Fairlane Green also known as "''The Hill''", is a power center in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

city of

Allen Park Allen Park is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 28,638. Ford Motor Company is an integral part of the community. Many of the company's offices and facilities lie within the city limit ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. It is built on top of a former landfill and was opened to the public in stages in the mid-2000s. Tenants include

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...

Meijer Meijer Inc. (, ; stylized as meijer) is an American supercenter chain that primarily operates throughout the Midwest. Its corporate headquarters are in Walker, Michigan, which is a part of the Grand Rapids metropolitan area. Founded in 1934 as ...

Best Buy Best Buy Co. Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was rebra ...

LA Fitness LA Fitness (doing business as LA Fitness International LLC) is an American gym chain with more than 700 clubs across the United States and Canada. The company was formed in 1984 and is based in Irvine, California. History LA Fitness was founde ...

Old Navy Old Navy is an American clothing and accessories retailing company owned by multinational corporation Gap Inc. It has corporate operations in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The largest of the Old Navy stores are its ...

Five Below 5 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 5, five or number 5 may also refer to: * AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era * 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era Literature * ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram * ''5'' (comics), an awa ...

Panera Bread Panera Bread is an American chain store of bakery-café fast casual restaurants with over 2,000 locations, all of which are in the United States and Canada. Its headquarters are in Sunset Hills, Missouri. The company operates as Saint Louis ...

, and several others. The elevation of Fairlane Green is high enough to allow one to see portions of the skyline of

downtown Detroit Downtown Detroit is the central business district and a residential area of the city of Detroit, Michigan, United States. Locally, downtown tends to refer to the 1.4 square mile region bordered by M-10 (Lodge Freeway) to the west, Interstate 75 ( ...

from the northern end of the complex on most days.

History

Prior to the construction of Fairlane Green, there was only one large shopping development within the city of Allen Park, the

Lincoln Park Shopping Center Lincoln Park Shopping Center (also referred to as Sears Shopping Center) was a shopping center located at the corner of M-39 (Michigan highway), Southfield Road and U.S. Route 25 in Michigan, Dix Highway, mostly in Lincoln Park, Michigan, Lincoln ...

, anchored by

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...

, and even then only a small portion was actually within Allen Park, the majority of it lying in adjacent

Lincoln Park Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US President Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for seven miles (11 km) from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, ...

. Development of what became Fairlane Green began in December 2002, when Ford Land Development, the real-estate division of the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

, received a special use permit to redevelop a former clay mine that extended from

Outer Drive Outer Drive is a bypass road which encircles both the eastern and western portions of the Detroit, Michigan region. It resembles a jagged horseshoe and was not originally intended to move traffic as much as it was to provide a pleasurable driv ...

and Snow Avenue to Oakwood Boulevard and ran parallel to M-39 and

Interstate 94 Interstate 94 (I-94) is an east–west Interstate Highway connecting the Great Lakes and northern Great Plains regions of the United States. Its western terminus is just east of Billings, Montana, at a junction with I-90; its eastern ter ...

. The original proposal, which also included recreational facilities, was approved in August 2003. Ford Land had intended the complex to anchor the southern gateway to the Fairlane corridor through Allen Park and Dearborn, including the

Fairlane Town Center Fairlane Town Center is a super-regional shopping mall in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Michigan. The mall is adjacent to The Henry Hotel, The Fairlane Club, the University of Michigan–Dearborn, Henry Ford Community College, The Henry Ford, ...

mall. In May 2004, the portion of the complex site that included the former site of the Allen Park Veterans Administration Medical Center was sold to Lormax Stern and REDICO, which became Independence Marketplace. Construction began on both centers a few months later.

was the first to open on October 9, 2005, joined by several other tenants, including those that relocated from the Lincoln Park Shopping Center, including

Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller. It is a Fortune 1000 company and the bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. As of July 7, 2020, the company operates 614 retail stores across all 50 U. ...

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Lane Bryant Lane Bryant Inc. is an American women's apparel and intimates specialty retailer focusing on plus-size clothing. The company began in 1904 with maternity designs created by Lena Himmelstein, Lena Himmelstein Bryant Malsin. Lane Bryant, Inc., is ...

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, Michaels Arts & Crafts,

, On-The-Border Mexican Restaurant,

Pier 1 Imports Pier 1 Imports, Inc. is an online retailer and former Fort Worth, Texas-based retail chain specializing in imported home furnishings and decor, particularly furniture, table-top items, decorative accessories, and seasonal decor. It was publicl ...

T.J. Maxx TJ Maxx (stylized as T•J•maxx) is an American department store chain, selling at prices generally lower than other major similar stores. It has more than 1,000 stores in the United States, making it one of the largest clothing retailers in ...

Cost Plus World Market World Market, formerly Cost Plus World Market until 2021, is an American chain of specialty/import retail stores, selling home furniture, decor, curtains, rugs, gifts, apparel, coffee, wine, craft beer, and international food products. The bran ...

and

Bed, Bath & Beyond Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. is an American chain of domestic merchandise retail stores. The chain operates many stores in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Bed Bath & Beyond was founded in 1971. It is counted among the Fortune ...

.Development means business

The News-Herald (Southgate, Michigan) ''The News-Herald'' is a bi-weekly newspaper serving the Downriver suburbs of Detroit. It is based in Southgate, Michigan, and owned by Digital First Media as part of its Detroit region. The newspaper is published every Wednesday and Sunday. ...

, October 12, 2005 A second phase, which includes

, and

The Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the largest home improvement re ...

, opened in 2007. The recreational elements of the second phase, however, were never built.

closed in the late 2000s and was replaced by

References

{{Shopping malls in Michigan Shopping malls in Wayne County, Michigan Shopping malls established in 2005 2005 establishments in Michigan