PROPERTY OWNER BRAD STAEDT of RR Downtown LLC of Iron Mountain wants to turn the former Lake Shore Systems Inc. property at 900 W. Breitung Ave. into 30 apartments and a banquet hall. (Theresa Proudfit/Daily News photo)

KINGSFORD — Plans for converting the former Lake Shore Systems Inc. property in Kingsford into apartments and a banquet facility remain on track even if delayed — as is most everything else — by the shutdowns due to coronavirus.

Property owner Brad Staedt of RR Downtown LLC of Iron Mountain said Monday while they continue to work on the facility at 900 W. Breitung Ave., the goal of having the hall open by early June no longer appears viable. The state has ordered no assembling groups larger than 10.

“It’s kind of in limbo right now but moving along,” Staedt said.

But he’s confident the facility will be ready when restrictions lift.

“We’ll open. That’s no problem,” Staedt said. “We just don’t know when.”

Staedt has proposed making $2.5 million in improvements to the property, which he bought in March 2019.

Plans call for creating 30 apartments of various sizes in the building. A former manufacturing building and warehouse on the site will be turned into an event venue that will include a bar, kitchen, restrooms and other amenities that can hold about 500 people.

The Dickinson County Board in January approved making the 8-acre property a brownfield site so it would be eligible to have environmental costs offset by property taxes, said Tony Edlebeck, Kingsford city manager and a member of the Dickinson County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority. About $650,000 of Staedt’s investment is expected to qualify, he said.

Kingsford City Council earlier designated the property as a Commercial Rehabilitation District, which provides the tax exemption for qualified businesses that are repurposed.

Staedt is convinced the facilities will be in demand once life returns back to somewhat normal.

“There’s nothing around town like this,” said Staedt, whose other properties include the building that has his wife Lori’s Exhale 906 salon and spa and The Blind Pig 906 in downtown Iron Mountain.

The Kingsford property that will become 906 Venue, which formerly housed Oldenburg Group Inc. that became Lake Shore Systems, has been vacant for about nine years after Oldenburg moved to a new facility at 2141 Woodward Ave. in Kingsford.

Staedt, a contractor for about 30 years, said he’d eyed the property for some time for development.

When renovated, it will have special suites for housing parties of the bride and groom before wedding ceremonies and receptions. It also will be capable of hosting reunions, flea markets and other gatherings, Staedt said.

Portions of the buildings will be demolished. Some of the work will include asbestos and lead removal, Edlebeck said.

In addition to putting an “obsolete” property back in use, Kingsford needed this type of facility that can accommodate larger public events, Edlebeck said.

“We’re very happy somebody has taken an interest in the property,” Edlebeck said.