MUSKEGON, MI – A vacant building near downtown in Muskegon’s Midtown would become apartments under a development plan that also includes some new construction.
A development team has submitted a proposal for the city-owned former Catholic Charities service building at Third Street and Houston Avenue near Muskegon Avenue.
The team proposes up to 47 apartments in the existing building as well as eight new townhomes on Houston Avenue and a new mixed-use building at the corner of Third and Muskegon.
“I’m excited about it because it’s infilling of residential units, which we sorely need, and it offers some types that we don’t have a ton of in the downtown multi-family space,” Muskegon Development Services Director Jake Eckholm told city commissioners.
The former Catholic Charities building at 1095 Third St. was built in the early 1920s as a furniture warehouse and showroom, Eckholm said. It originally had large windows that were covered with stucco.
The site bridges downtown and the Midtown business district along Third Street, and is a key piece in the city’s attempts to build a “walkable” downtown by connecting various commercial areas. It is near another site, a former Oldsmobile dealership, on Third Street that the city is working with the state to market to redevelopers.
The city took ownership of the property when it traded a lot on Seventh Street with Catholic Charities. That’s where the nonprofit built its current administrative offices and a new substance abuse detox center that opened last year.
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The city sought proposals for redevelopment of the former Catholic Charities property several months ago. Three development teams toured the property but only one submitted a proposal, Eckholm said.
That team is comprised of Suburban Property of Ada, Integrated Architecture of Grand Rapids and Erhardt Construction of Ada.
Shaun Burket, owner of Suburban Property, told commissioners at their Jan. 10 work session that he “fell in love” with Muskegon about 10 years ago and had been working to find a suitable project to work on.
“We kind of knew this was the one,” Burket said.
Erhardt Construction has been working on upgrades to the Frauenthal Center and is the construction group involved in redevelopment of a skeletal, city-owned building on First Street in downtown.
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The redevelopment proposal for the former Catholic Charities building includes mostly one-bedroom apartments, but also two studio and two two-bedroom units. The number of apartments isn’t set, but preliminary plans show 47, including 12 in the lower, or “garden,” level where light wells would be dug for light and emergency egress.
The main entrance would be moved to Houston Avenue and a parking lot would have 48 spaces, according to preliminary drawings.
Redevelopment renderings show a return to large windows.
Eckholm said rents for the smaller units are estimated at $850 to $1,000.
Redevelopment of the existing building would come first, followed by construction of the eight two-story townhomes and the three- or four-floor mixed-use building.
That mixed-use building, located where there currently is a parking lot at Third and Muskegon, would include first floor retail or restaurant space and upper floors of apartments.
Mayor Ken Johnson praised the project’s “variety of housing.”
The commission agreed to designate the development team as the “preferred” developer of the site. Staff will work on a purchase and development agreement that will be brought back to the commission.
Eckholm noted the team could “run into all kinds of surprises” once they begin working on the existing building.
In performing its due diligence on the project, Burket said the team spent most of its efforts on “trying to understand” the existing building due to potential “pitfalls.”
The building previously was known as the Midtown Building, where Catholic Charities – at the time Catholic Social Services – had been a tenant since 1984. Catholic Charities purchased the building in 2002.
The nearby Third Street area is home to several small businesses, including Third Coast Vinyl, The Griffin’s Rest, Hamburger Mikey, The Curry Kitchen and Naan Pizza, Only Cannoli and Muskegon Family Foods. The Muskegon YMCA also operates out of a storefront on the southern corner of Third Street and Houston.
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