A prominent corner of Troy’s Big Beaver Road corridor could soon get a dramatic new addition. A local development group has unveiled plans for an eight-story hotel-and-apartment building at 575 W. Big Beaver Road, just east of the busy Interstate 75 interchange. This high-visibility project promises to bring new energy to one of Metro Detroit’s most important business hubs, and it’s already generating buzz among residents and real estate watchers alike. What exactly is being proposed, and what could it mean for Troy families, commuters, and investors? Let’s dive into the details of this ambitious development in a way only a true local can.
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The Vision for 575 W. Big Beaver Road
In late summer, Bacall Companies LLC – a Birmingham-based real estate firm run by four Michigan-born brothers – secured a special use permit from the Troy Planning Commission to move forward with their vision for the site. The plan calls for demolishing the long-closed TGI Friday’s restaurant that locals remember on that lot, making way for a modern mixed-use building about 93,000 square feet in size. According to city planning documents, the project carries an investment between $38 million and $40 million to bring to life. Here’s a quick rundown of what’s in store:
- Hotel: Approximately 80 hotel rooms occupying floors 2 through 5, catering to travelers with an extended-stay Element Hotel by Marriott as the likely brand (though final branding is still being finalized). Element is known for its modern, eco-friendly extended-stay accommodations, perfect for business travelers and families needing a longer stay in town.
- Apartments: 24 upscale apartment units planned for the top floors (6 through 8). These rental residences would offer a high-rise living option in Troy’s commercial heart, a relatively new concept for a corridor once dominated by offices. Future tenants might include young professionals or downsizers who want a walkable lifestyle and panoramic views, right in the middle of the action.
- Retail/Café: The ground floor (about 3,600 square feet) is slated for retail space, most likely a small restaurant or café. Imagine a stylish coffee shop or eatery where hotel guests, apartment residents, and Troy locals can mingle, a nice community touch that turns a formerly single-use site into a place where people can meet and relax.
- Parking & Amenities: While not a headline feature, practical needs like parking will be addressed on-site (likely with surface parking or a structure shared with the hotel). Guests and residents can also expect modern amenities. Given Element Hotel’s brand standards, amenities might include a fitness center, shared workspaces, and perhaps even pet-friendly facilities, all features that make extended stays or apartment living more comfortable.
Overall, the development aims to create a “live, stay, and play” environment at a location that’s currently underutilized. By stacking a hotel and apartments atop retail, Bacall Companies is maximizing the site’s potential in a way that aligns with modern urban planning trends. It’s not just about building a tall structure, it’s about introducing a new mixed-use lifestyle destination in Troy.
A Landmark Location at Big Beaver and I-75
Anyone who drives through Troy knows the Big Beaver Road exit off I-75 – it’s famously one of the most high-profile interchanges in Oakland County (and yes, locals often share a chuckle that the exit is number 69 on I-75 – a bit of Metro Detroit road trivia). This proposed eight-story building would rise at a “highly visible location in the city of Troy,” as Benjamin Carlisle, the city’s planning consultant, described it during a recent Planning Commission meeting. In fact, the planning officials expressed support for the project, recognizing that this corner, long occupied by a single-story chain restaurant, could serve a much more impactful purpose.
Big Beaver Road is Troy’s primary commercial corridor, sometimes dubbed the city’s “Golden Corridor.” It’s lined with corporate office towers, hotels, fine dining, and the upscale Somerset Collection mall just a couple miles west of the project site. Decades ago, Troy leaders envisioned Big Beaver as an “edge city” business district, and for years it was largely home to offices and destination retail. However, around 2006 the city launched the Big Beaver Corridor Study to encourage a more dynamic mix of uses. The result? Updated zoning and a form-based code that have gradually transformed Big Beaver into a more pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use destination. In the past decade alone, dozens of new site plans have been approved that break the old mold, adding apartments, restaurants, and walkable design into the fabric of this car-centric stretch.
The 575 W. Big Beaver site fits right into that narrative of transformation. It sits just east of I-75, meaning it’s one of the first things people see when they exit into Troy’s core business area. On the north side of Big Beaver Road, the new building would be adjacent to other hospitality and office properties, helping create a cluster of activity. Visibility and accessibility are prime: for hotel guests, being next to I-75 means easy in-and-out to reach other Metro Detroit destinations; for apartment residents, it means a quick commute downtown (20 minutes to Detroit with light traffic) and immediate highway access for traveling around town.
Local residents may recall visiting the TGI Friday’s that used to operate here, it was a go-to spot for after-work appetizers and family dinners before it shuttered some years back. In place of that now-vacant building, the new project promises something more vibrant and valuable to the community. The inclusion of a street-level café or restaurant means the corner could regain a social gathering spot, but one that serves a modern twist: imagine sipping your morning coffee in the café’s outdoor seating while hotel guests check out and businesspeople stroll over from nearby offices. It’s a small slice of urban lifestyle coming to a suburban setting.
Of course, a development of this scale at a busy junction does raise the question of traffic. Big Beaver can get quite congested, especially at rush hour or around the holiday shopping season (thanks to Somerset’s draw). However, city planners will undoubtedly ensure that traffic impact is mitigated, whether through smart entry/exit design, proper parking capacity, or even connecting driveways with neighboring properties. Given the Planning Commission’s enthusiasm, it appears any traffic or infrastructure concerns are manageable in their view.
For longtime Troy residents, seeing an eight-story building go up here will be a tangible sign of the city’s ongoing evolution. It’s not just another hotel or another office building, it’s a hybrid. And its placement at such a prominent gateway sends a clear message: Troy is embracing growth and looking to the future.
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Bacall Companies: Local Developers Thinking Big
Behind this project is Bacall Companies LLC, a homegrown Metro Detroit development firm that’s been making waves in the region’s real estate scene. If you haven’t heard of the Bacall name, you may still have encountered their work or investments:
- The Bacall family (brothers Dante, Daivin, Dorayd, and Doval Bacall) has its roots in the Birmingham/Bloomfield area. They’ve built a reputation for hospitality projects and property investments that blend local charm with big-brand partnerships.
- Dante Bacall, one of the principals, has shared that the group is eyeing Marriott’s Element Hotel flag for the Troy development’s hotel component. Element is a well-regarded extended-stay hotel brand under Marriott International, offering apartment-style suites with kitchenettes, communal outdoor spaces, and eco-conscious programming. While the franchise agreement isn’t officially inked yet, targeting an Element suggests Bacall Companies wants to attract longer-term guests such as consultants on extended business trips, relocating families, or even medical tourists visiting nearby hospitals.
- This isn’t Bacall’s first foray into Troy. Right next door to the proposed site, the company made headlines in 2024 by purchasing the former Drury Inn & Suites hotel. That existing hotel (which is also located off Big Beaver, adjacent to the old TGI Fridays plot) is currently being converted into a dual-branded Hotel Indigo and EVEN Hotel. Both brands fall under IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group): Hotel Indigo is a boutique, locally-themed hotel concept, while EVEN Hotels focus on wellness amenities for travelers. The renovation of the old Drury has been moving full-steam ahead, and when it’s completed, Troy will have a 154-room Hotel Indigo and a 63-room EVEN Hotel sharing one updated property. By taking over that struggling Drury Inn and reimagining it, Bacall Companies showed a knack for creative repositioning. Now, with the adjacent new-build project, they’re doubling down on Troy’s hospitality market in a big way.
- Bacall Companies has also been active in downtown Birmingham, just a few miles southwest. They’ve acquired several office buildings in Birmingham’s core business district in recent years, signaling a long-term investment in Metro Detroit’s prime real estate. Perhaps most notably, the Bacall brothers’ hospitality arm (called Superior Hospitality Group LLC) took over operations of the acclaimed Daxton Hotel in Birmingham in 2022. The Daxton, a luxury boutique hotel that opened to fanfare in 2021, is now part of Hilton’s Curio Collection under Bacall’s management. This move brought the Daxton into a major hotel family, suggesting the Bacalls have both local savvy and global brand connections.
- With this track record, Bacall Companies has earned a reputation as local experts with an ambitious vision. They tend to bring well-known hotel flags or innovative concepts to projects in Detroit’s suburbs. The combination of a Marriott Element in one building and IHG’s Hotel Indigo/EVEN next door could turn this stretch of Big Beaver into a mini hospitality hub, all under Bacall’s oversight. For Troy, that means more choices in where visitors can stay, from wellness-focused rooms to extended-stay suites, all within walking distance of each other.
The Bacall brothers’ local roots also play into how they approach development. The tone from Dante Bacall and his team is that they want to “create value at cornerstones” (a motto you’ll find on their website) by revitalizing prominent sites. In Troy, a city known more for office parks than high-rises, their project stands out as forward-thinking. It takes insight to see that a parcel once simply used for casual dining could support an eight-story mix of homes and hotel rooms. That kind of insight likely comes from being Metro Detroiters themselves, they understand the ebb and flow of the suburbs and where new opportunities lie.
For the bigger picture on the Big Beaver corridor, see our breakdown of the Somerset West redevelopment.
What It Means for Troy Residents and Investors
Whenever a significant development is proposed in a community, the first questions locals ask are: How will this affect us? Is this a good thing for our city? In the case of the 575 W. Big Beaver project, the impact could be largely positive, especially when viewed through the lens of both everyday residents and the real estate investment community:
For Troy Families and Residents:
- Enhanced Local Amenities: The planned café/restaurant on the ground floor means Troy residents gain a new spot to dine or grab coffee. It might become a new weekend breakfast joint or a convenient lunch option for nearby office workers. More broadly, the project adds life to a corner that’s been quiet. An active mixed-use building can make the area feel safer and more vibrant even after typical office hours. If you live in Troy, you might enjoy seeing some lights on in the evening and people out and about, rather than a dark vacant lot.
- A Place for Visiting Guests: Have relatives coming in for the holidays or friends visiting for a local event? With an Element extended-stay hotel on site, families in Troy have a new lodging option to recommend that’s close to home. Instead of putting the in-laws up in a generic highway motel, you could offer an upscale hotel right in your neighborhood. Plus, extended-stay units come with kitchens, which can be great for families traveling with kids who may need to fix a quick snack or breakfast.
- Community Prestige: Let’s face it – an architecturally modern eight-story building with a Marriott-affiliated hotel and luxury apartments adds a bit of prestige to Troy. It sends a message that the city is growing and attracting investment. Cities like Troy often compete to attract young professionals and keep empty-nesters from moving away; having stylish new apartments and hotels in the mix helps maintain Troy’s image as a desirable place to live and work. It could even boost property values in the area over time, as the whole corridor becomes more in-demand.
For Savvy Locals and Real Estate Investors:
- Market Confidence: A $40 million project is a strong vote of confidence in Troy’s market. Real estate investors watching the region will note that Bacall Companies and the major hotel brands involved see Troy as a safe bet for growth. When developers put this kind of capital into a mixed-use building, it’s because they anticipate demand, demand for hotel rooms, for rental apartments, and for retail services. This bodes well for other property owners in Troy; the rising tide can lift all boats. If you own nearby commercial real estate, a development like this can increase traffic and business in the area. If you’re considering investing in Metro Detroit properties, Troy’s continued development momentum is a green flag.
- Mixed-Use as the Future: The project reflects a broader trend in real estate towards mixed-use development, something suburban Detroit historically hasn’t had much of, but is now embracing. Investors who have been primarily looking at single-use assets (like just an apartment complex or just a hotel) might take note that hybrids can unlock value. A hotel can balance out the revenue stream of an apartment building and vice versa. During slower times for tourism, the apartments provide steady income; during hot economic cycles, the hotel can capture the surge of business travel. From an investment perspective, that diversification on a prime piece of land is smart. We might see more proposals like this in other Metro Detroit suburbs going forward.
- Boost to Big Beaver Corridor Development: This is one more puzzle piece in the big picture of Troy’s growth. Just to the west, Somerset Collection (the luxury mall) continues to draw shoppers region-wide. And further west down Big Beaver, the massive former Kmart headquarters site is being redeveloped into a new mixed-use complex called Somerset West, plans there include hundreds of residential units, office space, retail, and even another hotel. In that context, Bacall’s eight-story project isn’t an outlier, but rather part of a pattern of major investments remaking Troy’s landscape. For investors, it’s a sign that the city’s long-term plan to diversify land use is working, and getting in on Troy’s renaissance early could be a savvy move.
- Rental Housing Demand: The inclusion of only 24 apartments might seem like a small piece of the project, but it’s notable. Troy doesn’t have a large stock of new high-end apartments compared to some neighboring communities. If those 24 units lease up quickly at premium rents, it’s a signal of pent-up demand for luxury apartment living in this area. That could spur other developers to consider residential projects in Troy, perhaps even on a larger scale (such as mid-rise apartment buildings or additional live-work-play communities). For real estate professionals, keeping an eye on the lease-up and rental rates of these units will provide valuable intel on where the market stands.
In short, this development stands to benefit the community by repurposing an underutilized site into a productive, tax-generating property that offers new conveniences to residents. It aligns with Troy’s master plans and economic goals, and it likely will create construction and hospitality jobs as well. It’s the kind of project that, if executed well, can become a win-win-win: a win for the city, a win for locals, and a win for the developers.
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City of Troy Government, Facebook
Troy’s Evolving Skyline and What’s Next
While Troy isn’t known for a towering skyline like Detroit’s downtown, projects like this eight-story building are gradually adding some height and density to key nodes. Big Beaver Road now has several mid-rise structures, from the iconic PNC Center (Top of Troy) office tower, to hotels like the Somerset Inn and Marriott, and new constructions like the upcoming Hotel Indigo. The addition of an eight-story mixed-use building will contribute to an increasingly urban feel along the corridor. Don’t be surprised if in a few years, Big Beaver starts to feel more like a downtown “Main Street” for Troy, with people living, working, and socializing all in the same district.
City officials have signaled their approval, but there are still steps to go. After the Planning Commission’s special use permit approval, Bacall Companies will need to finalize site plans, architectural designs, and obtain building permits. If all goes according to the developers’ timeline, groundbreaking could happen as soon as this coming spring, meaning construction activity on the site might kick off when the ground thaws. Neighbors and passersby will see the old restaurant building come down and the new structure start to rise over the course of 2024 (or early 2025). Construction of a project this size typically takes more than a year, so the hotel and apartments might be ready for occupancy perhaps in 2026.
For now, many in Troy are simply excited to see progress. The phrase “high-profile intersection” certainly applies, this corner has been hungry for fresh investment, and it’s getting it. The mix of uses also means the building will have a steady hum of activity at various times of day: morning coffee runs, mid-day business meetings, evening hotel check-ins, and residents calling it a night up on the eighth floor. It’s a little microcosm of city life sprouting next to the freeway.
New to Troy or relocating soon? Here is a practical guide to living in Troy.
Looking Ahead: local insight and advice
As this project moves forward, community members may want to stay engaged, whether that means attending any public informational meetings the developer or city might hold, or simply keeping an eye on the construction progress. It’s always fascinating to watch a rendering turn into a real building before our eyes. And for those considering making Troy their home or investing in its real estate, developments like this are a positive indicator of the city’s direction. Troy is growing in ways that make it more livable and attractive, and that’s something both longtime residents and newcomers can appreciate.
A once-familiar corner of Troy is poised for a major upgrade, blending hotel hospitality with new homes and a dash of local flavor. In true Metro Detroit fashion, it’s an example of taking something old and reinventing it for a new generation. If you’re curious about how this project might benefit you – whether as a nearby homeowner or a potential investor – don’t hesitate to reach out to a knowledgeable local real estate expert. After all, having someone who truly knows the area (and maybe even remembers that old TGI Friday’s) can make all the difference in understanding the opportunities on the horizon.
If you want to learn more about Troy’s latest developments or how projects like this could impact your real estate decisions, connect with a trusted Metro Detroit real estate professional. Whether you’re a family looking for the perfect neighborhood or an investor seeking the next big opportunity, local expertise will help you navigate Troy’s evolving landscape. The city is on the rise, and you can be part of its story.
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