By Tom Tolen / news@whmi.com


A couple of major residential housing developments are about to come to life in the City of Brighton this spring, but a city official cautions that such major housing projects may soon be coming to an end.

The most ambitious project getting underway this year is the 4-story Vista at Uptown, a 235-unit upscale apartment complex, located between North Second St. and the Mill Pond. Also planned is the project known as West Village Townhomes at the 10.5-acre, former Lindbom School property on Brighton’s northwest side. In addition, the finishing touches are being put on Conely Square, the Robertson Bros. development at Liberty St. and Flint Road on the city’s northeast side.

Denise Todd, the marketing manager for DTN Management Co. of Lansing, the developer of Vista, told WHMI the name of the project is now "Vista at Brighton". However, Community Development Director Mike Caruso says the documents on file with the city all say "Vista at Uptown".

Jim Bohn - Brighton Mayor Pro Tem and a member of the City Planning Commission - thinks that confined as it is to its 2.9 square mile size, Brighton can’t handle much more growth. Bohn says, “With Conely Square, Pulte Homes (The Bluffs of Springhill), DTM Vista and now West Village, we’re basically built out.” Bohn added that, again in his words, “There’s not much buildable property left, and it looks like all there is, is redevelopment.”

Caruso says DTN has received all required construction permits and now is involved in the initial construction phase. The infrastructure and foundation work is already well underway, according to Caruso.

Caruso says West Village, a project of the SR Jacobson Co. of Bingham Farms, is now a “go” as a result of a consent judgment reached in May of 2022 between the city and Jacobson, the developer and property owner. Jacobson sued the city after the City Council rejected the proposal as “too dense” and said the building height was out of scale with the neighborhood. The previous proposal, which would have resulted in 140 townhomes for senior housing and assisted living and a club house, has been scaled back with the consent judgment involving 123 multi-family rental units on two floors.

Jacobson expects to receive state approval in the near future for the plan, which requires that ventilation units be installed to vent fumes from an underground plume of TCE. Trichloroethylene, the chemical name, is an industrial solvent and degreaser resulting from a former business that was located nearby. According to Caruso, the consent judgment also calls for both parties to enter into a Brownfield TIF, or Tax Increment Financing, plan in order for construction to proceed.

On the other side of town, Robertson Bros. Homes of Bloomfield Hills is poised for completion of the Conely Square townhouse project on Flint Road. Construction of the final two buildings is well underway, and the project should be completed this year with a total of 85 upscale townhouse units, which are actually condominiums, to be sold. And the Bluffs of Springhill development on Flint Road near I-96 is nearly completed, with only six remaining home sites left for a total of 70 homes.

Bohn says another impediment to future growth is the existing infrastructure. He says with major arteries such as Spencer Road/Main Street and Grand River not able to handle much more traffic than at present, significant growth “would be more than the roads are designed to handle.”

Photos: 1) The Vista at Uptown 2) West Village Townhomes