Business View Magazine - November 2016

Business View Magazine - November 2016 101 the economy starting to bloom.” In anticipation of new residents coming to Bay City for the new jobs, Finn says that, as part of its master plan, the city has recently completed a comprehensive housing study. “The city has been around for a long, long time and we have a lot of houses that date back, in many cases, over a hundred years,” he says. “We have a lot of issues with some of the older housing and this study develops a very good concept, step by step, of what the city needs to do over the next five to ten years to remain not only strong commercial-wise, and industrial-wise, but also residential-wise.” Meanwhile, the private sector in Bay City is also be- coming residential-wise. “We’ve got two new down- town developments that are re-using existing historic buildings,” Finn relates. “One is being converted into condominiums with 44 units. These will be market- rate housing right in our downtown area, two blocks from the river. The other one is the old Chemical Bank Building that happens to be a 125-year-old National Park – certified historic structure. We have a developer that is working towards restoring this historic building. The first level will be commercial with a fine restaurant and the rest will be condominium units on the upper floors also at market rate.” Finn is especially proud that the city’s stakeholders are all inclined to preserve some of Bay City’s historic buildings. “A lot of communities, over the years, have knocked down a lot of historic buildings and have come to regret it,” he laments. “We have chosen not to do that. We’ve looked at how we can re-purpose and re-use them.” In addition, Finn happily admits that the city is not alone in pursuing its revitalization goals and gives A CATALYST FOR OUR COMMUNITY. Chemical Bank aims to create a personal bond with each community we serve and every small business, family or customer that walks in our door. Learn more at ChemicalBank.com . We’re proud to support the growth of the Bay City community!