Southfield City Centre

Here’s what attendees from around the country had to say about the Southfield City Centre workshops, part of the American Planning Association’s 2026 National Planning Conference.

Workshop: “America’s First Suburban Mall: Northland City Center Redux”

• Heather Clevland, Washington – “It’s so helpful to see how Southfield is making it all work – how the resources came together to get all this accomplished.”

• Donquetta Singleton of Collierville, TN – “This is a great example of revitalization, and it is something I hope my community is able to do one day.”

• Jerry Rusthoven of Sunset Valley, TX – “I think the tour is great. I just finished a book about the history of malls in America, and this fits right into what I read about.”

Workshop: “The HeArt of Placemaking in a Suburban Community”

• Logan Witter of Sugar Hill, GA – “I am absolutely enjoying it. This area is very similar to the city where I work and grew up in, so I was interested in how other people do these things.”

• Erin Brown of Dayton, OH – “I love the workshop so far. It’s great to see that not everything has to be done at once. What we’re seeing in Southfield is kind of an incremental approach – that over time the whole effect builds up and affects real change.”

• Ravi Venkataraman of South Burlington, VT – “It’s been great. It’s tapping into how we can have more projects in the city I work for – how to generate funding and interest and how to implement the projects.”

• Erin Smith of Carver, MN – “Terry Croad is doing an excellent job. Southfield is great in the way it’s committed to art and making it accessible — and showing us real ways a city can start an art program. They’re giving us real actionable ways we can start small and build art in the communities where we live and work.”

In many ways, the story of Southfield’s rise as a business and economic center is intertwined with the story of REDICO. From its headquarters at One Towne Square, the company reflects on nearly six decades of growth rooted in the very community it helped shape.

Founded in the late 1960s by Robert Sosnick, REDICO emerged at a pivotal moment in Southfield’s evolution. As businesses began moving beyond Detroit, Southfield was establishing itself as a commercial center — and REDICO was at the forefront of that shift. The company developed The Travelers Towers, the city’s first high-rise office buildings.

Through a series of developments over the next several decades, REDICO has maintained over 2.5 million square feet of Class A office space in Southfield, helping establish the city as a destination for corporations, professional services firms and regional headquarters.

Today, under the leadership of President and CEO, Dale Watchowski, REDICO continues to reinforce a long-term commitment to the city’s commercial vitality and the success of the market it helped create. Key properties include One and Two Towne Square and the American Center.

REDICO’s founder Robert Sosnick created this family business, and family continues to play an active role in the company. His daughter, Karen Sosnick Schoenberg, serves as principal and member of the board.

Over nearly six decades, REDICO has worked across development, ownership and operations, in a range of asset classes from office and industrial to multifamily.

The work has earned national recognition with numerous awards. Just as importantly, REDICO’s team members have been recognized by leading regional and national publications and associations for their leadership and industry impact.

Yet for all its growth and accolades, REDICO’s focus remains close to home. At its Southfield headquarters, that commitment extends beyond buildings and into the surrounding community. The company has supported enhancements to the  City Centre district, including environmental initiatives, such as onsite beehives and a nearly two-acre wildflower habitat adjacent to the Southfield City Centre Trail System. These efforts contribute to broader goals around sustainability and outdoor activity.

REDICO continues to build on its legacy in Southfield with the same focus that defined its early years — building and managing properties that support long-term economic activity through vision, integrity and a deep belief in the power of place.

It’ll be a busy spring at Lawrence Technological University, with many events open to the public.

First off, LTU’s spring sports get under way in March, including nationally ranked men’s and women’s lacrosse teams. You’ll find information for all of LTU’s interscholastic sports teams at ltuathletics.com.

LTU annually draws a crowd of over 1,000 gaming, Esports and anime enthusiasts to the annual LTU Expo. This year’s event will be Saturday, April 4. LTUX is a free, campus-wide event that showcases LTU student and regional talent in locally designed game demos, cosplay workshops, gaming tournaments, panel discussions, a vendor fair and more. To learn more, visit ltuexpo.com or discord.com/invite/K52X6HT.

LTU will also show off its rapidly growing research enterprise in its annual Research Day on Friday, April 24. Events include nationally renowned and LTU faculty research presentations in the morning, and over 100 research poster presentations by students and faculty in the afternoon. More at ltu.edu/research/events/research-day/.

LTU’s College of Architecture and Design will unveil the future of design through LTU student work at Show LTU May 7-9. Work will include urban design, graphic design, industrial design, student projects and more.

LTU will also hold its annual Spring Commencement Exercises in the Don Ridler Field House Saturday, May 9. A 10 a.m. ceremony will honor graduates of LTU’s Colleges of Architecture, Arts and Sciences, and Health Sciences, while a 1:30 p.m. ceremony will confer degrees on graduates of LTU’s Colleges of Engineering and Business and IT.

The following weekend, LTU will host its annual global robotics competition, Robofest, May 15-17. Hundreds of students from all over the world will put the robots they designed through their programmed paces in more than half a dozen competitions in the Don Ridler Field House and other campus locations. More at Robofest.net.

Finally, LTU will hold its annual Scholarship Gala Saturday, May 16, at the brand-new Department at Hudson’s, 1000 Nick Gilbert Way in Detroit. The theme for this year’s scholarship fundraiser is “Icons Reimagined,” highlighting the bold, future-defining vision of both Lawrence Tech and the new Hudson Block buildings. For more information, visit ltu.edu/academics-calendar/3rd-annual-scholarship-gala-icons-reimagined/.