For several decades, the LaPlaisance Road corridor in Monroe Charter Township (Monroe County) served as a regional shopping hub, featuring three outlet shopping centers. But as retail trends changed, the malls fell into disrepair, with skyrocketing vacancy rates and eventual foreclosure and abandonment.

The Township worked with McKenna to undertake a sub-area planning process in order to re-imagine what LaPlaisance Road could become. The corridor needed a new vision – one that took advantage of current economic trends, like the need for additional modern industrial space in the I-75 corridor, cutting edge techniques in planning and redevelopment, placemaking and non-motorized transportation.

The LaPlaisance Road Corridor Plan positioned the area to become an economically vibrant district, open to bicycles, pedestrians, cars and trucks. Most of all, the plan envisioned a memorable place that the Township could point to as its signature district.