Renovations bring more housing to Sault Ste. Marie, Manistique

What's happening: Two large buildings in the Upper Peninsula will see new life as residential housing thanks to investments from InvestUP and the Build U.P. program. The projects will renovate the former Chippewa County Courthouse Annex into an 11-bedroom apartment building for middle income renters and turn the former MBank headquarters into Manistique into a mixed-used building. The Manistique project will leave the ground floor as available office space, while creating multibedroom apartments above. 

Funding: While both projects work through InvestUP, the funding for the projects will be somewhat different. The Annex project will get a boost from the Community Housing Network (CHN), a Michigan nonprofit tackling housing issues across the state. Build U.P. will also provide a collateral deposit to help acquire additional loans and funding sources. Once the loan is paid, the collateral comes back to Build U.P. to help with other projects across the region. The MBank reimagining will be funded through the help of Peoples State Bank. The Munising bank is the primary financing group with help from InvestUP and Build U.P.

What they're saying: “Build U.P. was a critical piece of the puzzle in making this project happen,” said C.J. Felton, director of Real Estate Development at Community Housing Network. “We are fortunate to have a permanent loan from Central Savings Bank, but it didn’t completely cover our appraisal gap. The collateral from Build U.P. helped us close that gap and move forward.”

What's next: With designs and permits mostly in place, focus shifts to the renovations of the buildings. Both projects are expected to be completed in the fall, with applications for residency being accepted later this year. As the projects pay back loans, Build U.P. will be able to reinvest the collateral to similar projects across the Upper Peninsula.