1059 Wealthy Street in Grand Rapids on Jan. 6, 2015. Developers are proposing to demolish the former McDonald's and build a mixed-use complex.

(Garret Ellison | MLive)

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — A former fast food joint converted into a retail plaza on Wealthy Street would be demolished under preliminary plans to build a new mixed-use retail, office and residential complex in Southeast Grand Rapids.

Developers Orion Construction and Green Cane Properties are in the early stages of the redevelopment project at 1059 Wealthy St. SE, which was formerly home to a McDonald’s until the restaurant closed in 1991.

A preliminary sketch of what could be built at 1059 Wealthy Street.

Joe Marogil, a local attorney and principal with Green Cane, said the company is soliciting feedback from neighborhood stakeholders ahead of submitting formal plans with city planning boards this year.

Marogil and representatives from Orion met with the East Hill Council of Neighbors association board on Monday, Jan. 5.

“Everyone knows the current building is a problem,” Marogil said over the phone after the meeting. “I don’t think there was anyone in that room who doesn’t want to see a development there. We just aren’t sure what the final outcome will be.”

“We’re hoping to get something approved that fits our needs and the neighbors’.”

Early drawings for the project show a new three-story building fronting the street, with new two-story townhome-style apartments on the back of the lot. The front building would include ground-floor retail space under offices and apartments.

Plans shown the neighbors include about 27 total apartment units with more than 70 parking spaces on the 11,054 square-foot property.

Those designs may change, cautioned Marogil.

“We left a lot of things blank because we’re looking for feedback,” he said. “We’re in the process of continuing to build the plan.”

Neighbors have long desired to see the property redeveloped. The building sits perpendicular to Wealthy Street between Freyling Place and Calkins Avenue SE in the Wealthy Theatre Historic District. It occupies part of the East Hills neighborhood known as Wealthy Heights.

Marogil bought the property in early 2013 from nightclub owner Roosevelt Tillman. The property sat unused for almost a decade when McDonald’s closed in 1991 after a manager and two family members were beaten up in the parking lot.

Tillman bought the property from a church group in 1996 and hoped to convert it into a charter school for the construction trade. When that plan was rejected, he converted it into a strip mall that began renting to tenants in 2000.

Today, it remains home to several businesses, including Jamaican Dave’s, a take-out Caribbean-style restaurant and a Detox for Healthy Living storefront.

Universal consensus among neighbors is the existing building is unremarkable.

“We really want something to happen at 1059 — we’ve been looking at this piece of junk for a longtime,” said longtime East Hills neighborhood resident Carol Moore.

“There’s great concern this be done very well.”

Marogil’s agreement with Orion calls for dividing the land between the two companies if the project can successfully navigate through various city approvals.

“We have a ways to go before we actualize that,” he said.

Garret Ellison covers business, government, environment and breaking news for MLive/The Grand Rapids Press. Email him at gellison@mlive.com or follow on Twitter & Instagram