[DetroitSky]

Oak Park gets $600,000 from state for long-planned Union Joints restaurant

A plan for a destination restaurant in an old Albert Kahn-designed building in Oak Park could move forward with new state funding after years of delay.

The state awarded the city of Oak Park a $600,000 Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy grant to assist with remediation of the contaminated site, EGLE said Wednesday in a news release.

Union Joints, the Clarkston-based restaurant group known for opening its eateries in unique locations such as a car repair shop and church, has long planned a revitalization of the 8,000-square-foot former WWJ Broadcast Station on Eight Mile Road.

The company is working with the city and EGLE to clean the site for safe reuse after a basement electrical transformer exploded in 2014 during a flood. Chemicals contaminated the 83-year-old building's concrete, as well as nearby soil, according to EGLE.

The $4 million redevelopment is being financed by Union Joints and a banking partner, restaurant group co-owner Curt Catallo said. The project would create 100 jobs, the release said.

More info on the proposed Ilitch Farmington Hills building:

Ilitches plan Farmington Hills office building for Mercedes-Benz Financial

The Ilitch family's Olympia Development of Michigan plans to build a 200,000-square-foot office building in Farmington Hills for Mercedes-Benz Financial Services USA LLC, the companies said Tuesday.

The Little Caesars Pizza owners still need city approvals for three-story development on property they have long owned and once considered for the pizza maker's own headquarters.

Site and landscape plans and a lot split are expected to go before the Farmington Hills planning commission Thursday.

Farmington Hills-based Mercedes-Benz Financial Services operates under Daimler Financial Services, German automaker Daimler AG's financial services company.