The Veridea Group, Moyle Development and Julien Properties walked the council through their proposals and the history of their companies at Wednesday’s council meeting.

The city sought the proposals as a complement for a town square-style pier between the Portage Lake District Library and Lakeshore Center. The developments cover two lots between Huron and Quincy streets, mostly taken up now by the large parking deck.

They had to meet four requirements: be a good fit for Houghton, maintain access to existing businesses on Shelden Avenue and Lakeshore Drive, match or increase downtown parking and fill a community need.

All three include mixed-use developments centered around a hotel. The proposals, and qualifications, were intended to let developers communicate their vision and explain what qualified made them uniquely suited to working with the city.

Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette A large crowd of residents and business owners listens to presentations on waterfront redevelopment in Houghton Wednesday night.

“We have three potential developers who are proposing to make a significant investment in our downtown, arguably the biggest in a generation,” said City Manager Eric Waara. “Who builds that project is going to be just as important as what the project is.”

The Marquette-based Veridea led off the presentations, whose order was determined by random draw. Its plan — at $50 million, the largest of the three — calls for a six- to seven-story hotel with 80 to 110 rooms. That would be accompanied by a ground-floor restaurant and 72 to 96 residential units on three or four stories. The plan would open up Lakeshore Drive and also provide public space, such as a landscaped plaza atop the parking deck.

It would have up to 560 spaces between street parking and the three-story parking structure.

Veridea stressed its positive impact on communities such as Marquette, where it was involved in redevelopment projects such as Liberty Way, which presaged a half-dozen other developments nearby.

“This is our wheelhouse,” said Veridea president Robert Mahaney. “This is our passion. And it goes beyond just building a building and having a return on that investment. It’s the impact you can have on a community.”

At about $21.2 million, Moyle’s proposal was the least costly of the three. It includes a 70-room hotel with convention and conference space, as well as retail and restaurant spaces on the ground floor. It would maintain the current 385 public parking spots while adding 120 for the hotel. It was the only one of the three not to offer a residential component.

The stripped-down proposal was based on Moyle’s experience of what the market would bear, said president Andrew Moyle. He pointed to Moyle’s success keeping hotels open despite launching during the recession. Moyle’s residential developments had trouble filling up. Canal Crossings is close to capacity after several years, but it has a market value of $4.4 million, versus the $8 million it would cost to build in 2019.

“We’re going to build something that can survive the recession, because I want to be the first and the last owner of this hotel,” Moyle said.

Julien’s proposal includes a 120-room hotel and nearly 470 parking spaces. The $37 million project also includes waterfront residences, 10,000 square feet of office space and a 12,000- square-foot space that could house a potential downtown grocery store. There would also be a coffee shp with an adjacent pocket park.

Julien Properties co-owner Jonathan Julien touted his company’s experience with redevelopment projects in Houghton, as well as that of the extended team, which included Founder’s Landing in Marquette and the Shelden Avenue streetscape project.

“Our team has spent 30-plus years working this very ground,” said Julien Properties co-owner Jonathan Julien. “We know the intricacies that we’re going to face to redevelop this property. And our team is not going to be surprised at the unknowns that will undoubtedly come our way.”

Developers faced questions from the council about finding additional sources of funding, as well as providing alternate parking during construction. All three indicated they would. Julien was the only developer to indicate it had already developed a parking plan.

At Waara’s recommendation, the council took no action on the proposals Wednesday. Instead, Waara suggested they use the next two weeks to further study the proposals and get more input.

Residents and business owners will also weigh in at a public hearing at the Aug. 28 City Council meeting. Wednesday’s meeting drew a packed house, with extra chairs being marshaled from throughout city offices.

The three proposals can be found at cityofhoughton.com.