Founders developers plan for future

Article Photos

MARQUETTE - A cold wind blew off Lake Superior as workers from Signs Now installed a large wooden sign at Founders Landing, proclaiming the new development "The Landing."

A five-building, 36-unit row of townhomes is planned for the middle parcel of Founders Landing, purchased from the city for a little more than $1 million in September by The Landing Development Group.

The development team - made up of Barry Polzin, Joe Constance, Bill Hetrick and Ron Thorley - is preparing market studies and launching a Web site at www.SuperiorLanding.com.

Polzin said construction won't likely begin until March.

"We have to go through the whole (Planned Unit Development) process," Polzin said. "It will be early March before we actually have approval. We are basically looking at starting right then."

The group will start by building four units and construct more as the market dictates. So far two people have reserved units, and Polzin said he has started to custom design the units for them.

"My experience has been - once construction begins, people really believe it and then sales really happen," Polzin said.

The units will range in price from $295,000 to about $800,000, Polzin said. The names of the buildings - Kawbawgam, Ripley, Gaines, etcetera - come from well-known Marquette residents and early pioneers.

Polzin said the current state of the economy is a concern, but a minor one.

"It certainly casts a little shadow over everything," he said. "But there are still a lot of people out there who do have money and do have interest. We're just going to go at the pace that sales dictate."

Constance said the development team has not yet decided whether it will put in a bid for the northern parcel of Founders Landing; the city is asking $1.5 million for it.

"We're discussing it," he said.

When asked how he felt about the development two months after his group purchased the site, Constance said it was a mixture of excitement and fear.

"But we're optimistic because there's been so much publicity, so much good (public relations) about this and it really is the premium site in the city of Marquette," he said.

One of the development's most interesting aspects is its green design, including on-site stormwater management, green roofs covered in plant-life, low volatile-organic-compound interior paint and an overall low-impact development.

"The green movement has been happening for a long time and it becomes almost an expectation for buyers," Polzin said. "The demand for it is really high. We're going to be offering a very green product."

Polzin said the units can be customized according to the buyer's wishes to include additional green elements, such as photovoltaic power cells.

Building practices will also be environmentally friendly, Polzin said. For instance, the development will use local maple for hardwood flooring as opposed to bamboo, which would need to be trucked in.