Here’s how huge Canton development’s next-door neighbor feels about project
The lone entrance (pictured on left side of photo) to the proposed development is the same one customers and employees use to access The Tile Shop parking lot.
The waves of traffic generated by the proposed Canton Township development featuring a Topgolf facility, Chik-fil-A and Portillo’s will be a blessing in disguise — not a headache — for the project’s next-door neighbor: The Tile Shop, located at 40150 Ford Road.
The fact that the proposed entrance to the development is the same one patrons use to enter his business is a positive for Mike Brownsberger, the The Tile Shop manager emphasized — for multiple reasons (one obvious; one not-so-obvious).
“I think it’s a 100% good thing for The Tile Shop,” Brownsberger said. “We’re set back from the road and there’s a berm in front of our store, so a lot of times people don’t even know we’re here, even if they live in Canton, Westland or a nearby community.
Traffic a good thing for this neighbor
“With the increase in traffic driving by our place, people will see our store, it will register with them and they’ll remember us when they reach a point where they’re starting a renovation project in their home.”
Brownsberger invites the uptick in Ford Road traffic that is expected to accompany the development — especially since the current status of the Ford Road business district leans heavily toward the west side of I-275.
“The way things are now, the foot traffic — or shopping traffic — is far heavier west of the highway because of IKEA, Gardner-White and all of the restaurants on that side of Ford Road,” Brownsberger said.
“The spot we’re in all of a sudden died once IKEA and the other big businesses opened.
“Except for maybe Starbucks and Emagine, people don’t know what’s on the east side of 275. I think the development would not only benefit businesses like mine, but also businesses down Ford Road in Canton and Westland.
Elimination of ‘tent city’?
“The more people we can get in the door creates more opportunities for my sales staff.”
Brownsberger noted a second benefit the project would create on the now-heavily-wooded property: the elimination of a tent city of homeless people who he said live periodically on the property just east of I-275.
Brownsberger said the people who live off-and-on in the woods just a stone’s throw from the rear of his business routinely use the dumpster area behind his store to defecate.
“And when they’re back there, I worry about the safety of my female employees,” he said.
The project’s developer Broder Sachse Real Estate hopes to break ground by this coming summer and be open for business by 2025 — if a series of approvals are granted by Canton Township government leaders.
The grand opening can’t come too soon for Mike Brownsberger and his Tile Shop employees.
Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.
