News Photo by Steve Schulwitz The new WellNow Urgent Care on M-32 in Alpena Township opened on Wednesday and the attached Starbucks is expected to open later this month. They are two of several local ongoing development projects.

ALPENA — They may not be visible to the naked eye, but several local development projects continue to move forward, officials say.

One of the latest projects, a WellNow Urgent Care opened its doors in Alpena Township on Wednesday, and the neighboring Starbucks is slated to open by the end of the month.

Alpena Area Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Director Mike Mahler said those two projects may be at the tail end of their construction, but there are other projects that continue to progress behind the scenes.

Those projects include a Marshalls and a proposed Fairfield Inn and Suites by Marriott that could be built in downtown Alpena.

MARSHALLS

The new 22,365 square-foot store will be owned by Alpena Retail North LLC and built on the property between Alpena Alcona Area Credit Union and the Meijer entrance on Bagley Street. Some of the materials have been delivered to the site and construction should begin very soon.

Marshalls — which is owned by TJX Companies and has more than 1,000 locations in the United States — should open in Alpena in 2023.

FAIRFIELD INN AND SUITES by MARRIOTT

The proposed five or six story hotel, if built, would have about 70 rooms and include all of the amenities guests expect, Mahler said.

The Alpena Municipal Council voted to approve a Brownfield plan to help cover the cost of the pollution that must be addressed before any construction can begin.

The property is owned by Target Alpena, which has a purchase agreement with hotel developer Pranvay, Inc, which could build the hotel on the shore of the Thunder Bay River.

Mahler said the engineering plans for the hotel are still being drafted and once they are completed, an accurate cost for the project can be projected.

Mahler said once the developer knows how much it will cost, then the project can begin to move forward more quickly.

“They have put a lot of time and money into this, so that tells us they are serious,” he said. “They just have to continue to put all the puzzle pieces together.”

ALDI

Constructing an Aldi where Alpena Public Schools’ bus garage is has been a consideration for several years.

The same developer constructing the Marshalls has expressed interest in building the grocery store on the M-32 property, in exchange for a new bus garage built by the developer near Park Family Field at Wildcat Stadium at Alpena High School.

The property where the current bus garage is has significant environmental issues however, and the developer has asked the school district to help cover the cost of clean-up. The school district has been reluctant to do so.

Mahler said, as far as he knows, the school district and the developer haven’t spoken about the project in a while and he is beginning to think the store or a new bus garage won’t be constructed.

“I suspect that project might not make sense for the developer anymore, but I don’t know that for sure,” Mahler said. “I’m not sure we’ll ever see an Aldi built there.”

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ss_alpenanews.com.