BUSINESS

Nortel Lanes site for sale; owners say property will be hard to let go

Blake Bacho
bbacho@monroenews.com
The former site of Nortel Lanes in Monroe is up for sale

The former site of the historic Nortel Lanes is up for sale.

Commercial real estate firm NAI Farbman is handling the sale of the six-acre site along N. Telegraph Rd., which has sat vacant since the 58-year-old lanes burnt to the ground in December 2018. (See news report)

“It’s a great piece of property,” said listing agent John Harwood. “It’s definitely ideal for a big box or mid box-type retailer... The interest has been high on the property.

“We’re very excited about it, and think it could be a good plus for the (Telegraph Road) Corridor if we can get the right tenant.”

Map of area:

Google - https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d2968.193828727865!2d-83.41380198475672!3d41.931686179217934!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x883b6f79d20ff5c9%3A0xae780effdbb6f3e8!2s611%20N%20Telegraph%20Rd%2C%20Monroe%2C%20MI%2048162!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1594998984228!5m2!1sen!2sus

Dick Sieb, the builder and longtime operator of Nortel Lanes who also serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the corporation that owns the land, said that financial considerations made it “impossible to rebuild” the local landmark.

A prolonged insurance probe kept Sieb and his business partners from making a final decision on the property until recently.

"It was a great (bowling) house," Sieb said. "We had more kids birthday parties, and showers, and you name it. It was a fun place... Just a lot of good memories."

City of Monroe officials have expressed interest in the future of the Nortel Lanes site, which sits inside the Telegraph Road Corridor and was identified in a city-funded study as a key location.

Assistant to the city manager and economic development coordinator Mark Cochran said that while the city is not in a position to consider purchasing the property, they would be open to providing some financial incentives to encourage redevelopment.

"We have talked to the realtor that has it listed, we have talked about some of the different opportunities and possibilities with them and the Telegraph Road Corridor Plan," Cochran said. "Obviously this is one of the priority redevelopment sites we looked at with the study...

“It's in the opportunity zone, and with the right opportunity and the right property use on the site we could look at what opportunities there are to incentivize some redevelopment on that site."

Even though the remnants of the lanes have long been carted away to a landfill, Sieb said it will still be hard to let go of the property where he and his family made so many memories over the past six decades.

"We lived out there," he said. "My son, he shot 300s out there... God, the memories... I still got a lot of pictures and stuff at home, things like that, but sure, it's a part of me.

"There sure are a lot of great memories."