DETROIT - It will take about $6 million and 18 months, but Joel Landy's prized James Scott Mansion in Detroit's Cass Corridor will finally be restored, he said.

"It's probably more than 35 years that I've been keeping this building off the demolition list," he said Monday.

MLive initially reported activity around the building late last week, but Landy wasn't immediately available for comment.

He's since confirmed that the 139-year-old James Scott Mansion at 81 Peterboro in Detroit is being restored.

Landy had everything in line "when the world fell apart" in 2008, he said. Now, he's found new people to help fund the million-dollar historic restoration.

Once finished in late 2017 the building will house 27 apartments and a small retail space.

Several workers in hardhats have erected scaffolding inside building, and they were seen Friday hauling out debris and wood from inside.

A boom lift sat in front of the iconic mansion.

Landy said its the building's facade that is taking up a chunk of the money to restore. He's putting "every penny" he has into the project, along with help from historic restoration funding and two other lenders.

The building is in "really bad condition," he said.

It's fallen mostly into the basement, he said. For years, most everyone in positions to make such decisions wanted to tear the building down.

"Really anything can be saved if you're motivated," Landy said. The same engineering reports officials used to justify tearing the building down only told Landy what needed to be fixed and how to fix it.

He intends to restore the building, inside and out, to how it was originally built. There won't be any trendy exposed brick walls or lofted ceilings. He and his designers intend to work with the "tremendous amount of windows in the building."

Planned are mostly one-bedroom apartments. Landy works efficiently, reusing every part of the buildings he restores, which include a "collection" of Victorian mansions in the area and the Addison apartments down the street.

"I've been able to work a lot more economically than a lot of people," he said. "It's not cheap, but I'm sure a lot of people could spend $10 million..."

Landy's also saving money on the construction, as he owns the company doing the work.

Once finished, he expects the apartments will rent for between $650 and $800 per month, which would be something of a bargain in the Cass Corridor and Midtown area.

Ian Thibodeau is the business and development reporter for MLive Media Group in Detroit. He can be reached at ithibode@mlive.com, or follow him on Twitter.