New plans have emerged to build a 158-unit apartment building just east of Royal Oak’s central business district.

Documents filed with the Royal Oak Planning Commission ahead of an Aug. 13 meeting outline the plans by Champion Development Group LLC to develop a five-story building north of Lincoln Avenue between Troy and Main streets.

The Royal Oak-based developers would demolish a handful of existing buildings on the site to make way for the Lincoln Place project, per the Planning Commission documents. 

“We have been looking at the 211 East Lincoln Ave. property for a while, and an opportunity to enter into a purchase agreement with the present long-time property owners has recently presented itself,” Champion Development COO Michael Nadolski wrote in a letter to planning commissioners. “This proposed development will provide an opportunity to convert a decades old small manufacturing facility into another attractive residential property close to the robust Downtown Royal Oak City Center.”

The roughly 2-acre property is owned by William Crook Fire Protection, and the planning documents say the current industrial use of the parcels is “nonconforming” with city zoning for the area. The developers of the proposed Lincoln Place project seek a special land use permit and site plan approval.

Depending on the approval process and weather, a groundbreaking for the estimated $45 million-$55 million project could take place by the end of the year, or be pushed into 2025, Nadolski said, adding that he expects a construction period of roughly 19 months.

All of the 158 units would be market rate and rents are yet to be determined, Nadolski told Crain’s on Friday. The developer also owns the nearby Billings Place apartment building — along the west side of Main Street just north of 11 Mile Road — which opened in 2021.

Plans call for studio apartments and up to three-bedroom units, with the majority of the units being studio or one bedroom.

At Billings Place, which has 65 units, one-bedroom units start at around $2,300 per month and two-bedrooms start at about $3,000. Rents go up somewhat depending on which floor and view.

Amenities for the proposed Lincoln Place development include exterior sitting areas, barbecue areas, a dog walk and an indoor fitness center.

At Lincoln Place, the developers aim to provide a total of 214 enclosed parking spaces. That would equal about 1.35 parking spaces per dwelling, just below the required 1.5 spaces that the zoning code calls for. The planning commission documents, however, note that many other residential projects approved in the past have had parking ratios below what the ordinance calls for.

Nadolski also touched on the parking aspect in his letter to the city included in the Planning Commission documents.

“From our direct experience within the Royal Oak market at Billings Place, combined with our marketing knowledge and experience, we have designed our parking solution to match the actual needs of the population of our building,” Nadolski wrote, adding that providing 1.5 spaces per unit “would produce an excessive parking count for the building.”

Apartment construction broadly has dropped sharply in recent years, according to a Redfin report. Indeed, Nadolski pointed to lengthy and expensive pre-construction costs, as well as the cost of construction being up roughly 30% in the past few years.

The proposed size of the Lincoln Place development, however, is what makes the project economically feasible, Nadolski said.

“We know people want to be in Royal Oak, and we have faith in that,” the developer told Crain’s. “And having density allows us to operate in these conditions.”