ST. JOSEPH -- After a few years in limbo, the 24 North Lofts in St. Joseph project is underway, as they "broke" ground Wednesday.

Originally planning on having a restaurant occupy their bottom floor, "24 North Lofts" had to re-group after they backed out. As part of that re-grouping, they added three new apartments to the ground level.

Co-Owner Jon Petters says after the wait they're excited to see it take off. He says the city was very helpful when it came to crossing all the hurdles required.

"All of the financing and different things that have had to be done with the city have been, St. Joseph's been excellent helping us do that."

He adds they're looking to open in the fall. While they couldn't actually break ground, thanks to the recent visit from old man winter, their contractor will be starting the heavy lifting within the next few weeks.

"We're looking at late fall 2018, Winkelman Construction is our contractor. They'll start digging any day now."

Petters says he's excited about the future of St. Joseph, as it looks like it will be an "even more fun town to live in" in the next few years. A 3,900 square foot space is still available on the ground floor for any retailer or restaurant that would like to move in.

There are 14 apartments total in the three-level building. You'll have either a one or two-bedroom models with fireplaces and large decks/patios. The three ground level apartments also have six-foot iron gates around the patios.

The one-bedrooms plus den start at $1,200 a month and the two-bedrooms with wrap around decks are $2,300 a month. The second-floor apartments are also specially zoned for low or no-traffic businesses.

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