One of two buildings left on the former Ypsi Mobile Village site that Ypsilanti Township would clear if it purchases the property.

Tom Perkins | For AnnArbor.com

“That property is second only to Liberty Square for the problems that it faced from a law enforcement standpoint,” said township attorney Doug Winters. “I think just about every prostitution sting we ran involved that park.”

Now, the township is taking a new approach to purchasing and controlling development of the commercially zoned land in an effort to spur development down the East Michigan Avenue corridor and rebuild its commercial tax base.

At its May 13 meeting, the Ypsilanti Township Board of Trustees voted unanimously to approve purchasing the 6.5-acre site at 935 E. Michigan Ave. for $47,000. It will be purchased from the Washtenaw County Treasurer’s Office in a first-of-its-kind move in the area that allows the township to acquire tax-foreclosed property for public use.

The township is claiming stabilizing its commercial tax base is the public use.

“It’s the type of property that could become a cornerstone … or is part of the gateway heading east. It could be a continuation of the rebirth of East Michigan that we are seeing in isolated pockets,” Winters told the board during a legal report at the meeting.

A Washtenaw County Circuit Court judge declared the property a public nuisance for its high levels of crime and deteriorating conditions in 2010. It took the township further litigation for a judge to order the former owner to clear most of the property - two buildings remain.

The properties’ former owner, Cormello, LLC, filed for bankruptcy after clearing it of all but two remaining buildings in 2011. Paramount Bank took the property over, but it also filed for bankruptcy, and its assets were taken over by Level One Bank.

Level One requested the FDIC allow them to abandoned the property, and it is scheduled for the next tax foreclosure auction with a minimum bid of $47,000.

The township plans to acquire the property under the “first right of approval” stipulation that allows municipalities have first shot at a tax foreclosed property if it can prove that it is being acquired for public use.

The township is contending that it claim the property because rebuilding the commercial tax base is a public purpose.

Winters said the township’s commercial taxable value has dropped by 21.2 percent or $52,552,647 since 2007.

“We have lost so much of our commercial tax base in the last five years,” Winters said. “Between the decline in our commercial and industrial tax base, we have taken some big blows. And while we are seeing signs of rebirth, the commercial tax base needs to be stabilized.”

“First right of refusal” was previously used when the township claimed two residential homes for the purpose of neighborhood stabilization, but it has never been tried on a commercial property. But Winters said there is clear legal precedence.

“I think there are some questions about whether we can do this with commercial properties, but it’s all about re-establishing our commercial tax base,” Clerk Karen Roe said. “We could get those buildings down and we will be able to work with certain developers, and we can say ‘Yes, we like that development’ or “No, we don’t like that development’, and that’s absolutely crucial to the redevelopment of that corridor.”

In the corridor, the township has completed numerous blight abatement projects, demolished around a dozen deteriorating buildings, seen the renovation of several businesses and heralded the arrival of a new Taco Bell. Several new developments are in the works.

Township Planning coordinator Joe Lawson said the area is targeted for improvements that will make it more pedestrian friendly as part of the upcoming master plan revision.

Township Supervisor Brenda Stumbo highlighted the resources the township and Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Department spent on cleaning up Ypsi Mobile Village.

“We invested a lot of dollars there,” she said. “And there’s a first time for everything.

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Tom Perkins is a freelance reporter. Contact the AnnArbor.com news desk at news@annarbor.com.