A proposed multi-use development in the Warehouse District now faces an uncertain future, set back by design and funding challenges that threaten to derail the project. The Ticker looks at the latest developments with Warehouse Flats, as well as updates on several other downtown projects set to open in 2018.

Warehouse Flats
Design and funding challenges are posing significant delays to developer Thom Darga’s Warehouse Flats project, which was originally set to break ground this month.

Traverse City commissioners gave their approval earlier this year to conditionally rezoning the former Fifth Third Bank property on Union and Garland streets (pictured) to allow Darga to build up to 60 feet instead of 45 feet. The four-story development was planned to offer retail/restaurant/office space on the ground floor and rental apartments ranging from 550 to 1,200 square feet on the top three floors. But after Darga significantly altered the building’s design this fall – eliminating more than 40,000 square feet of space and cutting the number of parking spaces in half – city officials advised Darga he’d need to go through the conditional rezone process again since the project had substantially changed from what was originally approved.

Creating all new building plans and obtaining new zoning approvals is a costly several-month process that has delayed the project, according to Darga. “There are a lot of forces not being addressed with speed that make projects fall into place,” he says. “We want to have this done the right way with all the proper approvals and all our ducks in a row. I had no idea how many ducks there would be.”

Further exacerbating issues are complications with Darga’s application for brownfield funding at the state level, he says. Darga was previously approved for environmental clean-up reimbursement locally by the Grand Traverse County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority. “We feel very strongly we need a remediation plan in place…but at the state level, things aren't as clear,” he says.

Darga acknowledges property owner Fifth Third Bank has expressed interest in moving on from the deal if Darga can't finalize a sale soon. “Their interest is in discharging the property…I’d say we’re on the outer reaches of their economic interests, and they have goals to meet,” he says. Dan Stiebel of Coldwell Banker Schmidt Realtors, which represents Fifth Third Bank as the realtor for the property, told The Ticker he “can’t comment on the property at this time.”

Still, Darga says he’s working to keep the project moving forward. “It’s been delayed…we’re working to get ourselves fully rooted in a direction that we’re comfortable with as a community,” he says. Executive Director Rob Bacigalupi of the Downtown Development Authority (DDA), which is looking for projects like Darga’s to come online so their tax capture can help fund the construction of a planned West Front Street parking deck, says that as long as at least one major project proceeds, the city can stay on track. “Whether it’s Erik Falconer’s (Pine Street project) or Patti Mercer’s (Grandview Place project) or Lou Ferris’ (West Front Street project), it’s important that at least one of these projects moves ahead,” Bacigalupi says.

Miller Snowden/Chase Bank Building
A new four-story building under construction next to Chase Bank on Front Street is set to open in January, with a portion of Hagerty’s staff moving into the second and third floors this winter and two new restaurants opening in the building this spring.

Jerry Snowden of the Miller Snowden Development Group says the $5 million building will be completed by January 1.

The Ticker has learned that restaurateurs John McGee and Glen Harrington will relocate Sorellina from its Park Street location into the ground floor of the new building, one of two eateries the partners will operate in the space. “The second concept is yet to be determined, but there will be two distinct restaurants with two bars in the one space with a shared kitchen,” says McGee. “The separated total capacity is about 240 seats.”

McGee says the partners are in talks with potential tenants for the current Sorellina space. The two Front Street restaurants are set to open in March.

State Street Developments
Construction is proceeding as planned on two major developments on State Street, both of which are targeting June 2018 openings.

Park Place Hotel officials shared several new details with The Ticker about the property’s new conference center under construction at the site of the hotel’s former dome. The facility will feature five dedicated function rooms, including the Grandview, which can host 500 and be separated into four smaller rooms. Grandview I and II can each accommodate 250, while Grandview II can be split into 3 breakout rooms – State, Front and Park – hosting 70 guests each.  An additional function room, the Boardman, will accommodate 90 guests. A pre-function area called The Gallery will feature Park Place Hotel memorabilia and local artists’ work, while a streetside outdoor event space will be offered on The Patio.

The Park Place – which remains open during construction – is set to unveil the new conference center in June. The facility has already drawn interest, with bookings and several “buyouts” of the entire property already secured over the next several years.  The Park Place is also upgrading its hotel rooms and constructing a new indoor pool, whirlpool and fitness room as part of the project. “We anticipate an influx of patrons in regards to shopping, dining, and recreation” as a result of the hotel’s new amenities, says General Manager Amy Parker.

Meanwhile, a few doors down from the Park Place, construction continues on the five-story TC Lofts building at 340 East State Street. The “urban loft” complex will feature 39 market-rate rental units – including a combination of one and two-bedroom apartments – plus a rooftop deck and community room with views of Grand Traverse Bay. According to Property Manager Maggie Laureto, over 50 percent of the units are already pre-leased ahead of the anticipated June 1 opening. “We think we’ll be sold out in the next couple months,” she says.

Radio Centre III
Finally, downtown Traverse City will see the addition of much-needed public restrooms sometime this winter. According to Bacigalupi, DDA staff had hoped the ground-floor restrooms in the new Radio Centre III building on Park Street would be ready in time for Men’s Night this week; the restrooms will now likely take another five to six weeks to open. The completion of the rest of the building – overseen by developer John Socks – will follow, with the upper floors offering condominiums and the ground floor hosting a likely future restaurant tenant.