vote-getters will advance to the general election in November, where four will be eventually elected to terms that begin Jan. 1, 2026. The top three vote-getters will earn four-year terms, and the fourth-place finisher will earn a two-year seat.
The eventual winners will replace current incumbents Rob Donovic, Scott Morgan and Laura Toy, who are term-limited, and Lynda Scheel, who did not seek re-election.
The Livonia-Westland Chamber of Commerce will hold candidate forums for the Livonia candidates in the general election race on Thursday, Sept. 25 at Livonia City Hall, and the Westland general election candidates on Thursday, Oct. 2 at the Westland City Hall.
The Chamber is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that does not endorse individual candidates.
Sheetz proposal revived
Livonia ZBA grants variance for site at 8 Mile-Newburgh
By Dan West/May 12, 2025
The once-rejected plan to build a Sheetz gas station in northwest Livonia was revived by the Livonia Zoning Board of Appeals at its meeting on May 5.
Sheetz plans to build a new gas station and convenience store at this former Rite Aid site on Eight Mile Road, east of Newburgh Road in Livonia.
The ZBA granted a zoning variance to the gas station and convenience store chain that wants to redevelop the vacant site of a former Rite Aid Pharmacy on the southeast corner of Newburgh and Eight Mile roads. The ZBA has authority to grant zoning variances to petitioners who argue they have unique hardships in developing properties under current zoning.
The Livonia City Council, under pressure from some residents and small business owners, denied the rezoning needed to permit the Sheetz plan in January.
With the variance, Sheetz can resume pursuit of its proposed new store in Livonia. Mark Taormina, Livonia’s City Planner and Economic Development Director, said Sheetz can now pursue the process of obtaining waiver-use and site-plan approvals through the city’s Planning Commission and City Council. This process is expected to take a few months.
Without the variance, city sources said they expected litigation from the developers. This incentivizes the City Council to negotiate with Sheetz on a site plan or risk losing local control on how to develop the site to a judge in court.
The property has development challenges as it is sloped with two smaller units attached to the old pharmacy, one is next door and the other downhill. The site is surrounded by Whispering Willows Golf Course and Tin Cup Restaurant. Sheetz proposed a $10 million investment for demolition, site work, infrastructure upgrades, and new construction for a 6,000-square-foot convenience store and restaurant to be open 24 hours. The site drew criticism from some Livonia residents and those living across Eight Mile Road in Farmington Hills who were concerned about the influx of traffic and nighttime activity to the site.
Sheetz is looking to build several stores in Michigan but has faced opposition in several communities in Metro Detroit, including owners of independent gas stations and stores who feel Sheetz would have a competitive business advantage. So far, Sheetz has approvals for 18 other sites in Metro Detroit.
Sheetz is a family-operated business that originated in Altoona, PA in 1952, and operates hundreds of locations across the country.
The Livonia-Westland Chamber of Commerce is a nonprofit, nonpartisan trade organization representing more than 1,200 members and has served the business community since 1950.