Our Future Communities Start Here

His vision to rehabilitate vacant storefronts and bring vibrant retail shops, imaginative dining, and recreational spaces to the community received buy-in from community residents and leaders, which has been essential in Rogers City’s planned transformation. Without it, projects might have been abandoned due to the challenges faced since beginning their redevelopment journey. From high construction costs to halts in development, there were many hurdles to overcome—some of which are still in the process of finding solutions.

When asked what the biggest challenge has been thus far for this community, Hefele responded, “Sky-high construction costs ... Construction bids come in much higher than expected and at a level that greatly threatens the feasibility of the project itself, particularly in a small community where profit margins are tight to begin with.” Hefele hopes the city’s plans to complete multiple projects at once will result in more moderately priced estimates as a bundled or grouped cost.

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