Thursday night, Escanaba’s City Council approved zoning changes for project
By Beth Jones
Friday, November 06, 2009 at 9:39 a.m.
Read more: Local, Business, Condo Project, Willow Creek Road, OSF Saint Francis Hospital, Escanaba City Council
ESCANABA -- There will be some big changes coming soon to over 20 acres on Willow Creek Road behind OSF Saint Francis hospital in Escanaba.
A new 13 million dollar condo project can now begin. In a unanimous vote Thursday night, the city council approved zoning changes to allow for this project to continue.
In a few months the land will transform into multiple condo units. The project will take up about 22 acres of the land behind OSF.
The developers presented their final ideas to the city council Thursday night...calling for over 52 units to be built over the next 5 to 6 years.
Despite the state of the national housing market, officials feel this type of project is in demand...especially in the U.P.
"I think it's really the pent-up demand that's here in Escanaba for this type of housing," explained Project Architect, Barry Polzin. "We're seeing it elsewhere in the U.P, in Marquette; the condos are selling quite well. So even though the nation-wide real-estate economy is a little depressed, that's not the case in small isolated places like this."
But not everyone agrees. Officials say they received a petition against the project from 15 of the 40 some residents that live near the property.
Some who oppose the project are worried that once these condos are built, they'll just sit empty.
"I don't think the master plan had any real data to back up the need for condos or the number of condos. They'll never sell, there's a limited market," said concerned resident, Ronald Beauchamp.
But both city officials and the developers feel this type of housing is what Escanaba needs to build and grow.
"Escanaba has a lot of potential, but we've got to do something to accommodate that potential and this is another step that the city of Escanaba has helped bring along," explained City Council Member, Brady Nelson.
Developers say construction on the multi-million dollar project will begin this spring...starting with the first four unit building.
