OXFORD TWP. – A Bloomfield Hills-based developer looking to build a condominium project in Waterstone is requesting that 7.23 acres be rezoned from local commercial (C-1) to multiple family residential (RM).

“We’re thinking roughly 44 (attached) units,” said Nora Dedvukaj, director of operations for Contour Development Group, LLC., located on Woodward Ave.

A public hearing on the proposed rezoning will be held during the Thursday, June 22 meeting of the township planning commission. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. and take place at the township hall (300 Dunlap Rd.).

Contour Development Group’s request covers two vacant parcels that it has owned for about two years.

Both have frontage on W. Market St. and are located directly across the street from each other.

The parcel north of W. Market St. is 4.5 acres and located between Cedar St. and Stony Lake Dr. It’s bordered by single-family residential to the west and the Boulder Pointe golf course to the north and east.

The parcel south of W. Market St. is 2.73 acres and located just west of S. Waterstone Dr. It’s adjacent to Independence Village of Waterstone, a 145-unit retirement community located to the west. Waterstone Lake is to the south and Waterstone Park to the east.

According to a May 19 letter submitted to the township by Michael Pizzola, of the Rochester-based Designhaus Architecture, “the original intent” was to develop this property “as retail or office,” but “due to current market conditions, the parcels have sat vacant for several years.”

“With the current housing demands, the developer is (seeking) to develop the parcels . . . and construct a multi-family condominium community,” he wrote.

Given the land is surrounded by homes, water and golf course, Dedvukaj said, “I think residential makes more sense in that area.”

“We’re more into residential. We don’t typically (deal) in commercial properties,” she added.

The project is going to be named The Oasis at Waterstone and consist of 11 buildings, each containing four attached condominium units.

“It’s such a growing area. There’s a lot of young families, a lot of first-time buyers. Sometimes (buying) a condo will make sense before a home,” Dedvukaj said. “There’s also a lot of empty nesters in that area who are downsizing and want less maintenance and less responsibility.”

The Oasis would be based on another development Contour is starting in neighboring Orion Township. That one is called the Ponds of Orion.

“We’re slated to break ground on that one within the next couple of months,” Dedvukaj said. “The Oxford project is going to replicate that one. It will be very similar.”

According to the developer’s website www.contourdevelopmentgroup.com, Ponds of Orion will consist of 44 units, each containing more than 1,800 square feet. The units will have two-car garages, attached decks, first-floor master bedrooms and walkout basements.

“It is the developer’s intent to provide a community that will be acceptable to the township, the community residents and that will be of the highest quality of construction and materials,” Pizzola noted in his letter.

No site plan has been submitted to the township at this point.

“It is the developer’s intent to pursue site plan approval immediately after rezoning and to begin construction immediately after . . . site plan approval,” Pizzola wrote.

Contour Development is currently looking to break ground on The Oasis at Waterstone in “about 12 to 18 months,” according to Dedvukaj.

“It could be sooner, but (it’s) better to give ourself some more time,” she said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do with the rezoning and with the site plan approval.”

“This will be our first Oxford development,” Dedvukaj noted. “We’re pretty excited. It’s a growing area. Definitely a nice (community). We’re excited to get the shovel in the ground there.”