- by Paula Gardner, January 28, 2016, MLive
Walmart will close two local stores, a six year old Walmart Supercenter at US-23 & M-59 in Hartland Township, and a Sam's Club in Waterford Township — today at 7 p.m.. The questions of what will happen to the buildings and what that will mean to their host communities — in terms of employment and tax revenue, remain unanswered.
The Hartland store is 176,000 square feet, about average for a Walmart "hypermarket" that includes a full grocery. It sits on 27 acres at US-23 and M-59, anchoring a corner of the interchange's retail hub that also includes Meijer, Target and Kroger. The store was built in 2009, following a decade-long residential building boom, which in turn prompted commercial construction along the corridor.
Waterford township Supervisor Gary Wall said "I'm not shocked.". But having the Sam's Club remain at its 14-acre location near Telegraph Road and M-59 in Oakland County was important to the community, Wall said. The location is adjacent to Summit Place Mall, a 1.3-million square foot shopping center that has been vacant since 2009. That's a lot of vacant commercial real estate," Wall said.
Both communities will lose six-figure tax revenue: 2015 bills totaled $171,140 in Hartland on the $4.185 million assessment, and $146,033 in Waterford on the $2.8 million assessment.