MUSKEGON HEIGHTS, Mich. — Project leaders and Muskegon Heights city officials were on hand Monday to break ground on a central next-step in the city’s redevelopment strategy, ‘Reaching New Heights.’
The site’s current occupant, a defunct dry cleaning facility and longtime-eyesore on the corner of Peck and Sherman, will soon be demolished to make way for the city’s first new mixed-use development in several decades.
When work is complete, ‘Shops On Sherman’ will feature 11 brand new retail spaces on the first floor and 24 apartments and condos on the building’s upper levels.
The $5-million effort driving construction has taken shape over the last several years.
Given its former use, the building required some degree of environmental remediation.
As a result, a portion of the work will be funded using brownfield redevelopment dollars, EGLE grant funding, etc.
Developer Joe Rone grew-up in Muskegon Heights and named his mother, a long-time local business owner, as a source of inspiration. Working to revitalize his hometown, Rone said, carries a surreal feeling.
“That was where the vision started was when I was a kid,” he explained. “You've toyed around with ideas when you're growing up, but you never get a chance to come back and live them. I get an opportunity to come back and live the dream.”
Muskegon Heights’ mayor and city manager were on hand for the groundbreaking.
Both suggested the project meshed well with the overall strategy in that the work will mean less blight and greater opportunity.
“We're turning a corner here in the city of Muskegon Heights and doing the things that need to be done to bring this community back,” Mayor Watt related. “That is an understatement.”
“This site is a statement from the vision of the mayor and the city council about social justice in our community,” City Manager Troy Bell explained. Bell mentioned the facility had historically experienced problems with illegal dumping. “We are no longer undeserved and overlooked in terms of these types of issues in our community. That's important for us to note.”
City leaders suggested the effort could prompt other locals to spearhead their own projects for the betterment of the community.
Developers expected the demolition of the existing building to begin shortly and be complete with a week.
Subsequently, they expected the project to conclude in July 2023, with an opening slated for that summer.
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