Ferndale Rezoning Proposal Would Reshape Nine Blocks Near Woodward Into Dense Mixed-Use Corridor

Ferndale's planning commission is set to vote this September on a proposal that would rezone approximately nine city blocks along the Woodward Avenue corridor — from Nine Mile Road north to Republic Street — from low-density residential and light industrial classifications to a new mixed-use overlay district. If approved, the change would allow buildings of up to six stories and mandate retail or commercial space on ground floors, the first major zoning restructuring in that section of the city in more than four decades.

The timing matters. Southeast Michigan's rental market has tightened sharply over the past 18 months, and Ferndale — long the affordable alternative to Royal Oak or Midtown — is no longer insulated from that pressure. Average asking rents for a one-bedroom in Ferndale crossed $1,400 in May 2026, up from roughly $1,100 in early 2024, according to data compiled by the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments. Meanwhile, the Woodward corridor between Eight Mile and 12 Mile roads has attracted a string of transit investment dollars tied to the DDOT and SMART route consolidation plan approved last October, making density arguments easier to defend at a public hearing.

What the Proposal Actually Does

The rezoning application, filed June 12 by Detroit-based developer Bedrock-adjacent firm Platform LLC in partnership with Ferndale's Department of Planning and Community Development, targets parcels that currently include a shuttered auto parts warehouse on Livernois Avenue, two surface parking lots adjacent to the Rust Belt Market building, and a cluster of aging single-story commercial strips along Nine Mile. Under the proposed overlay, those parcels could accommodate between 340 and 520 new residential units depending on final site configurations, with at least 15 percent required to be priced at or below 80 percent of the Area Median Income under the county's affordability covenant framework.

The Rust Belt Market itself — the beloved weekend flea and arts venue at 22801 Woodward — sits just outside the proposed rezoning boundary and would not be directly affected. City planners drew the northern boundary at Republic Street specifically to buffer the market and the single-family homes on Pinecrest and Breckenridge avenues from immediate development pressure. Still, residents at a June 24 community meeting at the Ferndale Public Library on East Nine Mile Road raised concerns about parking spillover and school capacity at Ferndale High School, where enrollment already sits at 94 percent of its rated building capacity.

The Broader Detroit-Region Picture

Ferndale is not acting in a vacuum. In the past 18 months, Hazel Park approved a transit-oriented overlay along John R Road and Pontiac greenlit a 200-unit mixed-income project near the old Strand Theatre site on Saginaw Street. The pattern reflects a regional recalculation: municipalities that once competed for single-family subdivisions are now chasing density to capture younger renters and the commercial tax base that follows them.

Platform LLC completed the seven-story Cass & Charlotte development in Detroit's New Center neighborhood in 2024, a 210-unit building that reached 97 percent occupancy within eight months. That track record is part of what gave Ferndale's planning staff confidence to bring the overlay proposal forward rather than waiting for individual variance requests parcel by parcel — a slower process that has hampered similar efforts in neighboring Oak Park since 2022.

The Ferndale Planning Commission holds its first formal public hearing on the rezoning August 7 at 7 p.m. at City Hall on Livernois Avenue. A second hearing and potential vote is scheduled for September 4. Residents can submit written comments to the Department of Planning and Community Development through July 31. If the commission approves the overlay, it goes to Ferndale City Council, which would need to pass it by ordinance — a process that could conclude before the end of 2026, potentially clearing the way for the first construction permits as early as spring 2027.