‘There’s still opportunities’: Wrigley Center prepares for loft, retail tenants

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated to reflect a change in real estate broker Korissa Kramer's last name.

Loft projects in downtown Port Huron have gotten a reputation for yielding a long waiting list of interested tenants.

But just weeks away from welcoming the first residents in the upper stories of the Wrigley Center, developer Larry Jones said he wants people to know there’s still plenty of space available — for both lofts and retail — on the site where crews have transformed the former Art Van building into an emerging mixed-use epicenter over the last two years.

“There’s that perspective out there, I’m afraid, that it’s all leased up, and it’s not,” he said during a tour of the property Tuesday.

Moving forward, Jones said people may start to move in early in November with a staggered period for all 36 units through the winter into 2023.

And Korissa Kramer, a broker with Kramer Commercial Realty who’s promoting spaces at Wrigley, said instead of a waiting list, they’re keeping one of inquiries and preparing for an open house set for 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 9.

“We don’t want to use wait lists because we have available units,” she said.

So far, Kramer said they’ve had 50-plus inquiries with roughly 20 loft units still available. All of the units are around 1,400 square feet with two bedrooms and bathrooms, ranging in rent from $1,425 to $2,150 a month. The still-available units range up to $1,950.

The lofts also include modern LED light fixtures, extra closet space, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances with washer-dryer hookups, patios, and fireplaces — the sort of unit, Jones said, “really caters to the young professionals and also the retirees.”

There’ll also be a pet washing station and outdoor dog run with a second-level view for residents.

Some lofts are slated to be for low- to moderate-income residents — set aside, Jones said, for incomes of $50,000 or less — though Kramer said that depends on what interested tenants qualify for. Also citing the need for a list of inquiries, she encouraged people first call to find out.

For the commercial space on the ground level, Kramer said they have four to six areas available for retailers between 1,000 and 3,000 square feet. She added, “There’s still opportunities.”

As plans for the incremental opening of the Wrigley Center shift into place next year, its construction also inches closer to completion. The exterior facade is now visible across downtown, construction of a two-level parking deck with 62 spaces for residents starts Monday, and final touches are starting to show on the ground level commercial and entertainment area.

Under original timelines, Jones said they would have been moving people in since July.

However, stymied by COVID, high material costs, and workforce challenges, he said he hoped getting the word out could help give people time to consider loft-dwelling.

“There are some people that are looking for homes that have entered into other leases. They found their places to stay. Now, maybe when their year lease is up six months from now, they’re going to want to come back downtown,” he said. “Because everybody knows that downtown is the fun place to be, the exciting place to be, to walk around the community.”

Those interested in retail or loft space can reach Kramer at (810) 531-4090.

Operator lined up for entertainment, venue space

Outside of construction, the Wrigley Center has also made progress with ground-level tenants.

Among the biggest shifts came this year with Wrigley Center Entertainment owner Dan Dooley leasing 28,000 square feet near the northwest part of the property for Wrigley Hall — a space configured to support events, festivals, live entertainment, and individual entrepreneurs.

It includes two main floor bars, a rooftop bar, up to four event spaces, and a food concept area — currently outlined for future stalls on the floor of the redevelopment site nearby a commissary kitchen.

“We have people that are leasing these spaces, and then, we support them with the chef in the culinary kitchen, with the IT infrastructure, all the management overhead," Dooley said, "and really help them sort of bring their unique business to market in our area and really support the culinary community.”

A local native, Dooley said he and his wife Kim — himself with a background in product development and business management — were looking for ways to be involved in the community when he met Jones.

The developer said their goals felt similar, and they made plans.

Now, Dooley said he’s aiming for an opening in the earlier half of 2023, though no date had been set as construction wraps up.

Once that comes, he said, “We’re going to have 200-plus organized events on an annualized basis” to drive “150,000-plus people through the building.”

“And then, you have people that are coming in the building for those other shops,” Dooley said. “So, you can quickly get 250,000 (in) foot traffic from tourism ad some of the partnerships that we’re establishing.”

DDA may shift gears in leased space

Leases for some things like a salon, Kramer said, are already in place.

Where there are openings for other commercial tenants, Jones said he still had some specific uses in mind, continuing a search for operators for a candy store or soap store. Additionally, he said they’ve advertised the space slated to be a rock-climbing wall, “so people can come climb Mount Wrigley,” as an ideal spot for a gear, souvenir, or made-in-Michigan store.

But changes may also be afoot for the Wrigley’s first-established tenant: Port Huron’s Downtown Development Authority.

The 10-year, $35,000-a-year lease for roughly 5,400 square feet was OK’d in December 2020 — two years after the city resurrected talks of redeveloping the Art Van site, 318 Grand River Ave., while it was still owned by St. Clair County.

In 2018, officials’ idea was for a downtown marketplace and venue space.

Then, after PH Country Style Market Place owners Steven Fernandez and Michele Jones took ownership of the 306 Huron Ave. property that’d become their future downtown grocery store that spring, the city’s conversation began to evolve.

At the time, City Manager James Freed said they wanted to consider concepts for 318 Grand River that wouldn’t compete with the grocer.

This week, he said the original idea still “doesn’t make sense when we have a $4 million grocery store next door selling produce.”

Jones purchased the Art Van building in late 2020, and when the DDA signed off on its lease, aiming to help jumpstart that development, the discussion formed around an open-air, four-season farmers’ or makers’ market.

Now, it’s shifting to another use once again.

Freed told DDA members via email this month that the goal would be to split the space and jumpstart economic activity — half going to an artisan market and the other to become a tasting room.

Days later, at its Sept. 12 meeting, City Council agreed to recommend a new on-premises tasting room permit for Renaissance Man Co. to the Michigan Liquor Control Commission. According to the city, the company also applied for its distiller license. The space cited is 200 Michigan St. adjacent to the original Art Van address.

Freed and Kramer, who also sits on the DDA, said the concept hasn't come up formally for discussion at an authority meeting, though Freed told members subleasing would come up once permitting was approved.

“We put it out to the developer to say, ‘Hey, we’re looking at some other alternatives. If somebody wants to lease this facility from us and we can exit, let us know,’” Freed said. “And it appears that’s what’s going to happen.”

Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: ‘There’s still opportunities’: Wrigley Center prepares for tenants