Burton-Katzman, the Bingham Farms-based developer being sued by the city of Dearborn for not completing a multi-million dollar downtown residential-retail complex, has been named the developer of $146 million Unity Studios project in Allen Park.

According to Crain’s Detroit Business, Jimmy Lifton, the brainchild of the development and founder of Burbank, Calif.-based Oracle Post said Burton-Katzman was chosen from among many developers who submitted proposals.

The media studio, retail and residential development will be built on 104 acres in Allen Park.

“Many developers submitted proposals to us in what was a vigorous competition to be selected as the firm that would build Unity Studios,” Lifton said in the Crain’s article. “Burton-Katzman turned in a compelling proposal that not only gives us a solid partner in the construction phase but also an equity partner in the studios and village. It was the best proposal for those and other reasons.”

Peter Burton, principal at Burton-Katzman, who is named in the Dearborn lawsuit, told Crain’s that his company is thrilled to be serving as both the developer and builder of Unity Studios.

“Unity Studios is not only an extraordinarily attractive business venture for Burton-Katzman, it also represents a new source of opportunity and hope for all of southeast Michigan, and we are proud to be associated with it,” Burton said in a press release.

In April, the Michigan Economic Growth Authority board today approved a high-technology tax credit worth $2.8 million over 12 years for the project.

The 750,000-square-foot production facility will also include the full spectrum of production, post-production and related infrastructure and part of it will be built on the 630,000-square-foot office and engineering center at 16630 Southfield Road, adjacent to the Allen Park’s city hall. The property was formerly the Visteon Technical Center.

The project is expected to employ 3,000 skilled workers and 83 management positions.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 4th, 2009 at 10:42 pm and is filed under Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.