Signature Associates

Tire Wholesalers to more than double size with large new building on old Detroit armory site

Tire Wholesalers Inc. is expected to move out of its Troy headquarters into a new warehouse/distribution building more than double its current footprint under construction in Oak Park.

The company, based at 1783 14 Mile Road, is taking the entire 275,000-square-foot building underway on the former Detroit Artillery Armory site, expanding from 100,000-plus square feet on its current site.

Ross Kogel Jr., president of Tire Wholesalers, said the company moved into its existing space in 1992 and has added to it over the years. The new building, at 15100 Eight Mile Road, is expected to be complete in December, giving the company more needed space and the ability to “optimize some technologies that allow us to operate even more efficiently than we do now.”

Kogel declined to disclose Tire Wholesalers’ employee count and said no determinations have been made on new hiring at the new facility.  He also noted that the new building is located within a couple of blocks of the company’s first location, which was about 8,000 square feet in 1970.

“We are really excited to do it,” Kogel said.  The developer of the new building, Minneapolis-based The Opus Group, is also the contractor and architect, according to a news release.

Questions were sent seeking information on the development cost and whether any public incentives are involved.  The site is the former Detroit Artillery Armory property, which for years was considered a priority of Oak Park officials to redevelop into new uses.

The site, totaling about 100 acres, was unused since 2000 before Livonia-based Schostak Bros. & Co. purchased it for $3.7 million from the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs in 2003 and began selling it off to developers.

In 2015, Indianapolis-based developer Scannell Properties Inc. began developing a 300,000-square-foot facility for FedEx Corp. there on about 60 acres.

The property had included a 494,000-square-foot building that during World War II was a machine gun manufacturing plant, which has been demolished. The property was turned over to the Michigan National Guard after the war.

Until the early 1990s, the site was used for training and storage, then just for storage until 2000.

“To have the former Detroit Artillery Armory site fully leased and built out is a long-term dream I am beyond excited to see realized,” Oak Park City Manager Erik Tungate said in a release. “This will provide new job opportunities for our residents and an additional tax base for the City of Oak Park. Businesses that embrace advanced and modern technology and operational approaches are welcome in Oak Park, and this new development exemplifies what we look for as we continue to move down our path of excellence.”

The Royal Oak office of Chicago-based brokerage house JLL and Southfield-based Signature Associates Inc. (Paul Hoge and Gary Stephens) worked on the land sale.

Posted By: Crain’s Detroit Business on February 2, 2022.  For more information, please click here to read the source article.

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