News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Alida Bywater stocks a shelf while working in the Birch Hill Grocery cabin at the Water Street Commons on Friday.

ALPENA — Local economic development leaders continue working to lure in investors who can help create new housing opportunities, help businesses rebound from the ice storm, and open new shops and stores.

On Friday, Alpena Area Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Director Mike Mahler updated the community on the latest development news in the Alpena area. Mahler also is the head of Target Alpena, one of the primary economic development organizations in Northeast Michigan.

ICE STORM

The ice storm’s damage and impact on businesses was felt across the region, Mahler said in his press release. Target Alpena took the lead regionally to collect data on the storm’s impacts on small businesses in the area.

Target Alpena wanted to share the data with state officials with the hope it may put together some form of business support package to assist businesses that can prove storm impact.

The Federal Government has authorized the Small Business Administration (SBA) to support impacted businesses with low interest loans for both businesses and homeowners. However, the Federal Government did not include Alpena County as an eligible county for SBA programs.

The SBA felt the county did not meet the level of impact needed to be included. Also, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has not designated the region as a disaster area, and given the amount of time that has passed, it is unlikely they will, Mahler said.

Mahler added that local utilities absorbed large expenses to restore power and how the utility companies will recoup their losses.

DPI PROPERTY

According to Mahler, asbestos removal has begun inside various buildings on the land. When asbestos removal is completed the new property owners anticipate beginning the demolition phase of the project. This phase is expected to begin soon.

Indications are they will be ready in 18 months with a shovel-ready site. Mahler said there is great potential for the lake-side property once it is cleaned up.

GARDENS OF ALPENA

The Gardens of Alpena is a large housing project on U.S. 23 North for seniors. Mahler said the developer has been working with a surveyor to get the elevations of the two lots they purchased.

The developer anticipates it will need to bring in a great deal of sand to elevate the height of the land where developers will build the buildings.

First, Alpena officials need to clear the land and extend the road and utilities on their portion of the property before the developer takes over.

Mahler said the developer intends to open a sales office soon after they begin to educate the community about the facilities, amenities, and services the Gardens of Alpena will offer.

The goal is to arrange some sale and lease commitments from the community prior to the project’s completion.

DDA

The pop-up market, called the Water Street Commons, is now open for business at the former Alpena Power Building site on 2nd Avenue and Water Street. Mahler said the goal was to have the new market open in time for the Flower Festival, which it was.

The beverage kiosk, which will include hard cider from Knaebe’s Apple Farm & Ciderworks, is the last to come online. Mahler said Knaebe’s is awaiting for its liquor license needed to serve alcohol at the site. This is anticipated to happen soon.

Mahler said the other businesses that are open have all expressed how well things have gone since they opened.

For the DDA, a business incubator has been a goal to allow start-ups to test market interest in products without taking on the burden of a large building expense or a costly long-term lease. The goal is that these businesses will establish a following and eventually seek a brick-and-mortar location in the community, hopefully downtown, Mahler said. At that time, other businesses can take over those kiosks.

There is additional space on the site to add more kiosks which will be evaluated by the DDA board in the future. The goal is to get through the first full season and adjust from there, Mahler said.

At this time, the property is still for sale. The way the lease is structured with the DDA for the use of the site, in the event a developer comes along and wants to develop the property, a mechanism is in place that allows Target Alpena to sell the location while keeping the DDA budget whole.

Then the DDA could relocate the market or sell-off the kiosks, depending on the situation.

“Overall, we are glad to see the location activated and adding to the vibrancy of the DDA and the community,” Mahler said.

HOUSING

Target Alpena remains committed to helping solve the housing shortage. It is taking the steps to create its own non-profit development company to take on this work to help move the needle on housing projects.

Target Alpena has already secured some of the funding to acquire the talent to run such an entity. Target Alpena is seeking money from the state and pursuing federal grants to gather enough capital to get this started, Mahler said.

“The intent is to build a place, sell it, build another. We are seeking pre-approved buyers to minimize the risk and have the homes sold prior to construction,” Mahler said.

“We are looking at the lower-end price point to meet the workforce housing demand,” Mahler said. “We are not looking to build large upscale homes under this entity. Homes in the $200,000 to $300,000 thousand range is what we are targeting.”

Mahler said he recently took a downstate developer to look at the City owned property north of town. This developer owns many rentals in town but has interest in doing more projects in Alpena.

The idea is for a smaller-scale project consisting of between five to 10 acres and building a few housing units to rent or sell. When those units are rented or sold, then more could be built until the acreage is fully developed.

“The developer said his investor group has a real interest in a housing development project in Alpena,” Mahler said. “This would be focused on the workforce house area price range. I shared plans for townhomes and small multi-family type builds. He and his team are looking at different design and style options.”

BAY ATHLETIC CLUB

The conversion of the former Huntington Bank branch in downtown Alpena to the administrative headquarters for Thunder Bay Community Health and the Bay Athletic Club has begun, Mahler said.

The Bay Athletic Club will be open for business for the start of the year.

“It will be great to see this large building on a marquee corner get updated and repurposed. A big win for the community and DDA,” Mahler said.

JETS JUNCTION

This is the M-32 airport road project that will feature a state of the art gas station and food stop. The project has been forced to slow down, however, because the Michigan Department of Transportation created delays that caused the developer to miss this building season, Mahler said.

Those issues have been resolved and now the developer is hoping to get some of the site work done in late fall so they can begin with the construction next spring. The developer has been working on this project for 18 months and unfortunately, costs only rise and the project costs have climbed 20% since he began down this path. Scenarios like this can easily kill a project.

“Fortunately, this developer is still planning to move forward as he believes this is a great project,” Mahler said. “Given the potential for elevated base activity in coming years, I tend to agree.”

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 or sschulwitz@TheAlpenaNews.com. Follow him on X @ss_alpenanews.com.