Dan Gilbert's Bedrock LLC will spend about $70 million to renovate the former Detroit Free Press building for mixed use, with millions to be reimbursed under the city's brownfield tax credit program and other incentives.

Renovation of the 276,000-square-foot building at 321 W. Lafayette Blvd. is expected to begin this summer, according to Detroit Brownfield Redevelopment Authority plan documents.

Bedrock will invest about $69.7 million in the project, the company estimated in the documents.

A Bedrock representative declined to comment on the project.

The developer will lease out the building's first floor for retail and the second and third floors for office space. About 130 residential units will take up the rest of the space.

The long-vacant building, originally opened in 1925, sits on 0.63 acres. It is six stories on either side of a 14-story tower in the middle.

Degradation has left the site dangerous and unusable, according to the documents. Asbestos and lead abatement, demolition and hazardous material removal will earn Bedrock about $7 million in brownfield tax abatements, the documents said. The city of Detroit's program offers incentives for redevelopment of deteriorating structures.

The project also seeks a tax abatement under the Neighborhood Enterprise Zone program, and state and federal historic credits.

Construction must be complete by December 2020 for Bedrock to receive the brownfield tax credit. Other major fixes include replacing elevators, safety systems, windows and the entire roof.

Detroit-based Kraemer Design Group PLC will serve as architect of record and historic consultant for the project.

The redevelopment process will create about 196 temporary construction jobs and about 10 permanent building jobs, Bedrock said in the documents. It expects retail and offices to create an additional 325 or so jobs.

Bedrock's Pyramid Development Co. LLC purchased the long-vacant Albert Kahn-designed building in late 2016, Crain's reported in January. A purchase price was not disclosed but it was listed for $16 million. Gilbert also bought the the former Detroit News building at 615 W. Lafayette Blvd. last year for $4.3 million, according to a memo to the Detroit City Council discussing Gilbert's plans for the building.

This week, it opened the Press Box Cafe and Market in what was the executive garage of the Detroit News building.