Why Downtown St. Joseph's Most-Promised Corner Is Still a Parking Lot

The sign at the corner of Lake Boulevard and Broad Street is shaped like an admission ticket, a nod to the Silver Beach Carousel, and it names the lot behind it after a fruit. The city chose fruit names for its downtown lots when it worked with Corbin Design on new wayfinding signs. City Communications Director Kayla Griffith told WSJM the fruit names are easy to remember and draw on "the heritage of our city at its heart." So there is a Pear Lot, a Raspberry Lot, a Grape Lot at Main and Ship, and this one, the Apricot Lot.

That sign may not last long. The Apricot Lot and the empty parcel beside it at 508 Pleasant Street are the site of the Marquette, a seven-story building of condos and apartments that the City Commission has been moving forward since 2025. On October 26, the commission gave the developer six more months to close on the land.

This corner has carried a seven-story condo plan twice in 17 years, and both plans had to answer the same question of where the cars go. The first plan left behind an empty parcel. This time the city's contract keeps its lot as public parking until the entire project is ready to close, so a stall leaves the city owning a working parking lot.

A Condo Building That Already Exists on Paper

Begin with the corner's legal description. When the City Commission created a Neighborhood Enterprise Zone for the site on March 16, 2026, the resolution in the commission's meeting packet described part of the land as "Units 1 through 38, Lake Park Place, according to the Master Deed recorded in Liber 280, Page 1," designated as Condominium Subdivision Plan No. 280.

Lake Park Place was the first attempt. The YWCA broke ground on its building at 508 Pleasant Street in January 1925, according to a Herald-Palladium photo archive. The building was demolished in late 2009, and the property has sat vacant since then. In April 2009, then-Governor Jennifer Granholm's office announced state support for the project: a brownfield tax credit valued at $2.1 million and $298,500 in state and local tax capture. The plan was a seven-story mixed-use building with 30 to 35 condos on the upper six floors and an expected $21 million in new investment.

The master deed was recorded, but no building went up. Developers later went back to the city, as the Herald-Palladium reported, hoping to restart the project by reducing the number of parking spaces required for tenants. At the time, the city required two parking spaces per dwelling unit. On a lot of less than half an acre, every space that rule required had to fit somewhere on or beneath the site.

The Second Plan Starts With the Same Problem

Peter Rienks of the Rienks Group told the City Commission in June 2025 that his firm wanted to buy the city-owned lot at Lake Boulevard and Broad Street, and commissioners gave the concept conditional support. The Marquette joins that lot with the privately owned former YWCA parcel. Moody on the Market reported the plan as 32 luxury condominiums and 68 market-rate apartments. According to WSJM's latest description, the building would stand seven stories and 80 feet tall, with a rooftop deck, commercial space and underground parking.

The parking puzzle is the same one Lake Park Place's developers tried to ease, with one difference. The Apricot Lot is not empty land. It is a working city lot, and building on it removes public parking from the middle of downtown. The answer in the original presentation was to rebuild that parking underground. Rienks described 157 underground spaces, and City Manager Emily Hackworth stressed that the plan meant no downtown spaces would be lost, Moody on the Market reported. According to the commission's meeting minutes, Commissioner Michael Sarola noted that the sale price was based on the property's appraisal and that the Rienks Group committed to surpassing the lot's 57 parking spaces. The price is $700,000.

Downtown parking has been a live issue for the past two summers. In 2026, only 175 downtown spaces were paid, all of them on-street. In 2025 the program covered more than 800 spaces and was suspended in early June, 97.5 The Lake reported. After Labor Day, parking went free in all downtown spaces, with three-hour limits still in place on the street. The Apricot Lot also does event duty. It was the pickup and drop-off point for the Downtown Spooktacular hayrides and a stop for the event trolley.

How the City Wrote the Contract

The development agreement the commission approved in August sets several deadlines, according to Moody on the Market. Once the land sale closes, the Rienks Group has:

1. Four months to obtain permits.
2. Six months to begin construction.
3. Eighteen months to complete major exterior improvements.

The agreement also guarantees completion of the parking garage, requires at least 57 of the garage's spaces to be public, and gives the city the right to buy the site back if construction does not begin on time.

Those deadlines start only after closing, and closing has its own condition. At the October 26 meeting, Hackworth told WSJM the purchase agreement "requires them to complete a few steps in order to close on the property." Rienks explained what that means:

"We could close tomorrow on it or today financially. It's not a matter of the $700,000. It's actually a safeguard that the city wisely put in that we can't close on the property until the entire project is closed."

He said the Marquette is closer than it has ever been to proceeding, and that he does not expect to need the full six months. Commissioners approved the extension unanimously, with Commissioner Tess Ulrey absent, according to WSJM's report on the vote. The new deadline is on or before April 26, 2027.

Lake Park Place stalled after the YWCA building came down, leaving an empty parcel for 17 years. Under this contract, if the Marquette stalls before closing, the city still owns the Apricot Lot and the cars keep parking there.

The Corner's Timeline

The Neighborhood Enterprise Zone covers 39 parcels: 315 Lake Boulevard plus the 38 Lake Park Place units on paper. Inside the zone, the owner or developer can apply for certificates that last up to 15 years. Under the city resolution, creating the zone does not grant a tax break by itself, because each certificate needs its own application and approval.

A Corner Downtown Still Argues About

The project has supporters and critics. At a July 2025 commission meeting, a former St. Joseph mayor urged commissioners to pass on the proposal, as WSJM reported. She argued that a high-rise did not suit downtown's character, said affordable housing should come first, and questioned whether the planned parking would be enough. In August 2026, WNDU heard residents worry that the building would block lake views or change the town's scale, while business owners and other residents backed it for the activity it would bring downtown. At 2026 commission meetings, one speaker suggested a public park for the site, and others spoke for and against the proposed tax incentive.

The Marquette's own website lists condos from 1,600 to more than 2,100 square feet, says it is taking reservations, and gives apartment sizes of 650 to 1,500 square feet. Its headline date reads "Coming Summer of 2028."

Two dates now decide what happens at this corner. The first is April 26, 2027, the closing deadline. If the sale closes, the permit and construction clocks start, and the city's repurchase right stays in place until shovels go in. Until then, the Apricot Lot remains a city parking lot.

Downtown St. Joseph's skyline and parking may change at this one corner over the next year and a half, and we follow these decisions closely because they shape what downtown homes and condos are worth. If you own near the bluff and want to talk through what the Marquette could mean for your block, Chad Gradowski and the team are glad to sit down with you. Let's Connect.