Possible Houghton City Centre Relocation

Houghton–The Houghton City Council and Planning Commission agreed to move forward to find a new building to house both the police department and city offices at Tuesday night’s meeting. With a unanimous vote by city leaders they agreed to explore options for relocation.

Eric Waara is City Manager and says, “Are we interested in selling the building? That consensus was yes we’re interested because there may be more opportunities to make some significant improvements.”

Right now 616 Sheldon is being shared with Midwest Loan Services. But with more than 100 employees the company has grown and now has a need for more space. 

The current city centre building has been in use since 1991. It costs between 90 to 140-thousand dollars a year minus tenant fees to keep city offices at the current location. City leaders are interested in getting out of the landlord business and helping Midwest Loan continue to grow.

The Council agreed to look at two possible sites for new city offices. Actually three, however only two are considered serious contenders.

One would be the parking lot behind the Subway downtown. If it is kept long term it would require 2.5 million dollars to purchase and another 2.0 million for a parking deck. 

The second possible site is also downtown. The Continental Fire Company building is located about a block from the current City Centre. If purchased the 14-thousand square feet building would cost between 1 and 1.5 million dollars.  

No final decision will be made until more input is gathered from both city leaders and the public. But, the Council stresses this is a good problem for the city and Midwest Loan Services.