The future of the Mellus Building and two adjoining properties in downtown Lincoln Park is still up in the air after the city's Downtown Development Authority turned down an offer from a developer to renovate them and bring jobs to the Downriver suburb.
"Unless he comes up with a new offer quickly, it doesn't look good for the Mellus and Pollak buildings," says Leslie Lynch-Wilson, president of the Lincoln Park Preservation Alliance.
An owner of a Detroit-based home care business has submitted an offer for the Mellus building and the adjacent Pollak and Dorsey buildings on Fort Street. All three buildings are vacant and in disrepair. The developer has stepped forward with an architect and a plan to transform the three buildings into office space for 20-30 employees.
He offered to pay $10,000 for each building, claiming he would have to invest more than $80,000 to make them suitable as office space for his business. The DDA paid $175,000 for the Dorsey building at the height of the real-estate bubble in 2005 and another $100,000 for the Mellus and Pollak buildings. It plans to spend another $30,000 to demolish the Mellus and Pollak buildings.
The DDA turned down the offer because it was too low. Some DDA board members said they would rather see retail businesses on the long-vacant block and questioned why the developer would want to move into Lincoln Park in the first place.
"Our DDA has been very unfriendly toward them," Lynch-Wilson says.
The Mellus was built in the 1940s and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is an intrinsic part of the downriver suburb's history, having served as the home of Lincoln Park's local newspaper for decades. Local preservationists think saving the Mellus and the adjacent Pollak (named after Pollak Jewelers) building are important steps toward preserving downtown Lincoln Park's heritage.
The building on Fort Street still has its original porcelain-enameled Moderne commercial exterior, while the Pollak retains its terrazzo entrance sidewalk.
Source: Leslie Lynch-Wilson, president of the Lincoln Park Preservation Alliance
Writer: Jon Zemke
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