MARQUETTE — The Marquette City Commission approved the sales of two parcels of Heartwood Forestland property last week to two Marquette-area businesses.

While the sale of Parcel 12 passed unanimously, Parcel 35 passed with a 6-1 vote, with Commissioner Sarah Reynolds opposing the proposal.

Parcel 35, which consists of 20.39-acres of heavily tree-covered land, is adjacent to the Noquemanon Trail Network’s south trailhead, and was sold to Rippling River Resort/Curran & Co. for a one-time fee of $153,000.

Veridea Group, LLC, initially proposed buying parcels 9, 10, 11 and 12 of Heartwood Forestland property, but only purchased Parcel 12 for the development of a mixed-use and low-impact technology campus. With the sale, the city will realize a one-time revenue of $203,000, which is 100 percent of the property’s appraised value.

Michele Thomas, director of development at Veridea, said Able Medical Devices is interested in the property and that they could potentially bring 50 new, high-paying jobs to the area. The medical devices engineering firm is currently located in Gwinn and looking to expand.

Angeli said the city and Veridea came to an agreement where only one parcel — rather than all four — was purchased since Able Medical Devices is willing to move in as soon possible.

The city is seeking requests for developer qualifications for parcels 9, 10 and 11 at the price of $370,00, city documents state. Information regarding the parcels can be found at www.marquettemi.gov

Before Curran & Co. and Veridea move forward with developing the newly acquired parcels, both must propose their plans to the city commission for final approval.

Since the parcels have recreational trails managed by the NTN interwoven throughout and nearby, both companies have agreed to work alongside the nonprofit organization to help maintain trails or reroute them during development of the properties.

Cary Gottlieb, president of the NTN Board of Directors, said the board fully supports the sales of the two parcels. Gottlieb said he’s known Veridea’s president Robert Mahaney for years. He also said the NTN has been working closely with city administration and Curran & Co. in regards to Parcel 35 to “develop a plan that will fulfill all of our needs.”

The commission adopted an intent-to-sell resolution for the parcels in July which allowed City Manager Mike Angeli to negotiate the sales and bring them back to the commission for final approval.

In 2005, the city of Marquette bought several parcels of the Heartwood Forestland for $5 million. Shortly after the property purchase, the Marquette city and planning commissions created a Heartwood Forestland Ad Hoc Committee to help with the future decision-making of the land. The city commission adopted the ad hoc committee’s report in April 2011, incorporating amendments recommended by the planning commission.

The city still owes around $2.6 million on the purchase.

With the future closure of the We Energies-operated Presque Isle Power Plant, city administration has been planning ways to make up for lost revenue which is anticipated to be around $1.2 to 1.6 million annually.

While members of the NTN have expressed interest in purchasing parcels that contain trails throughout them, the city has been hesitant to sell to them since the city wouldn’t receive property tax revenue due to the NTN’s nonprofit status.

NTN members have said in previous articles published in the Journal that people from all over the country and world come to Marquette County to enjoy the award-winning trails. Travel Marquette has been working on a study to determine how NTN-sponsored events impact the area’s restaurants, hotels, small businesses, bars and other industries.