There was a lot of excitement at the crossroads of the Benton Harbor central business district this evening, but the most effervescent personality on the scene was Benton Harbor City Commissioner Mary Alice Adams who ceremonially cut the ribbon on the amazing restoration of what is now known as the City Center Lofts Building.
Commissioner Adams joined Chief Executive Officer Chris Fielding from Cressy Commercial Real Estate and Cornerstone Alliance President & CEO Rob Cleveland at the corner of Main Street and Pipestone where, as Adams put it, “I just saw a part of our jewel polished, and I mean it looks just every bit of a diamond in the rough like the after-effects of finding something in quicksand and taking it out and polishing it and just watching it shine!”
For Fielding and his team at Cressy Commercial Real Estate, it was truly memorable as he says, “It is an exciting day! We now have 16 market rate units priced well, and we have two commercial spaces that should bring businesses here. We’ve had good interest in the commercial spaces and the residential units, in fact, we have nine leased already and we’re not even done (with the build out) yet. So, this is the pivotal moment on the corner of Main and Pipestone to see a building not torn down but have it be remodeled and brought back to even better than its former glory.”
I asked Cornerstone’s Rob Cleveland to talk about the amazing collaboration that went into making it all possible, and he responded by saying, “Commissioner Adams touched on it, it all started with the Benton Harbor Brownfield Redevelopment Authority and they provided us with some funding to remediate some of the brownfield, and the demolition costs. That was the first step we had to get, the City of Benton Harbor’s approval. We were able to get that. We had to get the State of Michigan’s approval, and we were able to get that, and when you put all those together it provided enough resources and tools for Cressy Commercial Real Estate to do the project.” He adds, “That building needed a million-and-a-half dollars of rehab cost and that’s tough to recoup in any market. Nevertheless, here we are today, almost three years to the day from the last time we talked to Cressy, and they committed to doing it, and here we are celebrating.”
The reward was certainly not without risk, either. Fielding says, “Unsure of what was behind the multi layers of the façade, I remember the day that they sent me a picture after they had taken the first two exterior panels off, and when we saw the brick facade and the brick elements behind it, we were so excited.” He goes on to admit, “It didn’t get better from there, but there was hope for the building. The brick was in good shape. They had painted it, which we just repainted and tuck-pointed it, but it was very exciting. It definitely had surprises for us on the inside. You’ll notice that every single steel beam in here from the basement to the roof is brand new, and this is the first time in probably 15 years that the roof is dry. So, it gave us a run for our money, but we survived. We’re not done yet, and still face all of the challenges in the labor market, and supply chain issues, but at the end of the day, it’s coming together and we’ll be done in the next couple weeks.”
Cleveland also was a bit concerned about what the peeled-back layers might reveal, but adds, “We knew from being on the inside, we could see behind the metal cladding, and we knew the brick was there and intact, and while we also knew that it was going to take some renovation and rehab, it cost more than we thought it was going to as often as the case, but it looks incredible. The end result is great.” Looking at the building with obvious admiration, Cleveland says, “We’ve got the original facade and it’s been restored, and so when you when you package that with the new storefront, which has just been put on in the last week and we’re going to continue to see more. I believe the new siding is coming this week. So, by the next week, we’ll start to see some of that go on. It’s just an incredible ending to a very difficult project.”
Cleveland says they certainly didn’t go in blind, recognizing, “Very rarely do you get a project that’s really easy. Very rarely do you get a project that is a green-field where you’re just putting up a new building. That just doesn’t happen very often so that’s why we have to utilize these tools. It’s why we have to get partnerships from the city and the county and the Brownfield Authorities because it takes all these layers of tools to put together an actual deal.”
Interestingly, no two apartments in the building are alike, to which Fielding says, “Absolutely. We didn’t want a cookie-cutter project. We wanted to harken back to the historical nature of the building and make sure that we capitalized on the windows and put windows where they needed to be, not design around what was the cheapest way to do it. So, it’s created some really unique floor plans. We added lofts to every single unit to increase the square footage, and give people better livability, so, we think it’ll be a product that goes well on the market.”
Much of the ground floor in the project is being reserved for commercial or retail space, and Fielding says, “We do we have a potential prospect for the smaller of the spaces, the 1,100 square foot space right off the corner, and while we’ve had a few people reach out about the larger space which runs about 2,400 square feet, we haven’t had anybody give us a proposal yet, but we believe that once the building is done and there’s activity on this corner, people will jump. We have faith. We know they’ll come, and if that’s the case, then we will look to capitalize on the momentum and continue to look at Benton Harbor and what partnerships we can create to further invest in.”
Regarding that ground level commercial space, I asked Cornerstone’s Cleveland if there is something that he would like especially to see targeted for that space, to which he replied, “Yes definitely. Commercial space was difficult before the pandemic, it’s certainly going to be more difficult after the pandemic, but we’re working with some potential users, Cressy obviously has tenants in other areas, and we would love to see a lender whether that be a bank or a credit union that can service the Benton Harbor community.” He further explains, “Probably not a full-service bank, but at least a place that has a customer service person, maybe an ATM, somebody that they can interact with to complement what Huntington TCF is doing on Main Street. So, another lender would be ideal to be down here. I would also love to see maybe some sort of a food establishment. When you partner with what Commissioner Adams was talking about with more housing, the city has announced they’re going to do another project right over here on the block, catty-corner to us. So, when you start adding the volume of apartments, I think that supports another grocery store or a small bodega or deli or that kind of thing. We’d love to see something like that.”
Fielding has made it clear that he wanted people from the community to be builders on the project and residents of the building, and was asked about how he went about building those relationships, to which he says, “Well, ironically, I spent 12 years up here doing workforce development. Originally ran the Youth Build program and the Bridge Academy here, so, I have relationships with many of the younger folks in the community already, and reached out to partners in the area with the Mayor’s office, Cornerstone Alliance and wound up getting three or four workers on the project who have stuck with us. So, they’ve earned a permanent position with our firm.” He adds, “It’s awesome. I hope it’s the start. I hope it’s the catalyst that people start looking to say, ‘I can do more than one unit. I can do more than two units, I can put multi-million dollar investments in downtown and people will support it.’ The people need to start seeing the positive things that can happen and watch what happens after that.”
Commissioner Adams calls the whole project “wonderful and amazing,” and adds, “I think that everything that I’ve seen and heard from Brownfield conventions is that young people are moving back into their inner cities, after their parents moved away years ago. All across the country they are moving back into their downtown areas, and what I just saw with my own eyes is exactly what these young people want and desire.” She then admitted, “Now, I may not be as young as the ones that I’m talking about, but I would move in one of those apartments in a minute. I’m serious. It’s clean, and the price is not bad, in fact, it’s very feasible and you’re right in the heart of downtown. Now we need to get the State Theater up and running for some entertainment.”
Asked about how the project could be a catalyst, I asked Adams what she’d like to see going forward to which she didn’t hesitate to say, “More! More, and not only with the downtown activity going on, I think that we need to seek some funding and partnerships to start in the inner city as well, and actually I found someone way over in Ghana with some beautiful developments and actually the one that I met lives in Canada and she’s going to make a presentation at our next Planning & Economic Development Committee meeting.”
Clearly, the City Center Lofts has great potential for continuing the rebound of downtown Benton Harbor. Stay tuned.
