Eastbrook Homes CEO Mick McGraw, who led the charge to develop part of Whitehall’s White Lake shoreline into what is now Tannery Bay, thanked the Whitehall Tax Increment and Finance Authority (TIFA) board last Thursday at the board’s meeting for its help in making the development happen.
“Over 20 years ago now, I came up to Whitehall and visited with Scott,” McGraw said, referring to city manager Scott Huebler. “We looked at this old building on Lake Drive, where Tannery Bay is now...It was a scary old building, a unique and old building. That began a long period of time of figuring out what to do with this site, which is now Tannery Bay.”
McGraw said when a local environmental chief gave him a tour of that old building, he saw a sign on it that read “Welcome to hell.” He joked that the sign pretty much ended his original idea of renovating the building into part of a new complex.
The occasion for McGraw’s presentation was that Tannery Bay, he said, is closing in on development of the final phase of the project. He said about 15 homes are in progress for this final phase.
“I started that project as a young man,” McGraw said. “I was 53 then, and I’m now 74. If someone had told me I would be 74 by the time we got to the last days, I’d have said, ‘I’m out.’ But it allowed us the time frame to develop something I’m proud of and that has provided great new residents for Whitehall.”
McGraw noted Tannery Bay will provide an area of “about 1.75 acres” on its north end for city use, as was confirmed at a 2023 city council meeting, and presented the city a $30,000 check to help start the process of developing that land into a public park.
Also during the TIFA meeting, the board fielded a request for $3,000 to help sponsor the annual Walk the Beat White Lake festival, set to return to the area in July. Huebler said the festival is one of four the TIFA board helps sponsor, along with White Lake history cruises, the annual July 4 fireworks and an Arts Council of White Lake-Nuveen Center event. Huebler said he views the $3,000 as worth it given how much foot traffic Walk the Beat drew to the area last summer; Walk the Beat board member Kevin Goff said the city estimated about 3,500 attended. The request was tabled for the time being.
Huebler added that the city has not yet been made whole for the roughly $1 million in tax revenues that it no longer receives due to industrial personal property now being tax-exempt. He said the state promised to backfill the lost revenue, but the city has only received “80-85 percent” of the funds so far.
There was also an update on a pair of park projects. Huebler reported that the Goodrich Park renovation project has added plans for lights that will be spread throughout the park; the original plan was only to put lights by the marina. The poles for those lights are set to be delivered within a month or so, with installation scheduled for completion by the end of March. The Goodrich parking lot will also be doubled in size to enhance public access to the area.
The planned pocket park on Colby Street will also be tweaked. Original plans for an open-air facility for the pocket park proved to be more expensive than a brick-and-mortar option. The park will also include a public restroom, a wall to display juried art, pedestrian seating, and some vegetation. Huebler said the pocket park project is going out for bid any day now, with a summer construction planned.
