A vacant office building on Halsted Road is under review to become a used car dealership and service center after the Farmington Hills Planning Commission heard a site plan proposal on July 16. No decision has been posted.

Hayder Alkhafaji applied to open Cars Experts Auto Sales and Auto Care at 24435 Halsted Road, a 0.73-acre lot at the intersection of Halsted and Hallwood Court. The property, owned by HFR Capital, LLC, has sat empty since 2018, when its last tenant vacated the former office space. The existing building is 13,893 square feet with a 343-square-foot mezzanine.

The city's planning consultant, Carlisle/Wortman Associates, flagged several problems in a July 10 review. The site does not provide the minimum number of off-street parking spaces. Its access drive lacks the required separation distance from the Halsted/Hallwood intersection. And the building sits roughly 27 feet from the assumed future Halsted Road right-of-way, well short of the 50-foot setback required under city code. Two accessible parking spaces designated for vehicle display encroach into that setback and must be relocated.

Reviewers also asked Alkhafaji to provide the number of employees expected on-site daily, the anticipated quantity of vehicles stored for sale and repair, and which Michigan dealership license categories the business would obtain. Those answers were not included in the public packet.

Under the plan filed April 1, the northern half of the building would house indoor vehicle displays, a sales office, a customer waiting area, and a kitchenette. The western and southern portions would be used for mechanical service, collision repair, and parts storage. The mezzanine would serve as additional office space.

"The mechanical bays will be devoted primarily to the inspection, reconditioning, and warranty service of the dealership's own inventory and of vehicles previously sold to dealership customers," Alkhafaji wrote in his project narrative submitted with the application.

Vehicles would be acquired at wholesale dealer auctions and reconditioned on-site before being displayed outdoors and in the indoor showroom, according to the narrative.

The site is zoned LI-1, Light Industrial. Outdoor used vehicle sales are a permitted use in that district under city code but require Planning Commission site plan approval.

The lot sits along a stretch of Halsted Road between 12 Mile and 14 Mile that is undergoing full reconstruction in 2026, with work scheduled to conclude in October, according to the city's project timeline. The corridor handles about 13,300 vehicle trips per day. If approved, the dealership would open on a road that may still be under construction or freshly completed.

Adjacent properties include an indoor recreation facility to the north, a multi-tenant commercial buhailding to the south, multi-family residential to the east, and an industrial building to the west.

Residents with questions about the application can contact City Planner Diane Mulville-Friel at (248) 871-2540 or [email protected].