After years of planning and permitting, construction will soon begin on two neighboring developments designed to transform the Warehouse District, and another project just down the street is slated to begin construction in the spring.
Meanwhile, the developer of a long-vacant lot across the river is abandoning plans for a multi-use complex and turning his attention instead to plans for a luxury hotel.
The Ticker We met with the developers behind these properties to find out what’s next.
The Syndicate and TC Continental
Rochester-based JS Capitol Group, led by developer Jeff Schmitz, will hold an official groundbreaking ceremony Friday for two properties on Grandview Parkway just east of the Hotel Indigo, which Schmitz developed several years ago.
The properties are a four-story hotel called “The Syndicate” and an adjacent residential complex called “TC Continental.”
“We are really excited to get started,” says Schmitz The ticker. “We are waiting for the building permit for the foundation and hope to be able to start here any day.”
The Syndicate will be a Marriott Tribute Hotel with 110 rooms, including double queen and king units and executive suites. It will feature a ground-floor restaurant, a spa and fitness center, a banquet hall and three boardrooms. Like the neighboring Indigo, it will have a rooftop bar.
One thing that was eliminated from the original plans is underground parking. During work on Indigo, workers encountered significant contamination problems (including a cyanide cloud) and Schmitz does not want to take any risks with further excavations.
“After what we went through at Indigo, all the challenges we had with the contaminated soil, the cost was just so prohibitive to go back in the ground,” Schmitz says. “We had some bad stuff.”
Instead, JS Capitol recently purchased the former Antiquities Warehouse building across Garland Street and will convert it into a building with retail space on the ground floor and parking above, Schmitz says.
TC Continental, which will share the ground floor with The Syndicate, will have 15 condos ranging in size from 1,100 to 280 square feet and is expected to cost about $1,000 per square foot, Schmitz says. Four of the 15 units have already sold.
Schmitz expects the hotel to open in about 18 months and the condominiums to be ready for occupancy in 24 months.
The Godfrey
Although the name is subject to change, what is now called Godfrey is a mixed-use development planned for the vacant lot along Hall Street next to the BATA transfer station. After a series of delays due to building height and other matters, the development team is ready to begin construction in spring 2025.
The project is being developed by Innovo, the southern state group that built the Breakwater complex between the river and Traverse City’s tourism building.
The development will include retail/restaurant space on the ground floor and 127 residential units, some of which will be earmarked for affordable housing or workforce development, says Innovo CEO Trae Allman The Tickeralthough the exact percentage has yet to be determined. The city approved a PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) agreement for Godfrey and Breakwater last year.
PILOT agreements allow developers to pay a percentage of rental income to the city instead of traditional taxes to offset the costs associated with offering housing at below-market rates.
The development’s roof will be less than 60 feet high, following a lengthy and well-publicized debate (and eventual litigation) over building heights in Traverse City. A citizen group sued the city in 2021, arguing that the project violates a 2016 charter amendment requiring all buildings over 60 feet to undergo a public vote.
A local judge ruled in favor of the citizens’ initiative and ruled that all building elements, including parapets, mechanical elements, etc., must be less than 60 feet high (some elements in Godfrey’s original design were above that).
The Michigan Court of Appeals later overturned that ruling, saying that the charter amendment did not specifically address how to measure the height of a building. The city argued that the height should be measured solely from the ground to the roof, without considering other features, which is a common method of measuring building height. When the Michigan Supreme Court declined to hear the case, the appeals court ruling stood.
However, since the original design called for a roof just over 60 feet high, the development team revised the plans to bring the roof under that height (while the court case was ongoing, Innovo actually put its original plans for a higher roof to a vote in 2022; city voters rejected the project).
Given the process that has led to this point, the development team feels ready to take the first steps.
“We are very excited to get started,” says Allman. “The project will be very similar to what we originally conceived.”
Jay Zelenock represented the citizens group in the lawsuit. He tells The Ticker The “pro-democratic goals were all confirmed in the trial,” regardless of the outcome.
“The charter change was not to stop development, but to give people a voice,” he says. “That voice was upheld because ultimately the Godfrey building was voted on and the proposal to exceed the 60 feet was rejected by voters.”
124 Western Front
Across the river, next to the Record-Eagle, is a “hole in the ground” that has been there for nearly 20 years since Grand Traverse Auto, which stood on that spot for decades, was demolished.
After initially pursuing plans for a mixed-use building that included both market-rate and affordable/workforce housing, developer Jeff Smoke of Great Lakes Capital is now pursuing plans for a luxury hotel at the site.
Smoke, who is also behind the West End Lofts building just across the street on the river, says the change in plans was due to the team’s inability to obtain a number of local and state incentives.
“It is very difficult to create (affordable) housing without creating a real balance,” says Smoke The Ticker“I think we tried for over four years to make it work, but the numbers just didn’t add up.”
Smoke believes the riverfront property would be better used for a hotel anyway.
“The land up there is so expensive that a hotel on this very valuable piece of land is the better product,” he says. “We also believe there is a real need in the market for a first-class boutique hotel.”
Smoke says many details — including the hotel’s brand, configuration and more — still need to be worked out. But the hotel will take advantage of its riverfront location, he says, likely with a boardwalk and other amenities.
Pictured: A depiction of The Syndicate.
