New walk-in clinic to be built on Mission Street

Construction is expected to begin this fall on a new office building on Mission Street that will house a ReadyCare walk-in clinic.

The clinic, part of McLaren-Central Michigan, and other offices will be built at 1523 S. Mission St. on vacant property between Qdoba and Rally’s.

The city approved two different site plans because of unique circumstances, said Jeff Gray, director of planning and community development.

The Michigan Department of Transportation has jurisdiction over Mission Street. The right-of-way for much of Mission is 100 feet, but in the area from about Preston Street to Appian Way, the right-of-way widens on the east side of the road by an additional 50 feet.

Though hesitant at first, MDOT is considering giving up 20 feet of the right-of-way, Gray said.

“One plan assumed the extra right-0f-way is granted and in one plan it’s not,” he said. “If it isn’t granted the clinic will be about 6,000 square feet. If it is, they can have some extra space and move it over to have about 8,000 square feet.”

The plans propose as much as 10,000 additional square feet for other occupants, though there are no other signed tenants at this point.

Gray said if the right-of-way is given up, that would enable the construction of a paved connection between Appian Way and Fairfield Street.

“This would provide access without having to go on Mission,” Gray said.

A special-use permit was granted for both plans as part of the Mission Redevelopment Overlay Zone.

“The redevelopment plan rewards good building design and allows us to be flexible with some zoning standards,” Gray said.  “With both plans, we waived the front building setback. Normally, a property has to set back at least 50 feet from the right-of-way, but we waived it to bring the building up to the right-of-way, wherever that ends up being.”

The project will be built in two phases. Once MDOT decides whether the right-of-way will change, the first phase of construction can begin.