PORT HURON, MI — The Port Huron City Council unanimously approved a Brownfield Plan on Monday, May 11 tied to the proposed redevelopment of the historic Fead Building at 1635 Poplar St., a project expected to bring new loft apartments and commercial space to the city’s north side.
According to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), brownfield plans are economic development tools used to help redevelop contaminated, blighted or functionally obsolete properties.
The plan supports a proposed $6.8 million redevelopment of the former industrial property at the southwest corner of Poplar Street and Whipple Street into a mixed-use building featuring 26 residential units, a first-floor commercial storefront, a mailroom, a tenant dog park and 43 parking spaces.
Under the agreement, developers could be reimbursed up to about $1.4 million in eligible redevelopment costs through future tax increment revenue generated by the property.
The century-old building, originally constructed in 1907, previously housed the Fead & Sons Woolen Knitting Mill and later Plastic Plaque Products, along with a variety of other commercial tenants over the decades.
Bruce Seymore, chair of the Port Huron Brownfield Redevelopment Authority, told council members the authority unanimously supported forwarding the proposal to the city after reviewing it during an April 16 meeting.
“We like this plan,” Seymore said. “We like that it’s a redevelopment of an obsolete building.”
Seymore said the authority also supported using brownfield incentives as an economic development tool to help make the project financially possible.
Resident Brian Farquhar spoke in support of the project during the public hearing, calling it the type of redevelopment residents have been asking city leaders to support.
“This is exactly what we’ve been asking for,” Farquhar said.
Farquhar said Port Huron lacks large undeveloped areas for major commercial growth and argued redeveloping aging, underused buildings into housing is necessary for the city’s future.
“If we want to survive and thrive and continue to grow, we’re going to have to take these smaller defunct buildings that haven’t been doing much and put some housing units in it and actually make them beneficial,” he said.
The project is being developed by KC Management, LLC partners Kyle Schieweck and Craig Baxter.
Schieweck told the Times Herald the brownfield approval was one of the final steps needed to secure additional funding support for the project through the MEDC.
“We just have revised our plans over the years and finally solidified what we’re gonna do with it,” Schieweck said.
Schieweck said developers hope to begin work later this summer, with the project potentially completed within about 18 months. He described the redevelopment as a historic tax credit project and “quite the renovation.”
The project represents an evolution of plans first publicly discussed in 2022, when developers initially proposed a smaller mixed-use concept with 10 loft apartments and multiple commercial spaces.
At the time, Schieweck described the building as an important redevelopment opportunity for the area surrounding downtown Port Huron.
“It sits in the northern (area around) the Central Business District, which I think is in massive need of investment,” Schieweck said in 2022.
Current project documents state six of the planned residential units would be income-restricted for households earning at or below 120% of area median income for at least 19 years.
Before the vote, Mayor Anita Ashford voiced support for the proposal.
“This is the right thing to do for the city,” Ashford said.
Council approved the Brownfield Plan and reimbursement agreement unanimously.
The Port Huron City Council holds regular meetings at 6 p.m. on the second and fourth Monday of each month.
Meetings are held in the Municipal Office Center, 100 McMorran Blvd., Port Huron and are live streamed on the city’s YouTube channel.
Contact reporter Andy Jeffrey at ajeffrey@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Port Huron approves Brownfield Plan for $6.8M Fead Building redevelopment
Reporting by Andy Jeffrey, Port Huron Times Herald / Port Huron Times Herald
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