GRAND RAPIDS, MI — A slice of the tropics is coming to downtown Grand Rapids.

Plans are in motion to transform The Waldron Public House, a three-story special events venue at 58 Ionia Ave. SW, into a large-scale tiki bar outfitted with colorful lighting and original and vintage decor designed to evoke a “tropical paradise where it’s always twilight.”

Max’s South Seas Hideaway is expected to open in late summer or early fall.

It’s a joint venture between Mark Sellers, the creator of HopCat and Stella’s Lounge, and Martin Cate, an award-winning rum and exotic cocktail expert who owns Smuggler’s Cove tiki bar in San Francisco. A Hawaii-based tiki and Polynesian artist who goes by the name “Gecko” is also a partner on the project.

The idea, they say, is to create an immersive experience that will serve as a getaway for “people in West Michigan looking to escape reality.”

“I want them to say ‘wow,’ and then I want them to forget that there’s an outside world,” said Sellers, who plans to display at the restaurant a large collection of vintage tiki artifacts he purchased for roughly $500,000 about two years ago.

Max’s menu hasn’t been finalized, but the restaurant will specialize in a fusion of Asian, Hawaiian and American food. It will feature an array of classic and original rum, liqueur and juice-based cocktails.

Transforming the Waldron building into Max’s is expected to cost about $2.5 million, Sellers said. He’s recruited three acclaimed tiki artists to create custom interior design work at the restaurant, which will also include a 500 gallon saltwater aquarium with tropical fish.

In addition to the elaborate decor, the restaurant has another unique twist. Sellers wants to build seven tiki-themed Airbnb rental units on the third-floor of the building.

He got the idea after he says he discovered that people from throughout the United States and other countries had made special trips to visit TikiCat, a tiki bar he operates in the basement of the HopCat restaurant in Kansas City.

He calls the group “tiki tourists.”

“We get people from Florida, Los Angeles, Europe, Germany …. visiting TikiCat because they had read about it,” Sellers said.

Pending city approval, the plan is for the rental units to open early next year.

The Waldron Public House was opened by BarFly Ventures, the parent company of HopCat and Stella’s, in 2016. Six months later, it transitioned to a special events venue. Sellers founded BarFly and is the company’s largest individual shareholder.

Sellers wants to transition the space into a public restaurant once again to capitalize on the growing activity in the area, such as the nearby Studio Park development, which is bringing a movie complex, hotel, restaurants, apartments and office building to the area.

Cate, who lives north of San Francisco, says he believes Max’s will be a hit in Grand Rapids.

The restaurant will have five different rooms, each with their own concept but all under the umbrella of tiki art. He and Sellers said different strands of tiki art range from Hawaiian and nautical to Polynesian and Easter Island-inspired. The idea is to “saturate” the rooms with arts and crafts.

“Around every corner, you’re going to uncover new art, new carvings, a water feature, a fish tank,” Cate said. “It’s gonna really reward your exploration when you go inside.”

In addition to Smuggler’s Cove in San Francisco, Cate also is co-owner of three other tiki inspired bars: Hale Pele in Portland, Oregon; Lost Lake in Chicago; and False Idol, in San Diego. He’s also co-owns Whitechapel, a gin-focused cocktail bar in San Francisco.

Cate and Sellers first met when Sellers was creating TikiCat in Kansas City. Cate oversaw the creation of the restaurant’s drink menu.

This isn’t the first time Sellers has discussed creating a tiki bar in Grand Rapids. In 2014, he announced plans to open The Shrunken Head, a BBQ and tiki joint, at a building next to Stella’s Lounge, 53 Commerce Ave SW.

Plans for the restaurant eventually fell through.

On Monday, Sellers said plans for The Shrunken Head didn’t materialize because, at the time he was heavily focused on expanding the HopCat concept. He didn’t have “the energy and the time” to bring the concept to fruition.

Now, Sellers says he feels like has “the ability to go off and do a side project.” He’s creating Max’s independent of his work at BarFly.

“I cannot wait,” he said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun to see people’s reactions when they’re inside.”