Escanaba Hotel and Jail Site Development Meeting: Waterfront, Hotel, Housing and Nautical Considerations Important

Escanaba Michigan Hotel-Marina-Yard Site

The hotel is very important for Escanaba and it has an opportunity to shift the developmental projects of the city. I encourage you to think about long term viability and maximizing of waterfront space for economic, tourism related, and nautical purposes. I'm not going to get into all of the proposals and the benefits/detractors of them but I will say that I like some of what was presented by Northshore Marine Terminal & Logistics who might be willing to work with a hotel to balance the two benefits (tourism and development) . 

No matter who is awarded bids I would like to say I think there is some room for a nice hotel (or hotel and condo facility) and a nice expansion of marina space that includes passenger, recreational, and military vessels (of course with different docking areas but one can certainly benefit form the other.). You will want to read the agenda because it has the proposals inside March 8th 22', Esky Agenda. It will give you an overview of what different investors are proposing.

Thinking over the proposals I like a blend of hotel/condo/studio, retail, marina, and nautical considerations could be included as a potential long term strategy to hedge different markets. We would want to do more than just put a hotel there and should maximize the waterfront for aesthetic tourist related industry while perhaps enhancing the local shipyard in some way (They do require similar type improvements. i.e. break wall, lights, etc...). Not sure how that would happen but proposals can be adjusted to allow an approach that enhances cluster benefits (i.e. hotel designed in a way that includes higher end condo/hotel living with a nice marina that raises its appeal and visitation. Retail space below and improvements to the harbor area. Opportunities to allow larger private yachts and tourism boats if they present themselves in the future.)

Thinking in terms of multiple industries such as marina, tourism, and nautical provides hedging aspects of economic growth can help us think about how one of a kind locations can be used to support different economic factors within the city. That might also raise the value of other aspects of future development that often follows recreational destinations that would be attracted to waterfront vacationing. Everything is negotiable! Once this project is started I think the cities (Escanaba and Gladstone) and Delta County might start thinking about some of the other buildings in the area and attract interest to them as well (See Esky-Gladstone Downtown, Start Up Delta County, Tourism Micro Manufacturing, Delta County Equity Fund, Escanaba Venture Capital, Attracting SME,). Still thinking about the prior happenings at the jail site. I'm just curious. 🤔