One of downtown Mt. Clemens' marquee structures is on the verge of getting a new lease on life through a local developer.
John Frabotta, owner of Johnny G's bar and restaurant in downtown Mt. Clemens, plans to turn the old Macomb Daily building into a mixed-use building with office space for sale and retail to lease.
"I think it will do wonders for the town," Frabotta says. "It's a class A building that brings a lot to the city."
The historic structure opened in 1930 as the Price Building, named after the Price family which owned the Daily Leader newspaper at the time, and housed operations for what eventually became the Macomb Daily. The newspaper moved in 1994, leaving the seven-story structure largely vacant.
Frabotta plans to renovate the structure's 66,000 square feet into 32,000 square feet of retail space and 34,000 square feet of Class A office space. To get that much office space he plans to add 1,000 square feet to each of the floors on levels three through seven.
"It's quite old and there are quite a lot of upgrades that need to be added," says Michael Malone, principal architect of Mt. Clemens-based Partners in Architecture, which is handling the design of the development. "The structure is extremely sound but the building's skin will have to be completely replaced."
Frabotta says he has a number of parties interested in either leasing retail space or buying office space, including a copy center, coffee shop, restaurant, jeweler, insurance company and a couple of law firms. He hopes to begin construction as soon as January and open the building sometime between the spring and summer of 2009.
"It's a very exciting project for the city," Frabotta says. "It will contribute a lot to the revitalization of downtown."
Source: John Frabotta, developer and Michael Malone, architect and the Macomb County Library
Writer: Jon Zemke
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