Plans Take Shape on Riverfront Redesign, New Parking Deck

Plans to redesign the downtown Traverse City riverfront between Union and Park streets – a transformational project that could cost $63.5 million – could begin with tackling the section between Union and Cass streets, TC Downtown Development Authority (DDA) CEO Jean Derenzy told city commissioners this week. That block, including the farmers market lot, the riverfront, the pedestrian bridge, and the alleyway and J. Smith Walkway, will be the focus of an RFP issued in early May for design and engineering. The DDA will also issue an RFP for design and engineering for a new State Street parking deck, which Derenzy said could include retail and housing components as well as a building envelope that could be repurposed in future decades.

Derenzy met with city commissioners Monday to review both projects after receiving approval from the DDA board in March to issue those RFPs. Once the RFPs are posted and bids are submitted, city commissioners will have final approval over the firms and contracts recommended for selection – a vote that will take place in June or July. Derenzy said design work would then likely be completed on both projects by the end of the year. Work will also include providing more detailed cost estimates, which will allow the DDA to then begin identifying funding sources and moving forward with implementation.

The riverfront redesign – the first major project to come out of the Lower Boardman River Unified Plan and one informed by extensive public input – has been broken down into nine “segments,” or phases. City Engineer Tim Lodge recommended tackling segments one through four first, which are located in and around the 100 block alley of Front Street between Union and Cass. Recommendations and preliminary cost estimates for that section including reconstructing Lot B, the farmers market lot ($4.7 million); creating a more naturalized riverbank and riverwalk with placemaking amenities ($12.5 million); redesigning the pedestrian bridge ($2.5 million); and converting part of the Front Street alley to a pedestrian plaza and creating a park-like setting with trees and decorative lighting in the J. Smith Walkway between Pangea’s and Kilwins ($17 million).

Lodge noted that other project segments – such as in the 200 alley block between Cass and Park streets, where a new bridge is proposed to cross over Grandview Parkway to Clinch Park Beach – will require working with outside partners like the Michigan Department of Transportation. Between those logistical complications and costs, trying to tackle the entire project at once didn’t seem feasible, Lodge said.

City Commissioner Tim Werner questioned whether the project would consume staff time and if the city would be better served focusing on priorities elsewhere. He asked if redeveloping the alley would actually help business owners with economic development and what science was being used to gauge if improvements would be environmentally beneficial or improve the resiliency of the river. “I see this as greenwashing,” he said. “It’s fine to create a new park, but there’s no science.”

Derenzy said she’s spoken to property owners – including the new owner of the Mackinaw Brewing Building – who are excited about the alley redesign and plans to have pedestrian activity on both Front Street and along the riverfront. Design and engineering will help identify specific green improvements, according to Derenzy, who emphasized that the primary project goal is to better protect and showcase the Boardman River. Lodge said that when it comes to resiliency, the riverfront now features a deteriorating retaining wall that was built in 1920. He questioned why the corridor hasn’t been improved sooner and said he was “very comfortable moving forward with an RFP.” Using an outside design firm will alleviate the demand on staff time, Lodge said. “It’d be really a shame to just ignore the public engagement and process (that created the design),” Lodge said.

Derenzy also outlined criteria that will be included in the RFP for a new downtown public parking deck planned on State Street between Union and Pine streets. Derenzy said the long-discussed deck will allow surface parking lots to be redeveloped downtown for other uses – like retail and housing – and offset the loss of spaces in areas like the riverfront. The DDA is seeking a garage design that will “accommodate the ability to repurpose the structure in the future,” according to project documents, and include amenities like snowmelt, bike lockers, restrooms, and the ability to have unmanned operations (similar to the Old Town deck, which operates without dedicated staff on-site).

Part of the street-facing level could also offer retail space. That would “maintain retail continuity on State Street,” according to project documents, with access to the deck provided through the alley – eliminating the need for a curb cut on State Street, which has a blind curve near the deck site. City Planning Director Shawn Winter said part of the property could also accommodate housing. In conversations with developers, Winter said initial estimates show that 24 apartments could fit within the housing component.

Pointing to the city’s goal to become carbon-neutral by 2040, Werner said he didn’t “see how building a parking garage helps meet that goal.” He questioned why the city would spend tens of millions of dollars trying to provide parking spaces for downtown shoppers without exploring other options for bringing people downtown. City Commissioner Linda Koebert argued that a deck wouldn’t just support shoppers; it’d also provide parking for employees and residents, some of whom are living in new downtown developments that lack on-site parking. Koebert said both the riverfront redesign and parking deck offered an “aspirational” vision for downtown, one she called “very exciting.” Mayor Pro Tem Amy Shamroe said that while some people might want to eliminate parking, that’s not a realistic goal for most. “I don’t think that building a parking deck and taking parking off our water is a bad thing in our community,” she said.

Lodge said the RFP process will help commissioners decide if and how to proceed with both projects, especially once they have more concrete cost estimates in hand. “This is just a step to get the information that you will need to have to make a decision,” he said.