The demolition of the final above-ground pieces of the Phoenix Center in Pontiac began Monday morning.
Now that the former entertainment venue is no more, what comes next for the city of Pontiac?
The stairs of the Phoenix Center were ripped down by demolition crews Monday morning, a sign that the Pontiac Redevelopment Project is moving forward.
“It excites me because it’s progress and it’s tangible,” said Mike McGuinness, Pontiac City Council President.
So, what comes next for the space once all the debris is hauled away?
“Our downtown is a little bit sleepy. We want more foot traffic downtown, and the way you do that is by bringing more employees downtown, which this project will do,” said Pontiac Mayor Tim Greimel.
Hundreds of Oakland County employees are moving to the former General Motors building on Judson Street.
Griemel says there are also plans to build more apartments downtown.
“One of them already broke ground. It’s been under development for over a year now, so it started in April of 2024, and they’re still optimistic that they’ll start moving some residents into some units before the end of this calendar year. Another project that will have almost 300 units has been approved for $80 million in Michigan State tax incentives, and that’s going to be north of Huron on the north end of our downtown,” Griemel said.
The project also includes two parking decks and two acres of green space, and three grant programs can also help entrepreneurs hoping to launch their business here.
“One is a facade matching grant program that Main Street Pontiac and Main Street Oakland County are looking to roll out. The second is that small business grant program, which was meant to help with inventory with business structure. The third is that we have a technical assistance grant program where, for free, you can get technical support with marketing, with website, with business registration,” McGuinness said.
There’s also an initiative called Oakland Thrive.
“They have a lot of resources. They will give you one-on-one support, counseling, encouragement, connecting you with resources, and it’s a great benefit, and their offices have now opened in downtown Pontiac,” McGuinness said.
In terms of what comes next, the simple answer is a great deal.
“Where you call home, or where your business is, or where you work, we want it to be amazing. And Pontiac’s got all those ingredients; we just got to make sure we bake the cake right so that way it tastes great for everybody,” McGuinness said.