MARQUETTE, MI— The Marquette City Commission has approved an amendment to the Vault Marquette Brownfield Plan.
The $18 million plan will now focus on development of the 80-room Trestle Hotel and two-story parking deck behind the State Savings Bank. Refurbishing the bank building into the Vault Hotel has been put on the back burner at this time.
Under the amended plan, a public parking deck that was to be financed by the City and the Brownfield Recreation Authority will now be a private parking deck financed by the developer.
At a meeting Monday night, Commissioner Sally Davis said she has misgivings about the Trestle project—especially due to the fact that the hotel will have five floors.
“I have to tell you this project makes me very sad. You know, it makes me sad because it removes another view of Lake Superior from our general public. And I’m also sad because of the congestion that will happen in that area of our city and the feeling of [being] more claustrophobic on that road.”
Mayor pro tem Jermey Ottaway said while questions remain, he supports the project, and the Brownfield process will let the city provide input into what developers want to build.
“I try to look at a Brownfield as an economic development form. It is a way for the City to generate money, because right now that is a vacant lot. It’s an unattractive vacant lot. And ultimately, a lot of people are concerned about what the Vault, you know, Savings Bank potential is going to be. The developer at no time that I have heard has said that they’re going to tear the building down. They’re interested in reconditioning that and turning it into what they originally hoped to. They just cannot do that at this point.”
City Manager Karen Kovacs said she’s glad the project is moving forward.
“This is a significant investment into our community and for a project that would not otherwise be able to be accomplished without the public support and without the Brownfield support. So, this is something that is certainly one that… I have colleagues across the state and across the Midwest that would love to have something this size, of $15 million potentially coming in, would love to have that kind of development in their town. And I’m incredibly proud to get to this point, where we can have discussion on some of the things that we have concerns on, but then also get it to the point where we can start seeing some shovels in the ground.”
The project will be under the jurisdiction of the Marquette Downtown Development Authority.
The amendment passed on a 5-1 vote. Commissioner Sally Davis voted against the plan and Mayor Paul Schloegel was absent.
Construction could begin in June.
