'Flex space' to fill former Roadies Roadhouse site in Hamburg Township

HAMBURG TWP. — Hamburg Township lost a hangout when Roadies Roadhouse and Saloon was destroyed May 15, 2014, in a fire.

Nine years later, owner Nick Zander has plans to redevelop the now-vacant property at 7749 E. M-36 between Pinckney and Whitmore Lake, where only the old Roadies sign and remnants of a stone chimney remain.

Township officials have granted final site plan approval for a more than 22,000-square-foot commercial building with space for multiple business tenants and parking lot and site improvements.

Requests for comment left with Zander Companies were not returned as of Friday.

The site plan shows five units for lease, with loading bays and overhead doors. Four units will be about 3,400-3,800 square feet and the fifth will be more than 7,400 square feet.

The building is described as a "flex space" in township documents.

While there's no word yet on who future tenants would be, the "flex space" is designed for a variety of commercial uses.

"I think the approach with the flex space, it's an open box space, and they will probably build to suit," Hamburg Township Planning and Zoning Director David Rohr said.

Township Supervisor Pat Hohl said he sees it as "adaptive."

"It's an adaptive use that facilitates all forms of commercial development allowed in the (village center) zoning district — retail, services, commercial, everything," Hohl said. "You can have a beauty shop in there and, right next door to it, you could have a restaurant, and right next to it, it could be a bookstore."

He said the property's zoning also allows for office space for service-oriented businesses, like a doctor or accountant.

Rohr said some uses, like light industrial, would not be allowed.

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"No warehouse, not storage," he said.

The large overhead doors on each unit could be used for loading and unloading, or a business could open them to let in fresh air on nice days.

"Obviously, anytime you have a major fire at a community facility, it’s a major occurrence in the township," Hohl said. "We’re glad they're rebuilding something that's innovative and still fits in that village center zoning district, which is our mixed-use zoning district."

— Contact reporter Jennifer Eberbach at [email protected].