WARREN, Michigan — First, the city bought it. Then, they moved to raze it.
Last week, Warren Mayor Jim Fouts celebrated the pending demolition of Book World, on Van Dyke north of Eight Mile Road, an adult bookstore that had operated in the community for 30 years.
Former Mayor Mark Steenbergh announced the city’s plans to purchase the property through the city’s Tax Increment Finance Authority before he left office in November, and TIFA Director Gina Cavaliere said last week that the city had closed on the deal earlier this year.
Final demolition at the site was still pending at press time, but Cavaliere said the building would likely be razed on May 22, after the Warren Weekly went to press.
“We’re getting rid of smut, we’re getting rid of an eyesore, and we can remarket it,” Fouts said. “We’re also cleaning up the older sections of Warren, section by section. This is just part of the larger picture of revitalizing south Warren.”
Cavaliere said the city’s TIFA paid $330,000 for the seven commercial parcels at Book World. That’s more than $200,000 less than what previously had been asked for the property, which includes 150 feet of frontage on Van Dyke and 165 feet along nearby Rivard, plus the alley.
“Time was the best tool,” Cavaliere said. “They offered it to us thinking that we were going to jump just to get the business out and that we’d be willing to pay more because of that. We told them we weren’t willing to pay more than the market rate.”
The conditions of the purchase also prohibit the owners of Book World from reopening the store elsewhere in the city.
The store was permitted to operate at its location on Van Dyke because it opened before the city’s existing ordinances that govern adult businesses were put into place.
Cavaliere said the owners would have been required to make a small amount of modifications to keep the store operating there, in compliance with the city’s newest ordinance for sexually oriented businesses.
Once the site is cleared, Cavaliere said, the property would be marketed for commercial use through a public bid process. She said there are already some interested parties.
“It’s on a very suitable corner where our neighbors have made a lot of investments. It’s suitable for retail, retail that’s a complement to the neighborhood as opposed to a detriment,” Cavaliere said. “Our goal would be to get it back on the tax rolls as quickly as possible.”
Fouts and other officials gathered at Book World on May 17 to launch a citywide “Clean-up Day.” Demolition scheduled for that day was temporarily postponed because the contractor had not yet installed a fence around the property, as required.
As he encouraged residents and business owners to clean their respective properties as part of the larger citywide clean-up effort, the mayor commended the efforts of the Van Dyke/Eight Mile Gateway Collaborative, which he said has worked to improve the look and perception of the area.