Construction officials at the Leonard residential and commercial development in Michigan have announced that completion of the project is set for the next five months. The six-story building at the corner of Second Street and Western Avenue, Muskegon costing US$ 9.2 million will include three floors of residential apartments, retail spaces, and office spaces. It is being constructed on one of the last remaining vacant pieces of land left after the Muskegon Mall was demolished nearly two decades ago. The project received US$ 1.5 million from the Michigan Strategic Fund through the state Revitalization project that aims to help obsolete, blighted, and historical properties.
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Construction began in November of 2020 and faced multiple hurdles due to the COVID-19 pandemic along with various financing problems. The 51,565 square-foot building was initially set to begin construction in 2018 however it was pushed forward several times. The Leonard Michigan will include two floors of offices, one floor of commercial spaces, and 18 market-rate apartments. Pre-leasing has started for the one- and two-bedroom units priced between US$1,200 and US$1,850 a month. The development has received about 200 inquiries about the apartments to date, according to the head developer. The move-in date for tenants is expected to be in January of next year.
“We’re moving right along and we have essentially got the outer structure built all the way to the roof deck. The next step is to stain the concrete, put in windows and then start building out the interior units. In order to have a vibrant downtown and a vibrant business environment, we need people actually living downtown. That’s kind of a priority for any developer who has the community in mind. The more apartments we can fill in and the more housing units we can fill in at all price points, the better,” said the owner of Sweetwater Development, Corey Leonard, who also happens to be the building’s namesake.
