HANCOCK, Mich. (WLUC) – If you’ve been in Hancock, you may have noticed a large space downtown that has been growing larger these past few weeks.

The city’s Downtown Development Authority owns the Quincy Street space, where a building is now almost completely demolished. According to the city, the building was a hardware store for at least 40 years. But for the better part of the last decade, it was vacant. According to City Manager Mary Babcock, the DDA bought the building two years ago for $140,000 in hopes of reusing the building.

“We had reached out many years in a row to try to facilitate a new owner,” Babcock said. “It just was not possible. That’s why the DDA took it on, because the owner was willing to sell it to the city.”

However, the building was deemed in too poor a condition and a risk to nearby buildings. Now, Babcock says the city is looking for developers who will make use of the space, three city lots in size.

“The DDA is not in a position that they need to sell it just to create the funds,” Babcock said. “We would like to redevelop it to create a better use of the space. It’s going to be somewhat project-driven, rather than the dollar amount for the project.”

I asked Babcock if the space could be used for additional parking. She says she’s aware this is something residents have been talking about.

“This particular lot is not really able to be used unless we built a parking deck,” Babcock added. “Because on the back side of the building, the city of Hancock doesn’t have public access. It’s really not something we would like to do… create more parking on Quincy Street.”

Babcock asks anyone who is interested in redeveloping the space to reach out to the city and the DDA.

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