A high-profile downtown office building is set to be converted into a new residential brownstone complex. Freshwater Development received approval from the Traverse City Historic Districts Commission Thursday for plans to convert the former Dingeman & Dancer building at the corner of Front and Park streets into a residential development with three brownstones – each of which will come with a private boat slip on the Boardman/Ottaway River. The project is the second announced this year from Freshwater Development, which is also redeveloping the former Cousin Jenny’s building at the corner of State and Union.

The three-story, 6,786-square-foot former law office building at 100 Park Street was listed on the market for $3.725 million (Dingeman & Dancer is now located at The Village at Grand Traverse Commons). The building was touted as a “once in a generation real estate opportunity” offering an “ideal residential conversion” in the heart of downtown, with Front Street on one side and the river on the other. A steel seawall is installed on the property, accommodating three permitted boat slips. The parcel also offers views of Grand Traverse Bay and direct access to the lake via the river.

Though the property itself is “not too historic” since it was built in the 1990s, according to City Planning & Zoning Administrator Dave Weston, it resides within the Downtown historic district. That means any significant structural alterations must go to the Historic Districts Commission (HDC) for review. Freshwater Development and architecture/interior design firm Studio+ presented plans to the HDC Thursday, which call for the existing structure to be converted to three private three-story residences “inspired by the look of traditional brownstones,” according to a memo from Principal Meghan Frederick of Studio+.

New decking and privacy fences will separate the units, which are planned to have both ground-level patios and upper balconies fronting the Boardman/Ottaway. The exising porte-cochère will be demolished for a “proposed addition at the southwest corner of the building to square off the existing structure,” Frederick wrote. “The renovation will strive to keep as much of the existing brick façade intact as possible.” She told the HDC that the Front Street side of the building will be “getting quite the face lift,” with new windows, doors, dormers, and synthetic slate roofing.

A front exterior parking lot will remain as private resident parking. Normally parking is required to be to the rear or side of the building, Weston said, so tall landscaping will help buffer the lot from its close proximity to Front Street. A new curb cut, stone paver drive, and gate is planned along Park Street. Freshwater Development Founder Andrew McCarthy, who said he’d been eyeing the property since before it went on the market, called the corner site “beautiful” but also challenging. Working with Studio+, the company tried to break up the Front Street-facing façade “so it felt more contextual and more intentional from a residential feel” compared to an office building, he said.

HDC members were complimentary of the building redesign, describing it as “lovely” and “beautiful.” After asking a few technical questions about door sizes and privacy fences, the commission unanimously approved the project. Freshwater Development, which already had a contingent offer on the property, “anticipates closing on the building within the next several weeks,” according to Director of Sales and Marketing Lydia Wiley. Construction on the three brownstones can then start “immediately, with completion slated for the end of 2025,” Wiley says.

The Park Street redevelopment is the second downtown Traverse City project announced by Freshwater Development this year. As previously reported by The Ticker, the firm has also started construction on two luxury penthouses that will occupy the upper two floors of the former Cousin Jenny’s building at the corner of State and Union. @properties Christie’s International Real Estate has opened new Traverse City offices in the ground floor of the building. Wiley says the three Park Street brownhouses and two State Street penthouses will be listed May 1 “as a boutique collection of five residences” coming to downtown from Freshwater Development. The State Street units are on track to be completed in late summer.