 The mall is about a 15-minute drive from downtown Detroit, Wayne State University, or Metro Airport.Developed by A. Alfred Taubman, Fairlane Town Center opened on March 1, 1976.The mall is one of four super-regional Taubman malls built in the Detroit metro area in the 1970s, the other three being Briarwood Mall in Ann Arbor (1973), Lakeside Mall in Sterling Heights (1976) and Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi (1977).