10/10/2006

Developer back with another proposal

BY VANESSA MCCRAY

vmccray@record-eagle.com

TRAVERSE CITY — A West Front Street developer proposes a public lease of parking spots to allow use of up to $5.49 million in state incentives for the project.

Michael Uzelac of Federated Properties will make a presentation to the Grand Traverse County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority at its 8:30 a.m. meeting Wednesday at the Governmental Center.

Federated Properties and the city had proposed to issue up to $16 million in city bonds to pay for public parking in a 100-foot-tall, mixed-use project on West Front, but city voters overwhelmingly rejected that plan in August.

Now the developer is back with a new plan, though details remain sketchy.

The brownfield authority has $5.49 million in Michigan Economic Growth Authority funds to pay for public parking at the Federated site. Brownfield director Jean Derenzy said Federated's new plan is to build a private parking structure and lease it to a public body, likely either the city or county.

The public body would use MEGA funds to make lease payments to the developer and eventually take over ownership of the parking, Derenzy said.

Uzelac declined to comment on the plan.

The initial proposal called for as many as 568 parking spaces in a public deck. The deck was estimated to cost $12.3 to $12.9 million.

Derenzy said the building's height would stay the same, "but the public parking spaces would definitely be decreased," she said.

There are no current plans to use city funds for the project, including city tax increment financing, city manager Richard Lewis said.

Several unknowns about the plan remain, including the number of parking spots to be built and publicly leased, how long the lease would last and how much the developer would be reimbursed.

Deni Scrudato, the lone city commissioner to oppose the original project, said she's still worried about the building's size and mass.

"I would hope that if he does go forward with something that it is down-scaled significantly," she said.

The developer should also consider waiting for the results of a downtown market study, to be completed in January, to see if the plan is viable, she said.

Lewis said the city would consider leasing parking spots. He said the need for parking on the city's west side remains and will increase with more development.

Derenzy recommended the brownfield board refer the proposal back to her for review.

See related stories:

• Developer expected to make new pitch - October 5, 2006
• City gets $161,804 bill for deck plans - September 23, 2006
• Voters rankled by poll on deck - September 2, 2006
• More than 70 percent say no to bond issue - August 9, 2006
• Voters get their say on parking deck - August 8, 2006
• West Front Street parking deck project timeline - August 6, 2006