Construction on a new five-story, 48-unit apartment building in downtown Royal Oak is expected to begin in the spring.

Clinton Township-based developer Aragona Properties LLC garnered financing for the project and now awaits building permits from the city, the developer confirmed today.

The development is planned for 1.5 acres of vacant land on South Main Street south of East Lincoln Avenue. Besides luxury apartments, plans call for first-floor retail space.

Paul Aragona, CEO of Aragona Properties, said construction on the $13.5 million project is expected to be complete by the first quarter of 2015.

The building would be about 73,000 square feet, according to Marty Smith, principal at Southfield-based Siegal/Tuomaala Associates Architects & Planners Inc., the architecture firm on the project.

He expects to receive building permits from the city within a few weeks.

Aragona said he is trying to sign a coffee shop as one of the first-floor tenants. He declined to say which one.

Aragona, which develops retail centers and multifamily housing in Southeast Michigan, owns the land, according to Washington, D.C.-based real estate information service CoStar Group Inc.

The development would be located between the existing Fifth Third Bank and Haberman Fabrics Inc. buildings.

According to Royal Oak Planning Commission documents from last year, the one- and two-bedroom units would range from 866 to 1,214 square feet.

There are more than 250 parking spaces on the site, which is across from the Oakland Community College Royal Oak campus.

Aragona's website says it has developed more than $140 million in properties in the last 10 years.

About $8 million in financing for Aragona Properties was arranged by Kevin Kovachevich, senior vice president of Southfield-based Bernard Financial Group Inc., from TCF National Bank.

Kirk Pinho: (313) 446-0412, [email protected]. Twitter: @kirkpinhoCDB