The Discount Tire store on Michigan Avenue in West Dearborn (shown here) has been razed and will be replaced with a new Kroger gas station.

While it is always good to see vacant eyesores along Michigan Avenue in Dearborn come down, it can be kind of a letdown when you eventually discover the new business that could be moving in.

That’s the case with the demolition of the long-vacant Discount Tire store on Michigan, between Outer Drive and Nowlin streets.

City officials tell Deepsaidwhat.com that Kroger is working with Dearborn to obtain permission to construct a Kroger gas station at that location. Kroger already operates a gas station on Ford Road in Dearborn Heights and this would be its second in the immediate area.

Now, we will be the first to admit that a new building – even if a gas station – is better than the vacant eyesore that the Discount Tire structure had become over the years.

It’s just that with so little new retail in downtown west Dearborn any time you see new construction, there is always the hope it will be something that becomes a destination. A gas station simply doesn’t live up to that dream . . .

Updates on conceptual plans for development of the area surrounding Dearborn’s new train station is set for April 8.

An informational session on April 8 will give the Dearborn community updates on conceptual plans for development of the area surrounding the City’s new train station, as well as a chance to provide feedback on the final design recommendations.

The event will be in Studio A of the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center from 7-9 p.m. and is open to residents, business owners, commuters who work in Dearborn, college and university students and other Dearborn stakeholders.

The meeting is part of the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) initiative that seeks to capitalize on the new train station’s ability to draw more visitors, businesses and residents to Dearborn’s west downtown. The train station is scheduled to open in early 2014.

Through a grant awarded the city from MIPlace Partnership, planners from Michigan State University and experts from the Michigan Municipal League and the Michigan State Housing Development Authority are assisting city staff and stakeholders with creating a vision for the neighborhoods, parkland and business area near the train station.

Although the conceptual designs are not binding, the exercise will help to focus the City’s efforts when considering future development.

Public sessions held in December and January and led by the design team allowed residents and other stakeholders to generate ideas about how they would like the area to be developed. Suggestions focused on creating green space, fostering community involvement and honoring Dearborn’s rich heritage.

At the April 8 meeting, the team will return to give community members the opportunity to view and comment on the TOD design recommendations created based on those earlier design sessions.

The team will walk participants through various depictions of how the area could be developed, as well as give a summary of their final report on the design concepts.

The event will include the next steps in the process and details about the final TOD community celebration.

For more information, please call Liz Hendley in the City Plan Office at 313-943-2171.

Najib Rizk, a Dearborn resident who owns the nearby Le Cigar cocktail and cigar bar on Michigan Avenue, tells Deepsaidwhat.com that a deal was inked on Wednesday.

Cheli’s officially closed its doors Wednesday night, hosting a “closing party” for all of its regulars and friends.

Rizk says he plans to reopen the building as a restaurant and bar under a new name, promising to bring something special to Dearbornites.

“I am investing in Dearborn because I love this city,” Rizk says. “My plan is to make that corner of downtown west Dearborn a destination for Dearborn and metro Detroit.”

We wish him the best.

A deal is near to sell Cheli’s Chili Bar in Dearborn. The restaurant is owned by former Detroit Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios.

Cheli’s Chili Bar in Dearborn, owned by former Detroit Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios, is expected to be sold as early as this week, according to people familiar with the restaurant.

If the sale goes through, the restaurant/bar would close and reopen under a new name and theme. Cheli’s employees are being told their last day of work could be as soon as Wednesday, Feb. 20.

The sale of Cheli’s is not unexpected. Chris Chelios has been trying to sell the location since retiring from the Detroit Red Wings. It is not clear what Chelios will do with his Detroit restaurant, located across from Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers.

Cheli’s Chili Bar was once one of the more popular places in Dearborn but over the years it has become just another bar in Dearborn.

If the building sale does go through, we are hopeful the restaurant will be renovated and reopened with something that will spark more interest in downtown west Dearborn.

Valu Land is Spartan Store Inc.’s version of Aldi, a discount grocery store with no brand name products. Valu Land is also designed to compete with Save-A-Lot and even dollar stores. Many of the products lining the shelves of Valu Land will be the grocer’s own Spartan brand or the discounted brand Valu Time.

The new store is scheduled to open at 8 a.m. Sunday.

While some in Dearborn have expressed disappointment about this new discount grocer coming to this location, Spartan Stores does deserve credit for sprucing up the building it is moving into and improving the general look of that area.

Some Dearborn city leaders were hoping for an Aldi to move into the former Michael’s location rather than Valu Land, which says a lot about how low the business bar has been set by some in City Hall.

Neither store is desirable but it does provide a glimpse into the minds of some city executives who are willing to accept average or below instead of trying to attract more aspirational businesses such as a Trader Joe’s or a Whole Foods Market.

A work crew installs signage for ValuLand, a new discount grocery store opening in west Dearborn.

A new discount grocery store in downtown west Dearborn is inching closer to its grand opening. Signs for the new store were installed Wednesday and the soon-to-open store is now soliciting applications for job openings.

Valu Land is Spartan Store Inc.’s version of Aldi, a discount grocery store with no brand name products. Valu Land is also designed to compete with Save-A-Lot and even dollar stores. Many of the products lining the shelves of Valu Land will be the grocer’s own Spartan brand or the discounted brand Valu Time.

Valu Land will be the new neighbor to ACO Hardware, the second-hand store Goodwill and the Family Dollar, which opened in 2011.

Spartan Stores opened the first of three Valu Land locations in 2011 in three smaller cities — Marion, Leslie and Clare, in north-central Michigan — and a fourth store earlier this year in Lansing Township, the only store that was not a conversion from another banner. The Lansing store is located in a shopping plaza that houses a Volunteers of America Thrift Store, Rite Aid and Dollar General store. Similar to the new Dearborn location.

In addition to Dearborn, Spartan Store officials have said the company plans to open Valu Land stores in Warren and Roseville — metro Detroit cities that have a “larger population base in the surrounding prime trade area” than its other stores.

Valu Land is moving into the building on Michigan Avenue that was once home to Michaels.

West downtown Dearborn is getting a new grocery store but it isn’t a Trader Joe’s as many had hoped for in the past.

Spartan Stores Inc. plans to open a new Valu Land store in the building that was once home to Michaels arts and craft store.

Michaels, readers of Deepsaidwhat.com will recall, moved its store in 2008 to Allen Park. Valu Land will be the new neighbor to ACO Hardware, the second-hand store Goodwill and the Family Dollar, which opened in 2011.

Valu Land is Spartan’s version of Aldi, a discount grocery store with no brand name products. Valu Land is also designed to compete with Save-A-Lot and even dollar stores. Many of the products lining the shelves of Valu Land will be the grocer’s own Spartan brand or the discounted brand Valu Time.

This smaller Valu Land is a new direction for Spartan Stores, a Byron Township, Michigan-based grocer which operates about 100 stores across the state under the banners of D&W Fresh Market, Family Fare Supermarket, VG’s Grocery and Glen’s Market.

Spartan Stores opened the first of three Valu Land locations in 2011 in three smaller cities — Marion, Leslie and Clare, in north-central Michigan — and a fourth store earlier this year in Lansing Township, the only store that was not a conversion from another banner. The Lansing store is located in a shopping plaza that houses a Volunteers of America Thrift Store, Rite Aid and Dollar General store. Similar to the new Dearborn location.

In addition to Dearborn, Spartan Store officials have said the company plans to open Valu Land stores in Warren and Roseville — metro Detroit cities that have a “larger population base in the surrounding prime trade area” than its other stores.

The company hopes this new model store will help the grocery retailer expand beyond its Michigan borders. The grocer’s wholesale distribution business supplies more than 350 independent grocery stores across Michigan, and northern Ohio and Indiana.

What that means isn’t really clear but after Royal Realties LLC, the hotel’s current owner, failed at attempts to keep the Hyatt banner and then failed again with the Radisson chain, this newest deal is better than having the building sit closed.

The new management company, Colorado-based Atmosphere Hospitality LLC, signed a management agreement with the hotel’s owner, Royal Realties, to take over operation of the hotel today, Nov. 1.

Atmosphere apparently plans to operate the hotel as the eco-friendly Adoba Hotel Dearborn/Detroit. This apparently means more than different shower heads and linens that only get changed with each new guest but details are so far scarce. And according to Crain’s Detroit Business, Atmosphere has signed a letter of intent to purchase the building and property within 60 days for an undisclosed price.

Atmosphere is an unknown in the hotel business. Atmosphere operates a hotel next to Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse in Rapid City, S.D., offering rooms for less than $100 a night or about the price of a Hampton Inn. It is clear that this Dearborn property will go down several notches in prestige with these new owners but, again, better than being a vacant property.

Also unknown is what the new owners will do with the banquet space at the former Hyatt. They could be the price alternative in the area, putting pressure on places like The Henry and the Dearborn Inn. But with a brand name that has no identity in Michigan, let alone most of the country, the new owners of the Hyatt will have their work cut out for them.

Plans fall apart for Dearborn’s Hyatt Hotel to become the Radisson Hotel & Conference Center.

The former Hyatt Regency hotel in Dearborn is once again on the ropes.

Just two weeks after the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group said it would take over management of the 772-room hotel in Dearborn, the deal has been cancelled for unknown reasons.

“Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group and Royal Realties LLC have agreed to terminate the previously announced management agreement for the hotel currently known as the Hyatt Regency Dearborn,” Carlson Rezidor said in a statement.

The hotel was set to open as a Radisson at the end of October, the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, based in Minneapolisand Brussels, Belgium, said just two weeks ago.

This is the second time that Royal Realties LLC, which bought the 14-story hotel in May 2011, has failed to close a deal with a hotel management company. When Royal Realties bought the hotel, the Hyatt Hotels Corp. had agreed to manage the hotel. That never materialized.

What this means for the hotel, which has served as the site of hundreds of weddings, conventions and other special events, is unknown. Let’s hope that Royal Realties can find an upper, middle market hotel chain to manage this property . . . and soon.

Miller’s Bar in Dearborn has purchased the adjoining building and will soon add a new private dining room.

Miller’s Bar patrons will soon have a new reason to love one of Dearborn’s best burger places — the owners of the bar will soon be adding a new dining room for private parties.

If you’ve driven by Miller’s Bar on Michigan Avenue recently, you will have noticed that the adjoining building is now painted the same red oak color of the famous burger bar. That’s because the Miller family, which has owned the business since 1941, recently purchased the adjoining building, including the upstairs apartment units.

A new private dining room will be a great addition to one of Dearborn’s gems.

We wish the Miller family the best of luck with their new purchase.