A Major Development Downtown...with a slight hiccup

The Latest from Marquette, MI by Brian Cabell

IT PROMISES TO be the most significant and expensive development in downtown Marquette in decades—the conversion of the iconic Savings Bank Building into a boutique hotel with retail space, alongside a brand new building (also part of the hotel), along with another brand new building to house 30 residences, and a new 200 space parking garage.

All told, it could be a $50 million project. Or more.

Whew! And all of it in the heart of the downtown, within a stone’s throw of Lake Superior.

The Vault Marquette, as the project is called, is the brainchild of Jen and Jon Julien who also developed the highly praised Vault Houghton hotel, as well as the totally renovated Hampton Inn and Suites in Houghton.

“We had people who were staying at The Vault in Houghton and they loved it,” Jen Julien explains, “and they were asking us where they should stay when they got to Marquette. And that got us thinking.”

It got them thinking about developing a similar, historic hotel in Marquette, and their focus quickly turned to the stately Savings Bank Building which was built in 1892. Perfect. They bought it in 2021 and subsequently were awarded a $4.6 million Real Estate Development Project Grant from the state of Michigan.

It’s taken a while, but finally, after four years, they broke ground on the project two months ago.

Almost all of the old tenants of the building have moved out to make way for the construction project.

But not everyone. A longtime dentist is so far refusing to vacate.

“My lease term (with the previous landlord) runs until the end of this year, subject to my option to extend it for an additional five years until the end of 2030, “ says Dr. Angela Palamaki, who operates Lower Harbor Family Dental on the fourth floor of the building. “I have provided notice to the current landlord, Marquette Vault, that I wish to exercise that option in order to stay in the Savings Bank Building, but Marquette Vault is disputing my right to do so in the lawsuit.”

They’ve faced each other in court over a number of issues. The most recent involved the discovery by a city inspector that mercury from the dental office was being dumped in the basement of the building. An amalgam separator was not operating properly. “Willfully dumping medical waste down the drain is illegal,” says Mark O’Neill, the director of Municipal Utilities, who did the inspection.

As a result, a temporary restraining order was issued and Palomaki’s dental office was shut down for almost three days. She says as soon as she learned of the faulty amalgam separator, she had it replaced, and the order was lifted. The equipment is functioning properly now.

Any further action to be taken for the environmental violation? O’Neill says No, the city’s finished with it, and likewise, Jay Parent, the District Superintendent for EGLE, says the state will likely stay out of it. “We’re not happy with it,” he says, “but it (the mercury) was not going directly into Lake Superior, so we will not get involved.”

Then there’s also the issue of a defamation of character lawsuit that Julien says Palomaki has filed against her regarding a TV interview in which Julien mentioned that the area around the building was mostly lifeless, forgotten and vacant. Understandably, Palomaki felt that her longtime dental practice in the Savings Bank Building had been slighted by the remark, but she now says, “It’s best not to comment on the legal claims while the case remains ongoing.”

Julien agrees. She doesn’t want to talk publicly about the dispute because it would likely just invite more trouble.

The city is staying out of it. City officials are watching from the sidelines, hoping the dispute can be resolved without further court action or negative publicity and before the Vault gets too deeply into the construction phase. “The Vault Hotel and their tenant is strictly their own issue,” says City Manager Karen Kovacs. “We do not have any involvement with their issues.”

Although some Marquette residents might oppose the project—More tourists! More traffic! More development!—it does appear that the Vault Marquette would inject more life into downtown, and provide more jobs. Aesthetically, though some might disagree, it seems pleasing. Barry Polzin, Marquette’s best-known architect, is handling the project.

If all goes well, Julien and her husband, who were recently honored by Crain’s Detroit Business as one of the esteemed group “40 Under 40”, hope to open the hotel in 2027. Which leads us to this question: Could there actually still be a dentist’s office on the fourth floor next to the hotel guest rooms?

“It seems like a non-traditional arrangement, but one I am hopeful can be handled professionally by everyone involved,” Dr. Palomaki tells us. “To an extent, I will have to rely on the landlord developing and operating the hotel in a way that recognizes and respects the fact that I am still a tenant, trying to care for my patients and run my practice in the Savings Bank Building as I have for nearly two decades.”

One would think that eventually, to dispense with any further annoying and costly courtroom action, the two sides would reach an agreement—a financial settlement that would allow Dr. Palomaki to comfortably move her practice to another building. But, she says simply, “I have no plans to move.”

Meantime, the Juliens continue to move forward with their ambitious plans to transform a valuable, high-profile piece of property in downtown Marquette. Soon, the heavy equipment will come to do its work, the noise will increase, a new building will arise.

All this, while Dr. Palomaki (rated 4.8 by patients on Google) will continue—as normally as possible—tending to her dental patients on the fourth floor of the old building. “It has taken a serious toll on my professional practice and my personal peace of mind,” she reports.

Understandably. And it’s fair to say the Juliens haven’t been thrilled, either, by this strange and unexpected turn of events.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Whenever you’re in conflict with someone, there is one factor that can make the difference between damaging your relationship and deepening it. That factor is attitude.”

—William James