DEARBORN — Days after the sale of Fairlane Town Center to an unnamed buyer was announced, Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud outlined his vision for the property.

Opened in 1976, by A. Alfred Taubman, Fairlane Town Center spreads out over three floors and 110 acres. The 1.4 million square foot property houses 125 stores and 8,400 parking spaces and currently sits at an 83 percent occupancy rate.

With consumers turning to online shopping, the mall has struggled in recent years and has had its fair share of crime.

Hammoud said that he wants the center to be a “bridge between all parts” of Dearborn and that he sees the center as part of a renewed landscape that’s more walkable and bicycle-friendly.

Mayor Abdullah Hammoud meets with media in the parking lot of the Fairlane Town Center to discuss his vision for the property. Photo: Eric Seals/Detroit Free Press

“A lot of residents are asking for more forms of mobility and connectivity, in terms of biking and hiking trails,” he said. “You have a way to connect safely between the west part of town and the east part of town. And this can be just that.”

The sale of Fairlane follows the announcement of intent to sell a 26-acre plot of land previously owned by Ford and the sale of the former Hyatt Regency Hotel across from the mall that may be turned into apartments.

Hammoud also mentioned the possibility of developing affordable housing, which is a concern in Dearborn and the state as a whole.

As Fairlane has one of the highest grossing Macy’s stores in the country, Hammoud said it’s a stereotype that it’s a “mall going under” and that he’s optimistic about its future.

“The uniqueness of Dearborn is that we’re a community that likes to spend our dollars in the city,” he said. “The message is there’s proactive leadership at City Hall, that we’re no longer sitting on the sidelines. We want to be the ones that drive the conversation.

“In the past, what’s happened is we’ve just left it to developers to pick and choose what they’re doing all across the city. We’re flipping the script. If developers want to operate in the city of Dearborn, we want to make sure that we’re partnering and that there’s an element of community benefits that’s happening with each and every single project all throughout the city.”

Hammoud said that there are a plethora of opportunities for Fairlane Town Center, but there’s no specific time frame and that he wants to come up with ideas and pitch them to developers to help formulate a plan.

“It’s a housing project,” he said. “It’s an affordable housing project. This is a public health project. It’s an environmental sustainability project. This is a flood mitigation project. This is a parks and recreation project. We can reimagine this space to convene all the developers in the area that are coming in. We’re hopeful that we can be the ones who pitch the collective vision of what we want to see out of midtown of our city, a vision that residents have been clamoring for.”