Furniture store eager to open in former Century Club

Hegg’s Fine Furniture hopes to be open for business in the refurbished former Century Club building in downtown Muskegon in time for the start of Muskegon Summer Celebration.

And work is expected to step up soon on the two Western Avenue buildings on either side of it, said Gary Post and Russ Strong, partners in Western Avenue Properties LLC, which owns all three buildings.

Post and Strong updated members of the Muskegon City Commission on their progress to date since acquiring the buildings in August.

Their presentation during the commission’s monthly work session was followed closely by one from Douglas Harjer, a Grand Haven builder and developer of the VidaNova condominiums going up on Muskegon Lake at Edison Landing.

Strong said the old Muskegon Savings Bank building — still showing white paint dating back to the Muskegon Mall days — will be restored to its original facade by the time Hegg’s opens in late June. Work on the bank building is expected to start next week, he said.

He said he and Post plan to have their offices on the upper floor of the old bank building and are busy trying to attract a national franchise restaurant to the lower level.

Post said the former Daniels Office Supply building — the historic “Russell Block” — will be divided into three separate storefronts. Current plans are to try to attract “art-centered development” to that building.

Post also is the principal developer of the proposed Heritage Square Townhomes planned for the north side of Clay Avenue between Second and First streets. He said that although activities on Western Avenue have been keeping him busy, he hopes to break ground for the townhomes in late summer or early fall.

VidaNova’s Harjer said a model has been completed in the first of several planned buildings, and it has been attracting a lot of interest.

“We’ve had an outstanding amount of traffic,” Harjer told the commissioners. “We’ve had 10 or 12 couples come through our model multiple times,” he said, although some have homes of their own to sell before they can buy at VidaNova.

“It just seems like everybody’s waiting for someone else to buy first.”

A purchase agreement of the first unit is expected shortly, he said.

The VidaNova condos have received the U.S. Green Building Council’s second-highest “silver” ranking under its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system.

Harjer said one big selling point of these energy-efficient condos will be heating and cooling costs. The annual heat bill is estimated at $406, he said, and summer air conditioning costs are estimated at $128 a year.

Also, he said, permits are nearly in place, and the first of a series of boat docks on Muskegon Lake for the use of condo owners should be going in shortly, he said.

Information from: www.mlive.com