Developer's first plans for 450-acre holding on Harsens Island introduced 18 years ago

In 1989/90 Michael Malik first introduced plans to build a $150 million resort complex on the 450-acre former Boys Club of Detroit property on Harsens Island, Michigan.

Malik and partner Fred Smith had unveiled plans for a complex on the island's North Channel that would include a hotel, marina, condominiums, golf course and other features that they said had been designed to recapture the island's past as a resort haven.

Malik and Smith had hoped to dig out a million cubic yards of the island to build a marina with 1,348 boat slips. In designing their project they explained they were forced to chose between saving 45 acres of oaks, hickory and cherry trees -- some of them a century old -- or a few threatened plants they describe as "weeds." The so-called "weeds" -- Sullivant's milkweed and lady's slipper -- were protected by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. In the end the DNR reportedly found the development would destroy wetlands and rare plants and the project was mothballed.

The plans were also rejected in January 1996 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers because an updated proposal had not been submitted.

Now Malik under the names Lucky 7 Development and Grande Pointe Development has proposed another similar project for the same site. This one features a man-made lagoon with an Island Club House and canal access to the North Channel all surrounded by single family home lots, clustered townhomes and multi-story condos.

(Details of the original plans gleaned from several articles archived by the Detroit Free Press and available at http://nl.newsbank.com/)