The Oliver Towers apartment building in downtown Lansing will finally get a revamp after sitting mostly vacant for more than 17 years.

The eight-story building at 310 N. Seymour Ave. was damaged by a fire in 2000, but a local developer plans to complete renovations on the long-empty structure by the end of next year.

A $13.7 million redevelopment project will include 4,430 square feet of office and retail space on the first floor and 103 "micro-style" apartment units, as well as improvements to the building's facade and courtyard.

After securing incentives from the state this week, the project's developer — The George F. Eyde Family LLC — plans to start interior tear-out and environmental remediation in the next few days, said Mark Clouse, the chief financial officer and general counsel for the Eyde Company.

The Michigan Strategic Fund Board awarded the developer $2.4 million in incentives Tuesday. The board also approved the project's $968,000 brownfield plan.

“We hate to see buildings that are vacant in our downtown, and the need for housing in downtown Lansing has been an issue for many people," Clouse said. “We along with other developers are trying to meet that need.”

The "micro-style" units will be studio and one-bedroom apartments of around 500 square feet, Clouse said. They are projected to cost $1.40 to $1.50 per square foot and will be designed to make use of all of the available space, he said.

Additional housing downtown "not only helps the businesses" said Karl Dorshimer, the Lansing Economic Area Partnership's business development director, but could bring something the downtown lacks: people who are there beyond weekday work hours.

“It’s one of the missing ingredients right now," he said. "We don't have enough people down there all the time.”

The George F. Eyde Family LLC bought the building in 2015. The building needs extensive interior demolition and mold and asbestos remediation, and the developer had to ask for financial help from the Strategic Fund, Clouse said, which delayed the start of the project.

“This project will transform a blighted, burned out building in the heart of our downtown into a new residential development,” Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero said in a Tuesday news release. “With its proximity to the campus of Lansing Community College and the State Capitol, Oliver Towers will be an asset that brings people downtown to live, work, and play.”

The project is slated for completion by December 2018.

Contact reporter Haley Hansen at (517) 267-1344 or hhansen@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @halehansen.