The project has been in the works for years by Detroit-based Queen Lillian II LLC, which consists of Jackson, who is minority owner and a former staffer to former Detroit City Council President Gil Hill and former part-owner of Greektown Casino-Hotel; and James Jenkins, who is majority owner of the company and is president and CEO of Detroit-based Jenkins Construction Inc., which will be the construction manager.

A briefing memo to the strategic fund board said Detroit-based developer The Platform LLC is a new investment partner in the project. The company, run by Peter Cummings and Dietrich Knoer, is involved in several developments and redevelopments along Grand Boulevard and in other Detroit neighborhoods.

The memo says Queen Lillian and The Platform have a memorandum of understanding executed.

The financing structure includes $27.2 million from the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce; a $1.24 million land acquisition loan; a $1.4 million HOME loan from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; $6.7 million in owner equity; and $4.3 million from the strategic fund.

It was originally planned to be a 75,000-square-foot medical office building to complement the developers' Queen Lillian I medical office building, which was completed for $18.4 million a mile away. The development was reconfigured after the project couldn't get enough of its space preleased, preventing developers from securing a construction loan.

Detroit-based Hamilton Anderson Associates is the architect.