SOLD! Jackson City Council approves sale of the historic Hayes Hotel

JACKSON, Mich. (WILX) - At their meeting on Tuesday, the Jackson City Council approved a $25,000 sale of the Hayes Hotel property to J. Jeffers & Co. for a proposed development.

The Milwaukee-based development company is preparing a $27.2 million investment to rehabilitate the 10-story historic building which will include 91 apartments, along with event and commercial space on the bottom two floors.

The apartments will be a mix of studio, 1 bedroom, and 2 bedroom units. According to a press release, the apartments will be available at a “market rate.”

The concept artwork for the finished project can be seen below.

Constructed in 1926, the property on W. Michigan Avenue in the heart of Downtown Jackson functioned as a hotel until 1975. Until 2003, the property was used by Consumers Energy as office space. The City of Jackson took over control of the building in 2004.

Over the last 18 years, the city has worked to preserve the vacant building for future development while looking for a buyer. Last year, efforts to sell the property picked up steam when the City began collaborating with the Anchor Initiative for economic development.

CEO of the Anchor Initiative Scott Fleming was instrumental in advocating for the re-development of the Hayes.

“The Hayes development will be a tremendous project for the city,” Fleming said. “With the approved sale, Downtown Jackson will experience a major economic impact.”

J. Jeffers & Co. has completed substantial rehabs of historic buildings in Milwaukee. Chief Marketing Officer Scott Schwebel said the company is excited about its first project in Jackson.

“The Hayes offers the type of restoration potential we embrace and have experience executing at J. Jeffers & Co,” Schewebel said. “From returning the lobby and ballroom to their luminous stature, to activating the ground floor and the building’s street presence, to the overall historic preservation and further re-imagining of its use once completed, adding more density and programming to downtown while preserving a legendary property.”

For those in the community who have been wanting to see the Hayes building brought back to its former glory, the sale is welcome news.

“The sale of the property to a firm that has so much experience in revitalizing historic buildings gives us hope that this iconic building will be brought back to life and add to the renaissance happening in Downtown Jackson,” said Jacqueline Austin, Chair of the Jackson Downtown Development Authority. “As this project moves forward we will see added energy to the area with opportunities for more residents, retail, and restaurants in the west end of downtown.”

Currently, there is no timeline for when construction will start on the new development.

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