At left, a rendering of the proposed Vault Marquette complex from Monday’s Marquette City Commission meeting. The commission unanimously approved a 212-space parking facility, which is part of the larger Vault Marquette Development Plan that was originally approved in July 2021. The project aims to revitalize the Old Savings bank building along Lakeshore Drive in Marquette. (Rendering by Braveworks Inc.)

MARQUETTE — The Marquette City Commission on Monday unanimously approved the building of a large new parking structure in the city as part of the Vault Marquette Development Plan.

The business agreement that the commission approved lays out guidelines for budgeting, development and construction of the facility.

Officials say it is a key component in the Vault Marquette Development Plan which aims to revitalize the Old Savings bank building along Lakeshore Boulevard. The renewal effort includes a hotel, commercial space and an apartment complex in addition to the parking facility. The plan calls for more than 90 hotel rooms and 25 apartment units.

The agreement calls for the completion of the project within 40 months.

The project is years in the making. The initial approval for the plan took place at a meeting in July 2021.

The parking facility will have two entrances, one a public entrance off of Lakeshore Boulevard and the other an entrance for hotel guests along East Washington Street.

“I’m very excited about this project. I’ve supported this project since the beginning,” Commissioner Jenna Smith said. “I know there’s been some close votes along the way and I can’t wait to see it come to fruition.”

Much of the discussion of the agreement at Monday’s meeting revolved around ensuring that construction will have a minimum impact on foot and vehicle traffic in the city.

“I’m very excited that we’re finally here. It’s been a while since we’ve been talking about this. One of my initial thoughts was that the 40 months seems like a really long time but realistically it kind of sounds more like it’s that time frame to meet all of the other asks we had, as far as not blocking off an entire section of our town and allowing for vehicle traffic and foot traffic to still exist,” Mayor Cody Mayer said.

The next step for the project involves an agreement between the Marquette Brownfield Redevelopment Authority, the city of Marquette, and Marquette Vault, LLC for the design, acquisition and construction of the facility. That agreement is currently in development.

Approval of the agreement also involves a bond issued by the MBRA, which is backed by the credit of the city for the public acquisition of the facility using brownfield funding to repay the bond.