Resident Hakim Fakhoury says 'dream' of developing downtown Dearborn is over.

If you’ve driven along Michigan Avenue this week you probably have seen signs hanging in the windows of some of the properties owned by developer Hakim Fakhoury with the following words: “The Dream is Over. For Sale.” Many of you have even written here asking what the signs meant.

Well, we sent a note straight to the source, Mr. Fakhoury, asking if he would pen a note explaining the meaning of the signs. He provided us this article, which begins below.

My name is Hakim Fakhoury, and I had a dream…

I had a dream… that Dearborn could become one of the most vibrant downtowns in Michigan.

I had a dream… that the city I have lived in nearly my whole life would be the place where I could invest the fruits of all my hard work.

I had a dream… that Dearborn’s leader would open their arms to a developer that is home-grown and seeks to make a better future for our city for generations to come.

I had a dream… that our mayor and city council could put aside personal and political differences, that petty political infighting would not cause the development of our city to come to a standstill. The inability of our leaders to have a vision has caused us to lag behind other cities, and make us unable to fully transition into the 21st century.

I had a dream… that our leaders would be smart to know what they don’t know, that they would hire professionals to develop master plans, that they would end corruption, the “old boys” network, an breathe new life into our community.

I had a dream… that we could redevelop our downtown into something that would appeal to everyone, attracting fresh young minds to make our city vibrant, livable, fun, and modern.

I had a dream… that I could buy buildings and then, in agreement with city officials, transform our city.

I had a dream… that the mayor and city council members would not lie, that they would be honest, that they would not manipulate each other, or play petty games, or include me in their internal feuds, and just be mature, with the city’s interests, and only the city’s interests, at the core of their decision-making.

I had a dream… but now the DREAM IS OVER for me… My hope is that another developer with come along, buy all my properties, pick up on my hard work, and move to develop the district…

Construction work on the CSO project near Cherry Hill and Brady has been temporarily halted to protect the roads during the spring thaw.

The City of Dearborn sent a note out yesterday to local media explaining why the work had been halted. Residents apparently raised questions on why the work had been stopped.

In a prepared statement, the city said that in order to protect the integrity of the roads during the spring thaw, work on the CSO project in the area bounded by Brady, Cherry Hill, Golf Crest and Cherry Hill Court will be temporarily halted starting March 8 until water under the roadway has evaporated, which should be approximately the first week of April.

City officials say this is necessary because as frost below the road’s surface melts, the road’s base is weakened by the water. Continuing to drive heavy trucks on roads during this time can seriously affect the road’s integrity.

State, county and local governments all mandate that during the thaw, heavy trucks reduce their loads by 35 percent.

Some contractors continue their operation with reduced truck loads in order to comply and some contractors postpone their operation until frost laws are no longer in effect.

The City’s contractor Angelo Iafrat has chosen to postpone their operation since most of it involves heavy transportation of earth and sand, Dearborn officials say.

Developer Burton-Katzman and the City of Dearborn are again at odds. This time over two crumbling concrete foundations slated for demolition, according to an article in the Dearborn Times-Herald

Burton-Katzman is already facing a court order to break ground on 12 condos and two midrise buildings between the city’s two underutilized parking decks. Wayne County Circuit Judge Michael Sapala said the company had to break ground no later than April 3.

Sapala’s order stems from Dearborn’s ongoing lawsuit against Burton-Katzman and several of the company’s executives for failing to complete its agreed-upon project on a city-owned parcel.

Now the City of Dearborn and a subsidiary of Burton-Katzman are in dispute over concrete foundation slabs.

The lawyers representing Burton-Katzman now tell the Times-Herald that if the city moves forward with demolition of the concrete slabs it would be “purposely interfering” with its ability to begin construction on April 3 as part of its court order.

The concrete slabs are to be the foundation for two six-unit condo buildings for the still unfinished West Village Commons project. The concrete pads, according to the Times-Herald, were poured more than two years ago.

Dearborn officials say the concrete foundations have now become a public safety hazard and need to be removed. If Burton-Katzman wants to stop the demolition, they need to provide an engineering report to the city to prove the concrete pads are suitable for holding the two six-unit condo buildings, the paper reports.

Trouble is the subsidiary of Burton-Katzman, on the hook to complete the engineering report and the construction, says it doesn’t have enough money to finance the necessary engineering reports, the Times-Herald says. You can read the full story by clicking HERE

The City of Dearborn is getting ready to test the real estate market, deciding to put the Dearborn Towers in Florida on the sales block, according to a recent story in the Dearborn Press & Guide.

Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr., tells the paper that he would like to get the 88-unit apartment building in Clearwater, Florida on the market “within the next month.”

Many of you will recall that in 2007 voters approved a measure that gave permission to the city to sell the towers. Well, it appears that time is now.

As most homeowners in Dearborn know, this isn’t the best time to be selling real estate. The same holds true of the Dearborn Towers. But with tightening city budgets this is one way for the city to generate some revenue and perhaps erase from the books a 50-year-old building that could soon need some major updates and repairs. In 2007, the Florida property was valued at between $8 million and $8.3 million, stated one informal appraisal, according to the paper. Another appraisal in March 2008 put the value of property at about $5.6 million.

The property’s value has since dropped to $2.8 million, according to the most recent appraisal, the Press & Guide reports. The value could climb to $5.8 million if rents in the building were raised to levels of surrounding buildings, the paper says.

The task of actually selling the property could take between six and 18 months, the paper reports.

“The good news is we’re not in a hurry to sell,” O’Reilly tells the paper. “We’re not going to jump at the first offer that comes along.”

For the full Press & Guide story and to watch a video interview with Mayor O’Reilly about the sale, click HERE.

Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. will deliver his annual State of the City Address at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 10 at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center, 15801 Michigan Ave.

Mayor O’Reilly will review the City’s major accomplishments in 2009, and discuss initiatives that will move Dearborn forward in 2010 and beyond.

The public is invited to attend. Light refreshments will be served after the address.

Wendy's before the demolition. Dearborn Theatre is in the background.

The building that was once home of Wendy’s hamburgers at Michigan and Telegraph has been razed and is expected to be the future home of Sonic burgers.

The deal to land a Sonic at that intersection is about 90 percent complete, according to one city official.

. . . Wendy's after the demolition.

The long-closed Dearborn Theatre also is slated to be demolished. However, a date for the removal of that building isn’t yet know. As we have reported here once before, discussions have been ongoing about building a new Hampton Inn hotel on the site of the theatre complex.

The current Hampton Inn in Dearborn, just east of Brady on Michigan Avenue, will at some point have to operate under a different name as the hotel in its current design does not meet Hampton’s new corporate requirements.

In other development news, the government-run auction for the long-closed La Shish restaurant and adjoining Talal’s restaurant on Michigan Avenue was apparently held last week. No word yet on who submitted the winning bid but hopefully something soon will happen with that eyesore of a building.

And finally, the owners of Ciao, the restaurant on Monroe that was badly damaged in a fire nearly a year ago, tell us that they are close to inking a deal for a new building in a new location in west Dearborn. The popular Italian eatery could open in the second quarter of this year, if all goes as planned.

This is the story of 10 canine police officers, a high school basketball game, a concert and, perhaps, a lack of communication.

Let’s first start with the police dogs from the Dearborn Police Department and six other police agencies from the surrounding area.

For nearly 10 years, the police have used Dearborn High School for training exercises as way to keep the skills of police dogs sharp. This is a good thing.

Such was the case on Thursday, Feb. 25 when police and their K-9s arrived in the evening at Dearborn High School to do their usual training.

Trouble is few, if any, nearby residents, parents and students attending a basketball game and a concert at the high school that evening knew there was a training exercise going on.

Dearborn High School’s principal didn’t know at the time but was at the school and did talk to officers that evening. A school official told us the permit required to do the training in the school was likely approved months in advance and it simply wasn’t on the principal’s radar. The school district says it did not receive any phone calls from parents about the training after the fact so the concern about why police cars were at the high school that night apparently came from residents who live near the high school.

The City of Dearborn issued a press release the day after the training exercise with the following headline: “Police dog training exercise explained after drawing community attention.”  The press release also appeared in the Sunday edition of the Dearborn Press & Guide.

We fully support this type of training but in this day and age when airports, schools and cities operate with heightened security concerns, perhaps it might be a good idea to share with residents at least a day before, not after.

As for residents, if you ever do have questions after seeing police activity in Dearborn, please call 943-2201.

The field of candidates considering a run for the 15th District seat in the Michigan House of Representatives is expanding.

The Capitol building in Lansing.

We reported here earlier this week that Dearborn Councilman George Darany and Linda Tafelski, a retired Dearborn schoolteacher, were the only two who had officially declared their candidacy for the seat of state Rep. Gino Polidori, D-Dearborn, who cannot seek re-election because of term limits.

Well, the list of candidates officially running has grown and now includes the following on the Democratic ticket: Hope Buxton, a Dearborn business owner, and Alex Shami, a former Dearborn school board member.

It now appears that Dearborn Councilwoman Suzanne Sareini,who finished as the second top voter getter in the last election and now serves as council pro-tem, is being urged by Republican party leaders to run for the position. The same is true for Bill Runco, a Dearborn lawyer and former district court judge, who has had a bumpy political history in Dearborn.

Other Democrats considering running for the position include Mike Berry, a Dearborn business owner who previously ran for Dearborn City Council; Fay Beydoun, active in Dearborn politics who works for American Arab Chamber of Commerce and Stephen Dobkowski Jr., who previously ran for Dearborn City Council.

This should be an interesting August primary.

Award winning documentary filmmaker and Dearborn native Tom McPhee will share his latest film, An American Opera, with Dearborn High School students in the school’s auditorium on March 2.

Tom McPhee

McPhee, who grew up on Long Boulevard and attended Dearborn High School (DHS), has won numerous awards for his documentary work.  He also owns two production companies and is executive director of the World Animal Awareness Society.

 His latest work, An American Opera: The Greatest Pet Rescue Ever, tells the story of the vets, owners, officials, and rescuers who worked through the chaos during the days that followed hurricane Katrina to save and reunite thousands of pets with their owners. The work was not easy and there were others who had a different plan to deal with all the abandoned animals.

McPhee will begin his visit at 11:00 a.m. when he sits down for a special discussion with students in the Advanced Video class.  From there, he and the video class will join about 300 other students in the school’s auditorium for a private screening of the film. McPhee will follow up the movie with a question and answer period.

“This is going to be an exciting event that will provide our students with multiple opportunities for learning,” said Sousen Dobbs, a teacher at Dearborn High and event organizer.

On a snowy Monday when schools were closed and others struggled on slippery roads to get to work, Dearborn Councilman George Darany made the trek in his car to the Wayne County offices in Detroit. His mission? File the paperwork to officially become a candidate for the 15th District seat in the Michigan House of Representatives.

Dearborn Councilman Darany announces run for state House seat.

“I wasn’t going to let the weather hold me up,” Darany tells Deepsaidwhat.com. “This was the day I said I would do it and I am out doing it. I want people to know that I am serious about this seat. Anyone else thinking about it will be up against someone who will be very aggressive.”

And so begins the race for the seat of state Rep. Gino Polidori, D-Dearborn, who cannot seek re-election because of term limits.

So far, Darany and Linda Tafelski, a retired schoolteacher, are the only two people to file campaign paperwork for the $80,000 a year job. Like Darany, Tafelski, the mother of Dearborn City Council President Thomas Tafelski, will have name equity in this race.

The decision by Darany to run might seem strange to some as just last month he was sworn in to his first full-term as a City Council member. The reality, however, is this is a perfect time for him to seek the House seat.

Darany was the third highest vote getter in the last election, so he certainly would be carrying some momentum going into the Democratic primary election on Aug. 3. If he wins, he would then run against the Republican Party candidate in the Nov. 2 general election. The House seat is a two-year position and limited to three terms.

And if he doesn’t win, he still retains his seat on the Dearborn City Council.

“This is my time,” said Darany, 53, a lifelong Dearborn resident. “This is the best time for me to run for this seat because it is an open seat. The last three people that held that office held it for six years. I didn’t want to wait another six years for that opportunity to come up again.

“I am going to help Dearborn in one capacity or another. Either way, I can help. Certainly, in Lansing I can even do more.”

You can bet that David W. Bazzy will be cheering that Darany lands a seat in Lansing. Bazzy finished eighth in his first run for a Dearborn City Council seat, just 548 votes behind Councilwoman Nancy Hubbard who squeaked into the final and seventh council seat. If Darany leaves for Lansing, Bazzy would move onto council and serve out Darany’s term.

Tafelski tells the Dearborn Times Herald that she believes her educational background makes her a perfect fit for the job. She told the paper her primary campaign platform will be jobs through education.

“Because of the funding problems for our schools that were brought about by Lansing and my educational background, I felt it was a natural fit and, even bigger, I felt it necessary to do my part,” Tafelski told the Dearborn Times Herald.

Darany. Tafelski. So far we have two. Who else might throw their hat in? With less than six months to go until the primary, the clock is ticking.