City Club Apartments Groundbreaking Delayed Until End of Summer

By Kevin Collison

A groundbreaking for the $76.8 million City Club Apartment project at 20th and Main has been pushed back to the end of summer although environmental work at the site is expected to begin soon.

Work on the 283-unit apartment project had been expected to begin this month, but a spokesman said the slow pace of obtaining necessary city approvals delayed the schedule.

The redevelopment plan was approved by the City Plan Commission last week.

“Overall, there’s a lot of moving parts with the approval process,” said Mark Winter, a spokesman for City Club Apartments. “The timing has been dictated by approvals.

“Now, with them in place, environment work should begin in the next couple weeks so people will see activity and the formal groundbreaking by the end of this summer.

“We’re confident with where we are right now in the approval process and excited to get started.”

The entrance to the planned City Club Apartments will be on Main Street along the streetcar route. (Image from City Club Apartments)

The ambitious project, which was approved for tax incentives more than a year ago, calls for the renovation of the historic Midwest Hotel at 1925 Main and combining it with a new six-story building along with two levels of underground parking.

The development plan also includes building a restaurant on the site of the former Hereford House at 20th and Main. A total of 11,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space is planned, according to the marketing document.

The entire project will revitalize a city block from 19th to 20th streets, between Walnut and Main, that’s currently parking lots and vacant buildings.

The developer also agreed to set aside 10 percent of the apartments for people earning 80 percent or less of the Jackson County median income.

Several fires have been reported at the vacant Midwest Hotel in recent months and in early April, Jonathan Holtzman, the founder and CEO of Detroit-based City Club Apartments said his firm had done everything possible to secure the old building from break-ins.

At that time, Holtzman said a June groundbreaking was expected.

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