PROJECTWRAPPING UP
City’s first splash pad coming to Auburn Corridor
The redevelopment of the Auburn Corridor in Rochester Hills will be completed thiswinter as the city wraps construction on its first splash pad.
It’s been four years since the construction project began to take shape between Culbertson Avenue and Dequindre Road on Auburn Road — A $13 million redevelopment project aimed at making the spacemore walkable and attractive to new businesses and residents.
Approximately $2.8 million of that cost came from grants, private donations and the Michigan Department of Transportation.
“The goal was to create public spaces, things certainly evolved as the project went on to enhance that vision,” Sara Roediger, planning and economic development director for the city, said. “We had opposition to one of the three original roundabouts, so we eliminated it. There were concerns about parking, so we added free street parking. There was a lot of community input.”
Anewboutique andamixed-use commercial and residential development are the first new tenants in the corridor, Roediger said, as well as a newsalon. The RochesterHills assessor office has found that the area is seeing an 8% increase annually in property values.
“We’ve done all sorts of beautification of the area, it’s not complete yet, but if youdrivedown, you can see it’s completely new and reimagined,” Bryan Barnett, mayor of Rochester Hills, said.
The city’s first splash pad at the entrance of the corridor will be completed and open in spring 2021, marking the end of the construction process. Roediger said the city’s planning to continue its
beautification efforts next year with street murals done by local students. More landscaping work is also planned.