KRISTIN VERHAGE | CADILLAC NEWS
Al Meshkin and Patty Meyer want to convert the Cobbs and Mitchell Building, 100 E. Chapin St., into a restaurant and possibly a banquet hall, as well as offices.
KRISTIN VERHAGE | CADILLAC NEWS
The Cobbs and Mitchell Building was completed in 1907 and housed many lumbering interests until 1939. In 1939, the Michigan State Highway Department, now the Michigan Department of Transportation, moved into the building and occupied it until May 2008.
KRISTIN VERHAGE | CADILLAC NEWS
Patty Meyer's company is in charge of restoring the building. She plans on keeping as many of the building's original features as possible.
KRISTIN VERHAGE | CADILLAC NEWS
Patty Meyer and Al Meshkin want to convert the Cobbs and Mitchell Building, 100 E. Chapin St., into a restaurant and possibly a banquet hall, as well as offices.
KRISTIN VERHAGE | CADILLAC NEWS
The attic would be converted into a banquet hall or would serve as an extension of the restaurant envisioned for the first level.
KRISTIN VERHAGE | CADILLAC NEWS
A cabinet in one of the offices features the initials and Cobbs and Mitchell and the Mitchell Brothers.
Cobbs and Mitchell heads for the 21st century
By Rick Charmoli
BY KRIS VERHAGE
CADILLAC NEWS
CADILLAC - Al Meshkin and Patty Meyer envision the Cobbs and Mitchell Building becoming not only a place to work but a place to relax.
With a purchase agreement with the city of Cadillac in place, they’re ready to start marketing the 102-year-old building to restaurateurs and to professionals such as accountants, attorneys and doctors in need of office space.
Meshkin and Meyer want to redevelop the building to feature a restaurant with outdoor cafe seating and a bar on the ground floor, offices on the main floor and a banquet hall or extension of the restaurant on the second/attic floor.
The Cadillac City Council on Sept. 28 voted to adopt an ordinance allowing the city to sell the building at 100 E. Chapin St. for $1 to Al Meshkin of Creative Community Consultants of Macatawa.
They can’t take possession until after the first of the year as the sale is contingent upon numerous tasks that have yet to be completed, including environmental assessments, the purchase of the building from the state for $1, approval of numerous brownfield incentive programs, the transfer of the $100,000 Cool Cities grant awarded to this project and negotiation of an acceptable development agreement.
The city has been a conduit in assembling the deal. The state is prevented by law from selling the property to the developer for $1.
The building was completed in 1907 and housed many lumbering interests until 1939.
In 1939, the Michigan State Highway Department, now the Michigan Department of Transportation, moved into the building and occupied it until May 2008.
Meshkin and Meyer say their specialty is "state-of-the-art technology in a historic building." They plan on keeping as much of the 6,000-square-foot building’s features as possible, especially the fireplaces and andirons on the main floor and the rich wood of the office walls that was the pride of the lumbermen who occupied those offices.
"If it’s original, it stays if it’s possible," said Meyer, whose company, Pat Meyer Restoration will manage the restoration project.
The building is considered "functionally obsolete," largely because it doesn’t comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. As a result, they will install an elevator.
Also, they plan to replace the electrical, plumbing and heating and ventilation systems. A vault on the ground floor could be converted into a wine cellar for the restaurant. Vaults on the main floor will be replaced with a stairway, an emergency exit and possibly a dumbwaiter system for the restaurant. They’ll also install new Internet and phone systems.
The unfinished attic, unused except for a long table on which MDOT workers had reviewed blueprints and plans, will undergo extensive remodeling. The wood floor will be removed, restored and placed again once the electrical system below it is replaced. Skylights now covered by insulation will be replaced to let in more natural light, Meyer said.
Chimneys again will be extended to the roof that will replaced with slate, which originally was used when it was first constructed.
Restoration costs are estimated between $1 million and $3 million, said Meshkin, whose company, Michilake Corp. of Macatawa, will oversee the business end of the project.
Meshkin said they’ll use local contractors whenever possible. The two will be working with the State Historic Preservation Office to ensure it meets the standards required for the two to receive state historic tax credits.
They became interested in the building after the State Historic Preservation Office had forwarded to Meyer Cadillac’s request for proposal for the building. The two a few years ago had converted a 1917 schoolhouse to a child-care center in Hudsonville, near Grand Rapids.
The next step toward redevelopment is set for today, when the Cadillac City Council will be asked to approve a brownfield plan for the property, said interim City Manager Precia Garland. The plan has been approved by the Cadillac Brownfield Redevelopment Authority.
The plan is a document required by brownfield authorities in order for brownfield properties - those built on contaminated properties or, in this case, "functionally obsolete" buildings - to qualify for local and state economic incentives for redevelopment, she said. Such incentives include local Tax Increment Financing money and state tax credits, Garland added.
Meyer and Meshkin plan to spend the winter firming up construction plans. The only work that will be done before spring is to fix a gap where two roof slopes meet that’s resulted in water leaking into the attic and one of the main floor offices, Meyer said.
kverhage@cadillacnews.com | 775-NEWS (6397)
Vote on agenda
• What: Cadillac City Council vote on Cobbs and Mitchell Building brownfield plan
• When: Meeting starts at 7 p.m. today
• Where: Council chambers in Municipal Complex, 200 N. Lake St.
