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Public hearing to be held regarding blighted building

MARQUETTE — A public hearing to determine approval of a combined brownfield plan for an upcoming pastry shop located at 231 W. Washington St. will be held Monday during a Marquette City Commission meeting.

If approved by the commission, the combined brownfield plan would provide additional state tax capture in an amount equal to state tax capture for Michigan Department of Environmental Quality-eligible activities and additional local tax capture for a period of five years for the local brownfield revolving fund in an estimated amount of $111,410.

Brownfield-eligible activities include lead and asbestos abatement, selective building demolition, site preparation and public infrastructure.

The overall investment for the project is estimated at around $2.5 million.

Mostly recently home to 231 House of Muses — an alternative music venue — the building has been vacant since it caught fire in 2007 and sustained major damage to its interior.

Four 75 LLC owns the “blighted and functionally obsolete” building, city notes state, and desires to turn the lower and street levels of the building into a bakery and restaurant, with residential apartments on the second floor.

The project is located in the Marquette Downtown Development Authority and Marquette Local Development Financing Authority Tax Increment Financing districts, which have jurisdiction to capture certain taxes subject to brownfield capture.

Both the DDA and LDFA have approved interlocal agreements under the Urban Cooperation Act to transfer capture to the Marquette Brownfield Redevelopment Authority for reimbursement of brownfield-eligible activity until the brownfield obligation is met, city documents state.

The historical site was originally developed in 1891 as J. Roy Meat Market. From 1896 through around 1910, the building was a saloon, and converted to Abraham Fine Meat by 1916. The building was occupied by the Worker’s Cooperative Society Grocery, Johnson Grocery and UP Food Store until 1948, when Michigan Bell Telephone offices occupied the building.

The 2,259-square-foot brick building has a flat roof and its windows are currently boarded with plywood, which has been the case since the blaze over a decade ago.

The city commission meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Monday at Marquette City Hall commission chambers, which is located at 300 W. Baraga Ave.

To view the meeting’s agenda, visit www.marquettemi.gov.

Jaymie Depew can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 206. Her email address is jdepew@miningjournal.net.

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