The 34-acre peninsula on Pontiac’s Crystal Lake that once housed the Lakeside Homes public-housing complex is back on the market, and local development watchers are paying attention. Brokers are pitching the cleared, lakefront tract just west of Woodward Avenue as a rare Oakland County waterfront play, with the eventual buyer likely deciding whether it becomes high-end waterfront housing, a mixed-income community or something in between.
What’s for sale
The listing describes roughly 34 gross acres (about 26.8 net acres) with about 3,775 feet of Crystal Lake frontage and R-3 multifamily zoning, according to LoopNet. Marketing materials on Showcase say the site sits on the former Crystal Lake public-housing footprint and is largely cleared, with internal roads and utilities already in place, characterizing it as “development-ready.” The pitch leans toward garden-style apartments, townhomes, or a master-planned lakefront community.
A big plan that never arrived
City planning records show that in May 2022, developers took a formal proposal to the Planning Commission under the banner “The Shores at Crystal Lake.” The materials listed SK Lakeside Development LLC as the project owner and identified the site as 535 Branch Street, according to the City of Pontiac planning packet. Meeting notes in that packet refer to a preliminary layout of about 23 buildings and capture commissioners pressing for details on heights and unit counts, while presenters repeatedly framed the design as flexible.
How big was the earlier pitch?
Local reporting has long framed the vision as a major undertaking, and Crain's Detroit Business puts the earlier plan at roughly $400 million. Early concept drawings sketched a mix of mid-rise and low-rise residential buildings alongside commercial space, although developers stopped short of locking in final unit counts or a public financing package before the proposal went quiet.
Listing details and timeline
Brokers refreshed their pitch in mid-July. A listing on CommercialSearch shows the property page was updated July 11, 2026. None of the online brochures include an asking price; instead, they direct potential buyers to contact the Colliers broker team on the listing. An e-brochure hosted on Showcase lays out parcel statistics and a high-level case for large-scale residential development.
Why Pontiac watchers care
The timing matters. City and housing officials are trying to chip away at long-term blight while adding new places to live. The Pontiac Housing Commission notes the city still has roughly 2,000 “unaccounted” housing units that were removed in prior decades and says it is working on a mix of public and private projects to rebuild the stock. In that context, the Crystal Lake site stands out not only because of its lakefront location and size, which give it unusual value, but also because decisions about density and affordability could ripple through the surrounding neighborhood, schools and parkland.
What’s next
Developers with the capital and experience to handle large residential projects are likely to take a hard look at the listing, and the CommercialSearch page directs interested parties to reach out to the listing brokers for details. Any eventual buyer will still have to run the gauntlet of planning review, zoning checks, and neighborhood scrutiny before a major project can proceed. Local officials have said they want a redevelopment that ties into broader efforts to improve housing and park space around Crystal Lake, which means the peninsula is likely to stay in the spotlight for a while.
