Eaton Rapids drops suit against Horner Mills owner to pursue grant

Rachel Greco, Lansing State Journal
·3 min read
What's left of the former Horner Woolen Mills, which operated at 224 N. Main St. from about 1880 to the mid-1950s, has been crumbling for decades.
What's left of the former Horner Woolen Mills, which operated at 224 N. Main St. from about 1880 to the mid-1950s, has been crumbling for decades.

EATON RAPIDS — The city has dropped a lawsuit against the owner of a blighted historic mill at the corner of M-99 and Main Street, which may help the county secure up to $650,000 to help pay for demolishing all but one building at the prominent site.

If the county isn't awarded the grant funds from the Michigan State Land Bank Authority, property owner Mill Street LLC, a subsidiary of Utah-based Cache Private Capital Diversified Fund, has signed a legal agreement to demolish three of the aging structures on the site by the end of this year, Eaton Rapids Mayor Pam Colestock said.

Horner Woolen Mills operated on 7 acres at 224 N. Main St. from about 1880 to the mid-1950s, but the vacant buildings have been crumbling for decades.

Cache Private Capital Diversified Fund took ownership of the site in 2016, after the property's former owner, Eddie DeLeo, defaulted on his loan provided by Cache, said Luke Loveland, vice president of assets and funding operations for the company.

Loveland said the company is committed to redeveloping at least one building on the site into residential housing and there's potential for further development once that's complete.

Grant money could help pay for demolition

What's left of the former Horner Woolen Mills, which operated at 224 N. Main St. from about 1880 to the mid-1950s, has been crumbling for decades.
What's left of the former Horner Woolen Mills, which operated at 224 N. Main St. from about 1880 to the mid-1950s, has been crumbling for decades.

Court records show the city's lawsuit, filed in December, asking an Eaton County Circuit Court judge to order Mill Street LLC "to immediately demolish the structures on its property, and/or abate any nuisances thereon" was dismissed in April.

Colestock said the city's agreement with the property owner ensures that the most dangerous structures on the property are demolished, regardless of whether the county is awarded grant funding.

The county submitted its grant application to the state this week, Eaton County Treasurer Bob Robinson said. The hope is to obtain $650,000; officials should know if it's been approved by the end of June.

"In this particular case, the history of the property and the condition of the property is such that the costs to rehabilitate it far exceed what the end market value is going to be," Robinson said.

Loveland said it will likely cost $2 million to $2.5 million to demolish structures. Cache Private Capital Diversified Fund intends to pay for whatever the grant won't, he said.

"We're committed to revitalizing this project," Loveland said. "We have a fiduciary responsibility to our investors to do so. We have an obligation to the city to do so. So we're in. We're committed. We're ready to go forward on it."

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The property owner has redevelopment plans

Before the end of this year, at least three buildings on the property will come down, Loveland said.

By next spring, work is expected to start to rehabilitate the building near M-99 and Main Street, he said.

"We're going to use the bones of that first building and we're going to create some modern-type residential housing," Loveland said. "We hope to create at least 20 new housing units."

It's unclear right now whether the housing will be apartments, townhouses or condominiums, he said.

Placement inside a flood zone will dictate limitations and elevation requirements on the development of the rest of the property, Loveland said, but company officials say a mixed-use project that includes a restaurant and retail space is being considered.

"We don't have anything in stone, but I would suspect it's going to be a mixed-use area," he said.

Demolition of the most blighted buildings on the property is the immediate goal for city officials, Colestock said.

"My whole, entire goal is just to get that demolished, get it cleaned up, and then go from there," she said. "The city's going to be willing to work with the owners. If they're going to develop it we're going to be open to whatever they envision for that property. Even if it just sits for a bit, it's going be better than what it is now."

Contact Reporter Rachel Greco at rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @GrecoatLSJ .

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Lawsuit over blighted Eaton Rapids mill dropped; County aims to get funds for demolition