Could Another Hotel be on the Way for Former Barclay Inn Site?

Though much of it is still speculation, talks are under way about building a new mid-level hotel at the corner of Woodward and Maple, the site of the former Barclay Inn.

The property was purchased within the last month by the Farmington Hills-based hotel development firm Group 10 Management, Birmingham Planning Director Jana Ecker confirmed.

The site of the former Barclay Inn has stood empty since early September 2011, when . The property was owned by TCF Bank, who purchased the building in September 2010 from Pomeroy Investment Corporation.

This isn't the first offer on the empty lot, a visible vacancy in the city's Triangle District. Ecker said the lot has been under contract five times in the last year and a half, though this is the first offer that's come through.

"We've had a steady stream of people in here about that property," she said.

Ecker said so far, Group 10 Management has approached the Planning Department and requested old plans for hotels at that site, but as of yet, they haven't submitted anything to the city.

Since the building is located in the Triangle District, however, Ecker said whoever develops the site must develop a mixed use, multi-story building. Whether it turns out to be a hotel, Ecker said, is still up in the air.

"(Group 10 Management) do develop hotels, so probably," she said. "At the very least, it has to be a mixed use, multi-story building."

Still, Mike Koza, principal of Group 10 Management, told Downtown Birmingham/Bloomfield that the firm is looking at developing a Hampton Inn on the site, though they haven't recieved formal approval from Hampton Inn, owned by Hilton.

Birmingham is currently the home to two hotels: the luxurious located in the center of town, and the on Woodward Avenue. According to Crains Detroit, there are a combined total of 214 rooms at both hotels.

Should a hotel project be finalized, Ecker said the group would have to go to the Planning Board for a preliminary and final site plan review, as well as conduct a Community Impact Study since the final building would most likely be more than 20,000 square feet.

According to the company's website, Group 10 Management owns 180 entities throughout Metro Detroit. The firm is currently working at developing a group of empty buildings near the Detroit Metropolitan Airport, turning what was once empty buildings into 12,000 square feet of retail space and two hotels, a Springhill Suites and Holiday Inn Suites & Conference Center in Romulus.