OKEMOS - As of October 2015, the old Marc property located near the Okemos and Hamilton Road intersection in Downtown Okemos was sold to Evergreen Companies' owner Kris Elliott. Elliott's plans for the space is to turn it into a restaurant known as the Tavern & Tap. When the property was initially bought, Evergreen Companies started with some exterior work on the building. For unknown reason, the project suddenly came to a halt, so the vacant Marc building has been siting untouched for the last year.

A year later the project is moving forward. Evergreen Companies has recently applied for a variance to add on to the building. The current building sits too close to Okemos Road and doesn't meet current set backs of Meridian Township's ordinance. A variance is needed in order for the company to ask for relief from the set backs of the building. The variance will be discussed during the Sept. 28 Zoning Board of Appeals meeting.

Meridian Township Senior Planner Peter Menser said, "So he's going to add seventeen hundred square feet to the building and once they move ahead with that, they want to work throughout the winter, both interior and exterior, to develop this Tavern & Tap restaurant and open in the spring."

There's no set date for when the restaurant will be open, but currently they are hoping for sometime next April.