3 luxury brownstones list in Traverse City after $9M office conversion

Credit: Freshwater Development
A rendering of the Brownstones at 100 Park would be on the Boardman River with access to Grand Traverse Bay.

A developer who returned to West Michigan after working on New York City skyscrapers is debuting his second high-end residential project in downtown Traverse City with the conversion of a former law office into three luxury brownstones.

Andrew McCarthy, a former New York developer who launched Traverse City-based Freshwater Development in 2021, is in the process of wrapping a $9 million conversion of the former Dingeman & Dancer PLC law office into the Brownstones at 100 Park. The homes will include dedicated boat slips on the Boardman-Ottaway River that provides access to Grand Traverse Bay.

The three units hit the market on June 24, with white-box prices of just less than $2 million up to just more than $2.3 million. Quoted prices for the finished units range from about $2.6 million for the smallest, 1,800-square-foot unit to just more than $3 million for the largest, which spans nearly 2,300 square feet.

Lydia Wiley, director of sales and marketing for Freshwater Development and a broker with @properties REMI Christie’s International Real Estate in Traverse City, has the listing for the three residences.

Brownstones at 100 Park would be on the Boardman River with access to Grand Traverse Bay. Credit: Rendering courtesy of Freshwater Development.

The three-story project, which will have its own gated parking lot, is at 100 N. Park St. at the intersection with Front Street in the heart of the historic business district. An entity tied to McCarthy acquired the building from the law firm’s founder, Daniel Dingeman, on March 25 for $3 million, according to CoStar Group Inc.

“We’re excited about the community aspect, being on this corner and on the waterfront,” McCarthy said. “We feel that that’s just a very unique product that we’re bringing to the market, and also kind of a repurposing of a premier corner in Traverse City.”

Rendering of a bedroom at Brownstones at 100. Credit: Freshwater Development

The project is believed to be Traverse City’s first “100% conversion” of an office building to multi-unit residential use, said Dave Weston, Traverse City’s zoning and planning administrator. Some other office buildings downtown have had upper floors converted to apartments while maintaining ground-floor commercial, and a Fifth Third Bank branch was once converted to a single-family home, Weston said. But no one has ever attempted a brownstone conversion like this.

“Andrew is kind of new to the scene right now,” Weston said of McCarthy’s development efforts downtown. “We’ve had really positive experiences with him. He’s doing really quality work … and we look forward to working with him some more.”

McCarthy also is the developer behind another adaptive reuse project in downtown Traverse City, the Penthouses at 111 State project, whose two units listed for sale in May.

The eat-in kitchens in the units would offer a view of the water. Credit: Rendering courtesy of Freshwater Development

Offering custom options

Freshwater Development, which is the developer, designer and general contractor for the brownstones, will work with buyers to fit out the units using approved and permitted plan sets that have already been priced out with the firm’s subcontractors. The plumbing, electrical and floor plans are set, but buyers would be able to choose from an array of fixtures, finishes and color palettes to customize the units within the quoted budget.

“We wanted to give the buyers an opportunity to make some decisions on the finishes,” McCarthy said. “We have curated two collections of interior design packages, and we have those prepared to review with buyers, and they can make adjustments to them to really make the house feel like their home and customized to their needs and the way that they live.”

All of the units are designed to have open-plan living areas, 3.5 bathrooms, private balconies off the main level and a walk-out lower level with terraces and access to the boat slips. The smallest floor plan calls for three bedrooms, while the largest has five beds.

Living areas in the units are designed with an open floor plan. Credit: Rendering courtesy of Freshwater Development

Finish packages include luxury amenities such as Miele and Bertazzoni appliances, Kallista and DuVol fixtures, white oak flooring throughout, Taj Mahal quartzite countertops and back splashes and bathrooms clad in Carrara and Dolomite marble.

Because the plans are already permitted, Wiley noted the build-outs for the units can be done in as little as five months. Depending on how long it takes to sell the units, McCarthy estimates the residences could be completed and move-in ready by the end of 2025 or first quarter of 2026. The project’s exterior work is expected to be completed by the end of this summer.

Packages include luxury amenities, including bathrooms with marble finishes. Credit: Rendering courtesy of Freshwater Development

Fitting an ‘investment thesis’

McCarthy said he bought the building from the law firm, which has since moved to the Village at Grand Traverse Commons, because it’s on a corner lot “with three sides of light and air” and because it came with three deeded boat slips in the front of the building — an amenity that no other downtown Traverse City residences currently have.

He said the building was also tall and wide enough to give each side-by-side unit views of Lake Michigan’s West Grand Traverse Bay, which is part of his “investment thesis” when scouting for Traverse City real estate.

“Instead of thinking horizontally, using the floor plates like condos, the real spark, or the real thesis here, was to create the brownstones using all three floors,” McCarthy said. The building’s 67-foot width allowed for each residence to be 20-feet wide, “which lays out really nicely for bedrooms and bathrooms as well as view corridors to Lake Michigan,” he added.

The final product, he said, will be “three floors of windows that are floor-to-ceiling glass looking out at Lake Michigan with protected views, because they’re looking across the Boardman River, across a city-owned piece of land, and then to the beach and Lake Michigan beyond.”

Each side-by-side unit will have views of Lake Michigan’s West Grand Traverse Bay. Credit: Rendering courtesy of Freshwater Development

A full gut and rebuild

Wiley said while the building shell, interior steel girder and most of the basic footprint was left intact, Freshwater “kept nothing” else the same because the 29-year-old building lacked a residential vibe.

A porte-cochère on the Front Street/parking lot side was removed and replaced with structural infill to square off the building. The Front Street side had only four windows, so Freshwater added about 20 more to fill the units with light on both ends.

The brownstones also will have all new windows on the river side, all-new doors, a brand-new roof with synthetic slate tiles, new tuckpointing and brick-stain, and completely new interiors.

“It was completely gutted on the inside, down to the structural studs,” McCarthy said. “Then we’re adding balconies on the back, so we have steel that’s being constructed for those balconies … to create multiple outdoor spaces, one on the main living floor and one on the lower level, a terrace that goes out to the boat slips.”

Wiley said she’s already heard buzz about the brownstones from folks who have been watching the project take shape. She has had verbal interest from buyers in Texas, the West Coast and even a smattering of international interest. She expects to get calls from Midwest buyers and people who already own property in Northern Michigan who would like to be able to live downtown with their boats.

McCarthy said Freshwater is offering the option to furnish and manage the units for the convenience of second-home buyers.

“We have a white glove management company (where) we do everything for the homes that we build,” McCarthy said. “That full package is what some of the people from out of state seem to appreciate.”

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