Transforming Manistee The Spirit of the Woods Gateway project promises to ring in a new era for downtown Manistee.
By Patrick Sullivan The entrance to downtown Manistee, as it stands today, is drab. On each side of River Street for the first block, buildings are crumbling and vacant or else look like they should be. Trash blows into empty, unkempt lots, and a House of Flavors restaurant, vacant since the business shuttered last year, stands as a fading symbol of an era gone by. Now, a group of Manistee business leaders wants to revamp the entrance to Manistee’s Victorian-era downtown, a business district whose ornate architecture hints of a heyday that happened over a century ago. In September, the project — dubbed the Spirit of the Woods Manistee Gateway — was unveiled before the city council. The project is expected to feature a 97,000-square foot, 100-plus room hotel, along with a rooftop bar, underground parking, and outdoor public plaza; an event center that could hold up to 300 people; office space and a welcome center; and a business incubator area where fledgling entrepreneurs could rent small booths and attempt retail ventures that, if successful, could move to permanent quarters elsewhere downtown. The new development would encompass all the parcels on the south side of River
Street from US-31 to Division Street and many of the parcels on the north side. Stacie Bytwork, president of the Manistee Area Chamber of Commerce, said the project is in preliminary stages and is subject to change. The project is currently under review by the city brownfield authority and
Manistee, toured the town, learned about opportunities, and basically listened to a sales pitch for Manistee. “One of those developers took a keen interest in our town and the assets we had, and he saw the potential for redevelopment,” Miller said.
“One of those developers took a keen interest in our town and the assets we had, and he saw the potential for redevelopment.” is expected next to go before the planning commission for approval of the overall plan. Mark Miller, the chamber’s economic development director, said he is “98 percent” certain that the project will happen, and it could see ground broken in 2021. THE PITCH The genesis of the project goes back to June 2018, even before Miller took the economic development job, when Bytwork organized a “developer day” for Manistee. Dozens of developers visited
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Once that developer got on board, Miller said, Little River Holdings, the economic development arm of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, joined the project, and the group settled on a development that would revamp the entrance to the city’s downtown. Miller said Little River got involved because they’ve been dedicated to reinvesting in Manistee; they share the vision, he said, that something like this could be the catalyst to spur a transformation of River Street, which in recent years has seen small sections come to life, but the progress has been slow.
Bytwork said she’s been with the chamber for seven years, but that in the last three, the organization has shifted its focus to economic development, and the effort is paying off — not just with the Gateway projects, but with other developments springing up downtown. Down River Street, at the other end of the downtown district, toward Lake Michigan, West Shore Community College has launched a $5 million renovation of an old Glik’s department store building, turning it into an economic development and education facility. The new building will house the college, the Manistee Area Chamber of Commerce, and Networks Northwest. “Three years back, we kind of assembled our board of directors to really take the lead on economic development,” she said. “It’s kind of pushed us in that direction. I think we’ve always had the kind of assets and the infrastructure to have investment and development come into the community. We’ve just kind of taken that next step in the selling of our community.” Bytwork expects that once completed, the Gateway development will entice travelers along US-31 to turn into downtown Manistee, to park, and to explore. “There are currently empty and blighted buildings that will be demolished and
