The Petoskey Pointe Project developers proposed a new deadline to city council members.
EMMET COUNTY -- For years, it has been little more than a massive hole, surrounded by a chain linked fence but there may soon be a new deadline for a multi million dollar development project.
In 2004, a project was proposed for Petoskey Pointe a sixty-million dollar Lake Street project that would include a hotel, condominiums and an under ground parking garage. A battle raged over the size and type of development, and then over Brownfield redevelopment funding for the project. Even once those concerns passed, little progress was made on the project.
During a Petoskey city council meeting Monday night, the timeline of completion was the hot topic.
The meeting provided a chance for the Petoskey Pointe Project to move forward with a proposed extension.
While developers asked the council for an extension, that request was neither accepted or rejected. Instead, the city council says it will look deeper in into the matter and make a decision at their next meeting.
"It's not a significant change in our status with the project but the developers have asked for an extension with that they are giving us a trip wire date of March 31st so they have to either start the project by March 31st or then the city has the opportunity to come back and review their contracts with the developer at that time," says Mayor of Petoskey Dale Meyer.
Mayor Meyer says certain delays with the project have caused the original deadline in November to be pushed back.
"There's been delays in the project because of finances and that type of stuff and certainly at the time that the project was developed and put forth to the city, that was the date they thought it could be completed," says Mayor Meyer.
But now that the Petoskey city council didn't accept an extension for the project they'll continue to look further into the possible deadlines. As for now, the project will remain much the same.
"Construction wise they've basically dug the foundations, the buildings have all been demolished, the hole's there and we'd like to see something happen within the next couple of months," says Mayor Meyer.
And when a completion date is decided upon, the mayor says the Petoskey Project will be an asset to the downtown area.
"There's no other project like this in the state of Michigan currently and it would be a real benefit from a standpoint of the economic development of our downtown community," says Mayor Meyer.
If the deadline isn't pushed back, and the developers fail to meet it, the city could then reevaluate the entire project and the contracts that have been signed.
Petoskey Mayor Meyer says the city council will make a possible consideration for the project deadline at their January 21st meeting.
