YPSILANTI, MI - Conditions at the Thompson Block in Ypsilanti's Depot Town are worse than what developers anticipated, prompting some safety measures, but the new owners are hopeful the historic building can be saved.

Jon Carlson told MLive and The Ann Arbor News the historic building located at 400 N. River St. has been heavily damaged over the years but there is still a chance the project is viable.

"It's worse than what we thought, but we still believe the building and we're capable of saving it," Carlson said.

Carlson and his partner Greg Lobdell, of the Ann Arbor-based development company 2mission, purchased the Thompson Block in January and have had crews and structural engineers inspecting and evaluating the building to see what can be saved and what needs immediate repair.

One of the structural engineers, Todd Dailey, wrote that some of the building's walls are close to public streets and walkways and pose a danger at an "unacceptable level."

Lansing-based construction firm Kincaid Henry, employed by 2mission for the Thompson Block development, said walls are being braced internally and on the exterior of the building to secure it, and unstable debris is being removed from the property.

"These activities do not mark the start of the project's construction, but are necessary to make the property safe enough to complete the design process," a company statement said. "The project will still need state and local support to have a financially viable project that is able to move forward."

Work being done on the Thompson Block is not in response to any immediate danger, Carlson said, but a need to make the site safe for workers and to better understand what kind of reconstruction may need to take place.

"With the history of that project, we are probably going overboard, but we're just using utmost caution and the best practices," Carlson said.

There are about 60 days in the examination process to determine the extent of the damage caused by a fire in 2009 and a partial collapse in 2015 that killed a worker. The question remains how much of the historic building can be preserved.

Beth Ernat, director of economic development at the City of Ypsilanti, said city officials are working with the new owners and are planning to have street and sidewalk closures coincide with additional work and bracing efforts.

"There will be some street closures, for two weeks while they complete the bracing," Ernat said. "The sidewalk will be closed as well as the right turn lane of Cross."

City officials will have additional information for the public about the closures when the repair work is set to begin, she added.

Carlson and Lodbell established 2mission in 2005. Some of 2mission's previous projects include Ann Arbor locations such as East and West Washington Street and Royal Oak's Fifth and Main streets, with a focus on historic preservation.

There is some work being done at the Thompson Block, but Carlson stressed the project has not officially started.

"What we're doing is exploratory work. We're making it safer but we still have a tremendous amount of work to make the project even viable," Carlson said. "We won't know truly until we go through some of this further analysis but we believe we still can save it. That's our goal but we have to do these steps first."