The problems with the project mostly stemmed from the crawl space work, which required shoring, replacing structural members, leveling floors and insulation. 

It is in a northern MI Downtown area (opp zone) in a county seat with 2 hospitals, had it re-zoned to mixed use, and is considered blighted which makes it eligible for MEDC funding of up to 50% of project cost.It is 8k sqft (4,000 each level) with the lower level being a walkout (top level is street level with sloped drive down to the rear of the building).

That can vary depending on the market and the level of service provided.Hope this helps!

Calling the appraiser to see what you can do to push it up a "C-Level" would be smart before doing any reno also, might only need a few things to make it far more valuable in the eyes of the bank.I've heard of a tactic for figuring out demand, which is to put up a dummy or coming soon listing on facebook marketplace and see the amount of activity you get on it. 

BUT....With the rates dropping ( and they will)  Buyer interest will increase and the markets will immediately start to level first , then increase( prices) as both buyers and sellers see the market stability and value.

I will not use the equity from my personal residence to invest in real estate, sure it can make more money but its just my level of risk tolerance.  

Would we be able to spend $1k in aquisition costs to get to that level?

If you want to fill your property with residents sourced from the companies above, imagine being the overworked, relatively low-level employee tasked with finding the appropriate housing ASAP.

Sounds like the county failed on multiple levels including not giving proper notice, not sending notices to the correct address, etc. 

Little Rock and OKC are the capitals of each state so there's a ton of government jobs that provide a strong level of security because we all know those jobs aren't going anywhere.