New life could be coming to the former Kmart store in Acme as a techology firm makes a bid to open its global headquarters on the site.

Founder and CEO Paul Bandrowski of Inphastos has the former Kmart property (pictured) at 6455 US-31 under contract and is in preliminary talks with Acme Township officials about locating his corporate headquarters at the site. Inphastos uses “advanced systems, robots, and technology” to construct factory-built housing, Bandrowski says. Bandrowski is also the CEO of Noble Homes, a firm specializing in affordable housing and manufactured home leasing in northern Michigan.

Inphastos – which currently operates in three local buildings totaling 35,000 square feet in the Keane Drive industrial park and on M-72 – aims to take over the 86,000 square-foot Kmart site as its main research and development facility.

“We’ll be testing robots and evaluating various forms, and using these components to help builders reduce the cost of construction and the speed at which they can construct individual as well as multi-residential housing,” Bandrowski says. The Kmart site would serve as a test facility for the company’s new technology and systems, while factory production would take place at another off-site facility.

“We’re looking for space right now for the main production factory, which would be between 100,000 and 300,000 square feet,” Bandrowski says. “We’re in the process of evaluating various (local) locations right now for that facility.”

In addition to housing Inphastos’ corporate headquarters and R&D division, the Kmart site would also serve as a large-scale data center for the company. Bandrowski will seek a planned unit development (PUD) – a zoning plan for a specific property site – that will also allow the company to add commercial and residential units to the property. Bandrowski says the project is venture-backed by groups including Casey Cowell’s Boomerang Catapult and investment group Northern Michigan Angels.

Bandrowski says early feedback from Acme Township officials has been “very encouraging” on the project. His team will appear before planning commissioners in early August to present preliminary plans for the proposed development. The company will then go through an estimated 2-3 month process to pursue PUD approval for the site. “We’re on a pretty tight timetable…we have to start construction inside Kmart by November, because we have to be open with our full engineering and data centers by March 2019,” he says.

Bandrowski believes the project is a “win-win” for his company and Acme Township. He says the former Kmart building has the “perfect dimensions” for his operational needs; his company’s staff also wanted to be located within "a community setting,” rather than in an isolated industrial park in a rural area.

“This was a great mix for us with the Resort and Traverse City and shopping and food nearby,” Bandrowski says. “(The project) provides a lot of high-paying jobs in an area of town where there hasn’t been a tremendous amount of engineering growth…and it’s a great use of an abandoned facility that would also tie in some commercial and residential uses.”

Bandrowski estimates Inphastos would initially employ approximately 50 staff members, growing to over 100 jobs in the next 18-24 months. “We employ high-level engineering talent – computer, software, electrical, mechanical engineers,” he says. “We’ve added 30 jobs in the last three months, with an average salary of $70,000 to $100,000.” He attributes the company’s rapid growth to introducing “disruptive” technologies to the construction industry, which he says has “largely not changed for 100 years.”

“Just like taxicabs got displaced and changed by Uber, and Airbnb changed the vacation rental industry, the construction industry is in the throes of significant disruption,” Bandrowski says. “We’re one of the leaders playing in the forefront of that industry, inventing a lot of technology and innovations. It’s a very significant market."

Acme Township Supervisor Jay Zollinger previously told The Ticker the former Kmart property was in a high-profile location and that shortly after its closure, interested parties were already circling the property. Unlike other former big-box store sites, Zollinger didn't believe the building would be vacant for long.

"The best thing from an Acme Township perspective is that it’s one of the last stores on US-31 in our commercial district," he said. "Our zoning doesn’t allowing anything commercial going further north at this time, so that makes (the property) valuable.”