City may have a buyer - again - for historic Hayes Hotel building
May 13, 2022
City may have a buyer - again - for historic Hayes Hotel building
Updated: Apr. 04, 2022, 4:46 p.m. | Published: Apr. 04, 2022, 11:05 a.m.
By Chloe Miller | cmiller@mlive.com
JACKSON, MI – A proposal to sell the historic Hayes Hotel building downtown is expected to go before the Jackson City Council this week.
J. Jeffers & Co., a real estate development and investment firm from Wisconsin, is proposing to by the former hotel at 228 W. Michigan Ave. for $25,000. Council members are expected to vote on the plan at its Tuesday, April 5 meeting.
Past deals with potential buyers and developers have fallen through, but the city and the Jackson Anchor initiative are hoping this one will help return the historic building to its former glory. The city of Jackson bought the hotel property and its surrounding parking lots from Consumers Energy for $1.5 million in 2000. It also purchased the now-demolished Consumers Energy headquarters building and its parking lots for $300,000 in 2004, making the city’s total purchase price of the properties $1.8 million.
Originally opening in 1926, the hotel is a 10-story, 113,366 square-foot building. The proposed project would provide a mixed-use development including housing, retail, restaurant and corporate offices, city officials said, adding that redevelopment would offer a significant value to the downtown corridor. The historical integrity of the building’s façade is intact, and many original features are still present on the interior, which can be restored and finished, city officials said. It has been estimated it would cost a developer approximately $25 to $30 million to renovate the entire building, City Spokesman Aaron Dimick previously said.
J. Jeffers & Co. was established in 2012, and has developed commercial spaces, apartments and historic preservation projects, according to its website. The firm was chosen by the city and the Anchor Initiative through a comprehensive request for proposal process that took place last summer, city officials said.
The council will vote on the proposed sale at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 5 in the second-floor City Council Chambers at Jackson City Hall, 161 W. Michigan Ave.
