Manistee -
I've been meaning to get around to Manistee. This post-industrial city, with its quaint Victorian downtown architecture, is my "ancestral" Michigan home town. My great-grandparents and great-great grandparents immigrated to here from Poland for the logging jobs in the early 20th century. Sadly, their house, which was south of downtown, was ultimately demolished to make way for US-31 long before I was borne...
Anyway, a portion of downtown Manistee MIGHT be getting a big refresh, if it can clear some hurdles. Known as
Spirit of the Woods Gateway Project, the proposed development would include a 100-room hotel, event center, indoor / outdoor farmer's marketplace, welcome center, office and retail space, and a business incubator. It would be situated
where US-31 intersects S. River Street - which is basically the northern terminus of the small downtown. A big motivation is to create a more inviting entry to downtown. This looks to be easily a $20+ investment in downtown, and it promises to bring millions of dollars annually in economic impact.
It was first officially presented to the Manistee City Council at their
September 08, 2020 work session. No formal vote was on that agenda. CL Real Estate is the developer, working in tandem with Little River Holdings, the EDC arm of the of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians (the same Little River Band behind the planned Muskegon / Fruitport Township Casino). News sources indicate that the development team planned to work on their plans and applications through the remainder of 2020, and hope to start construction in Summer / Fall 2021.
This is only the second Michigan project for Illinois-based CL Real Estate, and their first partnership with the Little River Band. It looks promising and sounds ambitious, but I'm not holding my breath that it will all come to fruition exactly as portrayed right now. At a quick glance, there has been no other update on the City Council's agendas since September.
Quote:
Putting pieces together in Manistee
Kate Carlson | MiBiz
January 03, 2021
MANISTEE — The lakeshore city of just more than 6,000 people is seeing multiple new downtown developments that local officials and investors say are critical for reinvigorating empty storefronts, diversification and emerging better off after the pandemic...
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Quote:
Michigan Tribe’s Economic Development Corporation to Invest in Transformation of Downtown Manistee
Levi Rickert | Native News Online
September 14, 2020
MANISTEE, Mich. — Plans unveiled last week to city officials will give a facelift to transform the entry into downtown Manistee, Mich., a city on the shores of Lake Michigan. The planned development was presented by Little River Holdings and CL Real Estate Development to the Manistee City Council. Called the Spirit of the Woods Manistee Gateway Project, the development will reshape and reinvent the gateway to River Street, the main street that runs parallel to the Manistee River that flows within walking distance to Lake Michigan...
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Quote:
Initial stages of Gateway project unveiled
Arielle Breen | Manistee News Advocate
September 09, 2020
MANISTEE — A “business incubator,” hotel, marketplace and welcome center are all part of a newly presented project for a section that takes up both sides of River Street in Manistee. The Spirit of the Woods Manistee Gateway project was officially presented at the Tuesday evening Manistee City Council work session after council members, Manistee Downtown Development Authority leaders and others had referenced the project several times in passing during meetings throughout this year...
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Site Plan - not the greatest quality - photoshopped from a skewed news article photograph -
Source:
Arielle Breen | Manistee News Advocate
Source:
Native News Online
Source:
Native News Online
Source:
Arielle Breen | Manistee News Advocate