Liberty Way Phase Two construction starting later this year in Marquette

The Liberty Way project that began last summer is making great headway.

Veridea Group purchased the five-acre tract of land that used to house Bunny Bread Bakery and broke ground on the project last June. Phase One of the three-phase project consisted of the mBank building on Washington Street.

The bank occupies the first two floors, and Myefski Architects currently have a suite being renovated on the third, just down the hall from Veridea Group’s offices. The next two phases are quite ambitious.

“Phase Two of Liberty Way will include a roughly 80,000-square-foot  Staybridge Suites extended-stay hotel, and below that will be a two-level, 130-stall underground parking garage,” Veridea Group president Bob Mahaney said. “Phase Three is a building that will closely resemble the mBank building. It’ll be on the eastern end of the property, and we’re pretty excited about that building. On the ground floor, it’ll include food court-style restaurants and possibly other retail, and then the upper two floors will be comprised of office and other uses.”

Construction on the Staybridge Suites and parking garage is expected to begin this summer, with a spring of 2015 opening planned. The entire project is estimated at being finished in late 2015 or early 2016, pending market conditions. The Liberty Way project has already created several jobs and is expected to produce many more.