There is a new $4 million development planned for Midtown, so it struck me as odd this morning that I started thinking about reincarnation.

Here’s why.

Last week, the city issued a demolition permit for the former Marie Apartments building at 438 Selden St. at Cass Avenue, a step which will clear the way for a new mixed-use development by the Detroit-based Ferlito Group LLC, which plans to begin razing the 1924 building on Monday.

Replacing the vacant and blighted 16,500-square-foot building: a new 22,000-square-foot building with a dozen for-sale condominiums, a new office for Ferlito Group and a new high-end restaurant, said Mike Ferlito, project developer for Ferlito Group.

That’s good news, particularly since tearing down the building -- the roof of which has collapsed on its rear and whose windows are boarded up and whose exterior is covered in graffiti -- has been in the works for several years.