Downtown sushi, martini bar slated to open June 1 after months of renovations

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Midori Sushi and Martini Bar is slated to open June 1 in downtown Mount Pleasant.

The restaurant, 105 W. Broadway St., has been under construction the last few months.

Jon Joslin, co-owner of Midori and a Mount Pleasant city commissioner, said the site has required extensive remodeling.

“We basically have gutted the downstairs down to a shell,” he said.

The business was recently cleared to receive a block grant for facade improvements. After construction is complete, Midori will receive $42,750 for exterior construction, including brick cleaning, window replacement, doors and trim, replacement of cornice and part of a new sign.

Midori is the first business in Mount Pleasant to receive approval for such a grant, said Michelle Sponseller, Mount Pleasant’s downtown development director.

Sponseller said there are no other businesses applying for the block grant, but several have inquired.

“I’ve had a couple of businesses ask me about it; that’s as far as it’s gone,” she said.

The money will be dispersed once construction is complete, Sponseller said.

Plenty of paperwork

Joslin said he and his co-owner, Rich Swindlehurst, are keeping track of construction to submit to the state.

“We have to make sure we’re tracking all the contractors,” he said. “There’s still plenty of paperwork to be done.”

Sponseller said the minimum amount for the grant is $30,000, and the grant may only cover, at most, 50 percent of expenses. The grant application, submitted to the City Commission at its Jan. 4 meeting, stated Joslin and Swindlehurst would spend at least $102,750 on the business and hire at least six full-time employees through Michigan Works.

Joslin said the applications will be filed with Michigan Works at the beginning of May, with the intention of filling positions at the business a “few weeks” prior to opening.

Midori’s Class C liquor license approval also is moving forward, Joslin said. The Mount Pleasant Police Department completed its background check, and all that is left is fingerprinting of the owners and the final inspection.

“The final inspection is the day before you open your doors,” Joslin said.