Corewell Health previews new Troy hospital tower, emergency parking garage and future expansion

The Troy Planning Commission took no action on the concept plan Tuesday but gave the hospital detailed feedback ahead of an expected public hearing.

Troy Planning Commission regular meeting, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026, 7 p.m., Council Board Room, Troy City Hall, 500 W. Big Beaver Road

Corewell Health Beaumont Troy Hospital presented plans Tuesday for a new inpatient tower, a roughly 400-space parking garage beside its Emergency Center and a large future-expansion envelope on the 47-acre Troy portion of its campus at 44201 Dequindre Road, asking the Troy Planning Commission for early feedback on a Planned Unit Development (PUD) that would replace the site's restrictive Community Facilities zoning.

The commission did not vote on the proposal. The item (PUD024, JPLN2026-0016) was a Concept Development Plan review, which city staff described as an opportunity for the applicant to introduce the project and hear commissioners' concerns before submitting a revised application. The Planning Commission is a recommending body on PUDs; City Council makes the final decision. City staff said the project's next appearance before the commission will, in all likelihood, be a public hearing.

The hospital team said the project is driven by capacity. Camilla Moretti, a principal and partner with architecture firm HKS, told commissioners the hospital is out of inpatient beds, which leaves emergency patients waiting for rooms upstairs. The new tower would add private rooms, and many existing semi-private rooms would be moved into it. Tower completion is currently planned for 2030, the team said.

Meeting actions at a glance

Decided Pending or no action Nothing to act on

The Planning Commission agenda does not include a formal consent agenda. The routine agenda and minutes approvals are listed here in that role.

What Corewell is proposing

The Corewell campus straddles Dequindre Road, which is the Troy–Sterling Heights border. The PUD covers only the Troy side, where all inpatient beds are located; outpatient services are across a pedestrian bridge in Sterling Heights, which is not part of the application. City staff confirmed the PUD would govern the entire Troy parcel, not just the area of new construction.

New inpatient tower (first phase)

The tower would sit on the north side of the existing hospital, in front of the current Emergency Center, whose canopy would be removed. The applicant lists it at about 335,394 gross sq. ft. and 188 feet. The consultant report describes five patient floors with 36 private rooms each, for 180 beds, plus an eighth-floor shell for future rooms. The ground level would include an expanded Emergency Center with a new walk-in entrance, waiting area and a covered, porch-like ambulance drop-off beneath the building. The second floor would house mechanical, electrical, plumbing and technology systems, matching the existing hospital, where most of the second floor is mechanical space. A mechanical penthouse would sit on the roof.

Asked to translate the height into stories and compare it with existing buildings, the team first said the tower is about the same size, then said it adds two floors over the existing seven-story building and totals about 10 stories with the enclosed mechanical penthouse. The city's cover memo describes it as 8 stories. It would connect directly to the adjacent Critical Care Tower and to the hospital's internal "Main Street" corridor. The ground-level helipad would move to the tower roof to speed transfers to trauma rooms and intensive care.

New parking garage (first phase)

The garage, about 152,930 sq. ft. and 68 feet tall, would replace the existing Emergency Center surface lot near Dequindre Road. Moretti said emergency visitors now park more than 350 feet from the door and walk up a steep ramp; the garage would cut that to about 50 feet with an enclosed connector. Valet and emergency parking would move into the garage, and the team said the existing south parking structure is full with patients. Staff who now park in remote lots and ride shuttles would be able to use surface lots at the back of campus. The team said existing on-site parking already meets zoning requirements without the garage.

Betsy Williams, a principal and office design leader at HKS, said the tower and garage would share the same brick base, drawing on the brick that is the predominant material on campus; the team later told Faison the brick is intended to match the rest of the campus. The garage would have a brick base with a metal screen above, possibly perforated, to hide cars; materials are still being studied. About eight security-managed spaces near the emergency entrance would let people driving a patient go straight inside; security would move the car to the garage.

Future expansion envelope

West of the new tower, on an existing surface lot, Corewell seeks approval of a building envelope up to 574,200 sq. ft. and 204 feet. The uses have not been identified. The team said the higher number reflects lower ground at that spot, not a taller building; the top would match the new tower. It said the building, if pursued, could come within about 10 years and would likely need its own parking, possibly underneath.

Requested deviations from CF zoning

Carlisle said the CF district, a legacy catch-all for institutional uses, doesn't fit a modern hospital; the existing buildings already exceed its height limit. Staff and the applicant considered variances and conditional rezoning before settling on a PUD. "In retrospect, we probably would have done this under a PUD back in the day," Carlisle said, noting the hospital predates the city's PUD tool. His report recommends the PUD and says the deviations are generally justified. At the meeting, he said the submittal was "pretty light" on details. The applicant has not completed a traffic impact study.

Significant moments

• Chair's disclosure. Before the item, Perakis disclosed that her husband is employed by Corewell Health at the Troy campus. She said she did not believe it was a conflict; no commissioner raised a concern.
• Local control confirmed. Lambert compared the project to the University of Michigan medical facility on the former Kmart site. Carlisle said U-M is a state institution exempt from local zoning; Corewell is not, and each phase would return for full site plan review before the commission and City Council.
• Option to limit approval. Carlisle told commissioners they could recommend approving only the first phase, requiring Corewell to amend the PUD when the future expansion is defined, or approve both phases in concept with site plan review later.
• Construction sequence. The tower would be built first while the Emergency Center uses a temporary entrance where the garage will go. The garage would follow once the new emergency entrance opens under the tower.
• Three rooms lose views. The garage would block the street view from an existing observation unit. Three affected rooms would no longer be used as inpatient beds, the team said.

Commission questions and applicant responses

Times are the meeting video's running time.

1. 3:50Perakis disclosed her husband's employment with Corewell; no objections.
2. 4:34Carlisle outlined the process: feedback tonight, a resubmitted application, a full review, then a recommendation to City Council.
3. 7:29Lambert asked whether the future expansion would return to the commission. Carlisle said each phase requires separate site plan approval.
4. 9:09A commissioner asked why Corewell isn't exempt like U-M. Carlisle: U-M is a state institution; Corewell is not.
5. 9:48Kevin Tuchowski, Corewell's director of planning, design and construction for the East region, introduced the team: HKS (architect), PEA Group (engineering) and Grissim Metz Andriese Associates (landscape).
6. 10:48Moretti explained the bed shortage and emergency parking problems.
7. 14:25Williams walked through the site plan, landscape berm along Dequindre Road, layered plantings and massing.
8. 19:00Jim Butler of PEA Group explained the PUD choice, building sizes, setbacks and the four requested deviations.
9. 21:17Perakis asked for heights in stories and how they compare with existing buildings. The team said the tower adds two floors over the existing seven-story building, about 10 stories with the penthouse; the helipad would move to the roof.
10. 25:28Fox asked about the Sterling Heights side. The team said inpatient growth is on the Troy side; outpatient care is across the bridge.
11. 25:59A commissioner asked about the low building behind the garage site; it is an observation unit, and three rooms would lose inpatient use.
12. 26:51Malalahalli asked what the future expansion would hold; the team said that isn't known yet. She also asked about emergency drop-off traffic and described her own difficulty parking at the current Emergency Center.
13. 31:22Faison asked whether the brick matches the campus (it does) and why the garage isn't central. The team said it studied a garage at the rear of campus, but services there are back-of-house, not public, so the walk to the emergency entrance and Main Street would be about 400 feet, compared with about 50 feet from the proposed site.
14. 34:33Lambert asked whether the garage serves the future building. The team said it serves the tower and emergency department; future parking would be reassessed. Lambert praised the design as a welcoming view for people entering Troy from the north and east.
15. 36:10Perakis questioned adding about 400 spaces when zoning doesn't require them, citing concerns about overparking. The team said the south garage is full and staff are shuttled from remote lots.
16. 37:31Buechner, noting his family of five was born at Beaumont, asked about timing. The team said tower completion is planned for 2030, after PUD approval.
17. 38:08Fox suggested gateway signage identifying Troy. The team said it would take the idea to Corewell's branding team.
18. 39:08Perakis, after a site visit, asked where the tower sits relative to the Emergency Center, and whether ground-floor uses such as a café could line the garage. The team said it hadn't considered it and cited emergency traffic and ambulances; retail would fit better on the south side. She also asked whether the Dequindre Road signal can handle added traffic; the team said emergency volumes would not change much.
19. 45:37A commissioner said emergency directional signs on Dequindre are too small for stressed drivers and suggested a red-lit tower sign. Corewell said a wayfinding team is working on campus-wide signage.
20. 47:10Perakis asked about second-floor mechanical space (packet page 23); the team said it mirrors the existing hospital and won't be visible from outside.
21. 48:39Faison asked staff about approving the future expansion; Carlisle described the options.
22. 50:25Buechner asked how people will enter during construction; temporary entrances will be used.
23. 51:04Fox asked whether the PUD covers the whole parcel; staff said yes, and future changes elsewhere on the parcel would go through the PUD process.
24. 51:58Fox asked about outdoor amenities. The team described a lightwell garden visible from the garage connector, Main Street and the emergency waiting area, but not accessible for security reasons.
25. 54:28Lambert asked about emergency entrance security. The team said the design allows lockdown of the Emergency Center and the new tower.
26. 55:30Perakis asked the team to address the PUD review standards on return, with more detail on circulation, pedestrian crossings, lighting, parking calculations and phasing.
27. 56:55Staff said they will meet with the team on deliverables for a public hearing, which is the likely next step.

Public comment

1. 3:10Public comment on items not on the agenda: no speakers.
2. 58:26Public comment on agenda items (Corewell PUD): no speakers. The commission closed the public comment period.

Commissioner and staff updates

1. 58:53Buechner: nothing to report.
2. 58:55Hutson: nothing to report.
3. 58:58Faison: nothing to report.
4. 58:58Lambert asked about the Troy Corners enhancement project. Staff said Carlisle Wortman Associates submitted a proposal to help develop a vision for the area, and it goes to City Council on Monday, Sept. 28.
5. 59:23Fox: nothing to report.
6. 59:25Krent announced the next planners gathering, Oct. 28, on planning ethics.
7. 59:37Malalahalli: nothing to report.
8. 59:40Savidant said four commissioners, Krent, Perakis, Fox and Lambert, will attend the Michigan Association of Planning's annual Planning Michigan Conference in Kalamazoo next week (Sept. 30–Oct. 2).
9. 1:00:01Savidant promoted a lightning-round session he will host at the conference Thursday at 3:45 p.m., featuring five presenters with 10- to 12-minute talks.
10. 1:00:24The chair adjourned the meeting.

Votes

Discrepancies in the record

Several figures differ across the meeting packet and the presentation:

• The city's cover memo calls the tower 8 stories and the garage 5 stories; the applicant described the tower as about 10 stories including the penthouse. The consultant report says story counts were not provided.
• The consultant report gives the tower as both about 263,000 and about 335,000 sq. ft.; the application says 335,394.
• Garage capacity is about 400 spaces in the consultant report and 405 in the application.
• The minimum setback is 132 feet in the application's development guidelines and 135 feet in its deviation list.
• The consultant report is headed "Crooks Road Development," though the campus is on Dequindre Road.
• The application lists the site at 46.9989 acres; the county legal description on the topographic survey lists 48.55 acres.

What's next

Corewell will revise its application using the commission's feedback. Perakis asked for more detail on circulation, pedestrian crossings, lighting, parking calculations and phasing. The consultant report also calls for a traffic study, stormwater and utility capacity, landscaping, and the architecture of the tower and garage along Dequindre Road, plus clear limits on the future expansion area. Staff expect the next step to be a Planning Commission public hearing, followed by a recommendation to City Council. The meeting packet is available from the Troy Planning Department at 248-524-3364 or planning@troymi.gov.