Village At GT Commons Eyes Next Phase Of Growth

The development group behind The Village at Grand Traverse Commons is exploring the next phase of growth for the neighborhood community – including the redevelopment of Building 57 and the potential future revitalization of the property’s iconic power plant.

Raymond Minervini of The Minervini Group recently appeared before the Grand Traverse Commons Joint Planning Commission – a joint body of Garfield Township and Traverse City representatives – to share preliminary plans to redevelop Building 57, located on Gray Drive across from Sugar 2 Salt and Earthen Ales. The building previously housed service shops and storage for the Traverse City State Hospital’s plumbing, electrical, and mechanical departments.

“What’s contemplated (for the redevelopment) is condominiums or apartments, or maybe a combination of the two, in a multi-dwelling building,” Minervini tells The Ticker. “We’re toying with a few different designs right now, and also looking to integrate a parking component.”

The Minervini Group has obtained conceptual state approval to add another floor to Building 57, allowing for two stories of residential units. Minervini says the property is uniquely situated within the Commons. “It melds the warehouse and water tower area with the beautiful parkland and the stream on the north side of the building,” he says. “It has a city-meets-country vibe.” The Minervini Group still has additional historic approvals to obtain before beginning construction; Minervini says work could begin as soon as this summer.

That project comes as the first residential tenants are preparing to move into the newly redeveloped Building 58, located near Building 57 on the corner of Gray and Red drives. Work began in early 2018 on a $10 million makeover of the 72,000 square-foot building, which hosts new Munson Healthcare offices and The Lofts at 58, a 25,000 square-foot, three-story residential wing featuring 24 market-rate condominiums. Munson took occupancy of its space in September, and condo owners will be handed keys for the first three to four units within the next month, according to Minervini. More owners will move in every few weeks as the remaining condo buildouts are finished. The building is anticipated to be completely finished and occupied by mid-summer.

The completion of Building 58, coupled with the success of the mixed-use Building 50, leaves the former power plant as the largest building still undeveloped on the Commons campus. The Minervini Group is working now to conduct environmental and structural studies of the building to determine its suitability for different potential uses. The building poses a number of challenges: In addition to unknown levels of contamination likely requiring remediation, removing the plant’s old boiler system could potentially affect the structural integrity of the building. That’s one of the factors The Minervini Group is analyzing now, according to a recent update provided to the Grand Traverse County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority. Parts of the power plant also go higher than 60 feet, raising questions of whether a redevelopment would trigger Traverse City’s Proposal 3 charter amendment requiring a public vote on building construction over 60 feet.

But despite those challenges, the building – which could be expanded to offer an internal footprint of 40,000-45,000 square feet – also offers enormous opportunity, Minervini says. “It’s a giant box waiting for big things to go in it,” he says. “We’ve had a wide variety of thoughts and ideas for it, and prospective developers or co-developers. It can be many things. Our thought is, let’s get a better understanding of the structure and the environmental (factors) so we can have a clear path forward. It’s an iconic building that bridges the gap between the 1800s and the 1900s, and it’d be great to find a use for it that was appropriate for the community.”

The Minervini Group has long indicated it'd like to bring a boutique hotel to the Commons, with Minervini saying there’s “a small chance the power plant could be considered for uses related to a hotel.” But he indicates it’s more likely a hotel would go in one of the south cottage buildings, where there could also be new office and residential units in the future. “We’re pursuing doing some additional master planning right now for the south part of the campus,” Minervini says.

Parking also remains an ongoing challenge. Because of historic building requirements, The Minervini Group can’t simply construct a massive eight or nine-story modern parking deck in the middle of the Commons to service the campus. Nor does the organization want "seas of asphalt" disrupting the overall historic character of the property, Minervini says. The tenative plan instead is to construct a smaller deck on the surface lot near the power plant, doubling parking in that area and expanding the building footprint. Parking is also often integrated into the redesign of the historic buildings themselves, supplemented by pockets of adjoining surface parking. With a hotel, some surface spaces could serve the property, but others would likely be a short walk away, like at the power plant. That solution is common in bigger urban areas where space is similarly constricted, says Minervini. “We have to work around the cars – that’s a functional reality,” he says.

Aside from a hotel and/or the power plant, most development going forward will likely be residential rather than commercial in nature, marking a transition point for the Commons in its growth trajectory. “So much of the work over the last 10 years has been bringing all the elements to the neighborhood: the bakery, the coffee shop, the restaurants and retail,” Minervini explains. “We want to build from there with the hotel and more residential. There’s more of a need now for housing.”

Pictured: The former power plant (left) and Building 57 (right) at The Village at Grand Traverse Commons