WEST MICHIGAN | General Developments

[Thirteen Mile]

Thanks for the Muskegon updates just what I needed it’ll take me a while to digest it all not that’s a bad thing

Downtown has come so far from the days of the Muskegon Mall dominating the center surrounded by a sea of parking lots this is one of the best urban success stories in the state up there with Kalamazoo and downtown Detroit.

Just for frame of reference I want to post this old pic from the days of the Mall not that downtown shopping malls are inherently terrible ideas but when poorly planned and or executed they can be disasters. Downtown after the mall was closed and demolished was in a sad state of affairs for about a decade albeit that decade included the Great Recession although I digress great pics!


Wikipedia

[deja vu]

Originally Posted by Thirteen Mile

Thanks for the Muskegon updates just what I needed it’ll take me a while to digest it all not that’s a bad thing

Downtown has come so far from the days of the Muskegon Mall dominating the center surrounded by a sea of parking lots this is one of the best urban success stories in the state up there with Kalamazoo and downtown Detroit.

Just for frame of reference I want to post this old pic from the days of the Mall not that downtown shopping malls are inherently terrible ideas but when poorly planned and or executed they can be disasters. Downtown after the mall was closed and demolished was in a sad state of affairs for about a decade albeit that decade included the Great Recession although I digress great pics!


Wikipedia

I love comparing images between the days of the mall and now - it is endlessly fascinating to me. I try to look for clues when walking around downtown, of what used to be where. There is perhaps no other city of its size that has undergone such transformation in the entire Midwest, for better, for worse, and for better again.

It is sad how much was demolished for the mall, yet also remarkable and fortunate how much was preserved and enveloped into the mall design. While the mall obliterated the traditional downtown and disrupted road continuity, if the mall had been designed differently, we might have lost even more of the historic fabric of the city. Thankfully a lot of the damage, at least in the "urban infrastructure" context, was able to be reversed. And even more thankfully, the city never lost its beating heart during all of the change. I would rank present-day downtown Muskegon among one of the greatest urban successes in the country, not just Michigan. I think it will only gain more appreciation and recognition with time.

Design decisions that were presumably made to expedite construction and save money led to the ability for some older structures (including the Savings Bank building, depicted below) to be saved and rehabilitated when the mall came crashing down around them - I would have loved an opportunity to walk through here before it was demolished. This is roughly the same vantage point today -


Source: Pinterest

[deja vu]

This sounds like a smart move -

Hudsonville-based owner, Suburban Inns, can take advantage of the Hilton brand loyalty. Plus, the article mentions a few improvements that come with the switch, including the installation of new locks that can be controlled by smart phone apps for remote check-ins. I wouldn't be surprised if the GR location followed suit -

CityFlatsHotel in Holland joining Tapestry Collection by Hilton
MiBiz Staff
February 08, 2021

[deja vu]

Muskegon -

Redevelopment plans for the massive Shaw-Walker factory took a step forward last month. On January 26, commissioners voted to approve a zoning change and development agreement that will allow for a medical marijuana growing operation and 150 apartment units. The agreement requires a $25 - $30 million investment by May of 2024, reduced from an earlier $40 million requirement, along with the creation of at least 50 new jobs -

Large marijuana grow site gets OK for Shaw-Walker factory that also will see 150 new apartments
Lynn Moore | MLive
January 27, 2021

Source: MLive


Grand Haven -

Shortly after the city gave its final approvals for Peerless Flats, news came that the Michigan Strategic Fund has approved a $4.75 million Community Revitalization loan for the Peerless Flats project. Construction is estimated to begin this April on the 124 unit, $25 million housing development -

State awards $4.75M loan to Grand Haven residential development at ‘underutilized’ site
Rose White | MLive
January 26, 2021

[deja vu]

Grand Haven -

The City continues to work to update its Grand River waterfront master plan. Public comments were gathered last year, and now the city is further evaluating their plans, with the aid of a $1.5 million grant from the MEDC. A key focus area is a stretch of vacant property along the Grand River, were some retail buildings (named "Chinook Pier") were recently demolished after mold was discovered in late 2019. They are looking into ideas like an all-seasons structure for their farmers market and other public-private development partnerships.

In addition to the greenlit Peerless Flats development, the City is working to wrap up the public comment phase for redevelopment plans of the former Grand Haven Board of Light and Power diesel power plant, located at 518 Harbor Dr. This should be a fun one to watch play out - it's a masonry structure that dates back almost a century and officials want to see redevelopment plans that preserve and rehabilitate the original structure. Several mixed-use proposals have been floated by developers, and a recommendation from the Board of Light and Power is expected by City Council later this month. You can read about the proposals at the article below -

Grand Haven sees economic development momentum around 3 key projects
Kate Carlson | MiBiz
January 31, 2021

[deja vu]

Grand Haven -

The old "J.B. Sims Generating Station" coal power plant was imploded this morning - it will be weird for a while to no longer see this from many vantage points along the lakeshore - including from miles away, along the beachfront of P.J. Hoffmaster State Park - but it's a good change. Mediation will take at least a few years, while the city works on deciding what to do with the land. This follows the demolition of Muskegon's B.C. Cobb coal plant a few years ago -

• Video Link

• Video Link

[deja vu]

Muskegon -

VanDyk Mortgage Convention Center - Opening in March!


Source: LinkedIn | Visit Muskegon


Less glamorous, but much-needed, West Michigan Catholic Charities new Kolbe (detox) Center is also set to open next month. This is part of a larger, multi-million dollar campus the nonprofit organization has been building at the corner of W Dale Ave. and 7th St -

Catholic Charities set to open new Muskegon drug and alcohol detox center in March
Rose White | MLive
February 17, 2021

Source: MLive | Courtesy Catholic Charities West Michigan

[deja vu]

Grand Haven -

Recent zoning changes are already having an effect on housing developments in the city -

Grand Haven ordinance encourages new housing developments
Ehren Wynder | GRBJ
February 5, 2021

A rendering of a Robinson Landing house, one of 32 such units planned for the north side of Comstock St. The mixed-income development is the result of a collaboration between the city, HousingNext, MCC, the Ottawa County Land Bank, and the Grand Haven Area Community Foundation. Groundbreaking is scheduled for this Spring -


Source: GRBJ | Courtesy MCC

[deja vu]

Muskegon -

Muskegon Public Schools decided to permanently close its Nelson Elementary School one year earlier than planned to help mitigate anticipated budget shortfalls due to COVID-19. The school, located at 550 W Grand Avenue, consists of a 1959 addition to an original 1929 structure (I think it's Spanish Revival style). It was very outdated and in need of lots of deferred maintenance.

Anyway, there is a vision to redevelop the existing school into apartments and to construct new townhomes on-site. Cornerstone Architects posted a conceptual animation on their LinkedIn site. If you are unable to view that, they also posted some before / after comparison concept renderings. It's neat to see them proposing to keep the mid-century academic wing. It would be amazing to see this come to fruition. This is all from 4 months ago now, so I'm a bit behind, and I'm not sure whree they are at in the design process, or if it has moved forward at all from visioning -
























Source: LinkedIn | Cornerstone Architects, Inc.

[deja vu]

Grand Haven -

New apartments might be coming to the site of the old Grand Haven Tribune building at 101 N. Third St. The city recently gave their approval for brownfield reimbursements for the "The Trib" a proposed 5-story building (4 floors totaling 39 apartments atop ground level parking). The project is estimated to be complete by the end of 2021, which sounds a bit too ambitious -

New apartment building in downtown Grand Haven moving forward at old newspaper site
Lynn Moore | MLive
February 19, 2021

Source: MLive | City of Grand Haven

[deja vu]

It's hard to believe that this thread turns three years old today! It's been an interesting experiment so far, and it's high time this thread had a real project rundown, so I have begun slowly working my way through all the posts, oldest to newest, to start constructing a project rundown for each city in the West Michigan region. I'm about halfway through - check it out if you want - comments & ideas are welcome (refer to the first two posts of this thread). I am following the format that I established for the Northern Michigan thread - the scroll bar tool makes it a little more manageable to create rundowns for multiple cities in thread. So far, it's mostly Muskegon & Holland stuff. Unsurprisingly, that's where most of the discussion has organically gone, since they are the two largest cities with the most stuff going.

[deja vu]

Muskegon -

MCC has agreed to sell its financially challenged Lakeshore Fitness Center, which it permanently closed last May. It will be interesting to find out who the buyer is, and what they plan to do with the 40-year-old facility & property. MCC bought the former YMCA property in 2015 -

Muskegon college accepts $1.17M offer to sell fitness center to anonymous group
February 23, 2021
Melissa Frick | MLive

MUSKEGON, MI – Muskegon Community College has agreed to sell the Lakeshore Fitness Center to an anonymous nonprofit after college officials learned the group’s identity in a closed session this week. The board voted unanimously Monday, Feb. 22, to accept the group’s $1.17 million purchasing offer, which is the same price the college paid for the former YMCA building in 2015. The identity of the buyer hasn’t been made public...

Source: MLive

[deja vu]

Muskegon -

I found some more renderings for Muskegon's u/c "The Leonard" while looking around on their Facebook page. The exterior one isn't that new - it's from December 2019, but I haven't posted it here yet. The rest are from earlier this month. It's the first I've realized that this thing will have a roof deck -

Exterior -

Source: Facebook | The Leonard

Kitchen -

Source: Facebook | The Leonard


Source: Facebook | The Leonard


Source: Facebook | The Leonard

Lobby -

Source: Facebook | The Leonard

Roof Deck -

Source: Facebook | The Leonard


Source: Facebook | The Leonard

[deja vu]

Originally Posted by deja vu

Harbor 31 - Muskegon

A massive Planned Unit Development has been announced for Muskegon Lake. The $110 million proposal would include a mix of residential and commercial development, based around a "town center" plan. It is being referred to as Harbor 31. The 35-acre parcel is the site of a former Teledyne Continental Motors industrial facility, and some remediation is still required. An earlier redevelopment plan branded the area as a "SmartZone" - an initiative which attracted... a few things, including a GVSU Innovation Hub, an office building, and a few condos - but it never reached its full build-out potential. It is located just east of the Terrace Point housing development, and much of the road infrastructure is already in place.


Source: Mlive | Courtesy Henrickson Architecture

Well it sure didn't take long for this to go from announced to approved - and construction could start as early as this summer. I thought all of the site remediation was done, but apparently not, so that might slow things down some. This is going to happen in several phases, with the first phase being 31 single family and duplex residences named "Viridian Shores " (and adjacent to the pretty-much built-out Terrace Point subdivision. There's a lot of time for things to still evolve.

$110M residential, commercial project on Muskegon Lake wins city approval
Lynn Moore | MLive
January 22, 2021

Meanwhile, next door in Muskegon Heights -

10 marijuana shops get initial approval from the city of Muskegon Heights
Lynn Moore | MLive
January 20, 2021

Four will be microbusinesses (limited growing & selling capacity), two will be larger growing and process facilities with a retail sales component, four will just be retail sales, and an 11th will be just growing and processing. I'm not even going to try and track down specifics for all of these (all of the property addresses can be found in the MLive article). Most of the businesses will be moving into renovated vacant storefronts.


Source: MLive

[deja vu]

Holland (Township) -

GRCC's new Lakeshore Campus is expected to be open in time for the Fall semester. It's an interesting example of how traditional indoor malls are being repurposed for new uses. GRCC will occupy the former 50,000 SF JC Penney's portion of the Shops at Westshore mall. I don't think I posted these photos yet -

GRCC eyes fall opening for Lakeshore campus
Paul R. Kopenkoskey | The Lakeshore
February 15, 2021

Source: The Lakeshore | Courtesy

[deja vu]

South Haven -

Back in November 2018 / Post #96 I mentioned Bronson was going to build a new $22 million hospital adjacent to their current hospital building in South Haven at 955 S. Bailey Avenue. Then I never followed up on it. Well, that new hospital broke ground in October 2019 and it is well-along in construction now, with an opening expected very soon.

By most definitions, this will be a full-service hospital, with the exception of surgical suites and mother-baby space. It will be just 2 stories and 52,000 SF. The facility will house all of the same services that occupy the existing building, though some capacities for inpatient space / beds are getting reduced as the healthcare provider seeks to adopt a more lean approach. It was determined that the cost of a new building would be less than revamping the existing one, portions of which date back to 1941. The new building will be far more energy efficient too. Chicago-based Matthei & Colin Associates, LLC led the design, and Holland-based Elzinga & Volkers leads the construction effort.

Services housed in the new building will include:

First Floor:

• 14-Bed ER Department
• Radiology / Imaging Department
• Core Lab & adjacent Phlebotomy / Blood Draw area
• Pharmacy Services
• Small Inpatient Unit (6 private rooms & 1 semi-private room)
• Dietary, EVS, Maintenance, Bio-Med and Receiving areas
• Cafe & Dietary Services
• Lobby, Registration, & Gift Shop

Second Floor:

• Outpatient Clinics
• Offices, work areas and storage

The floor plans are a study in efficient space planning -


Source: Bronson Health


Source: Bronson Health

Exterior Rendering -


Source: Bronson Health

First Floor Lobby Rendering -


Source: Bronson Health

Inpatient Bedroom Rendering -


Source: Bronson Health

Exterior - April 2020 -


Source: Bronson Health

Exterior - August 2020 -


Source: Bronson Health


Source: Bronson Health

Lobby - February 2021 -


Source: Bronson Health

Inpatient Bedroom - February 2021 -


Source: Bronson Health

Nurse Station - February 2021 -


Source: Bronson Health

Main Corridor - February 2021 -


Source: Bronson Health

[deja vu]

Wayland -

There has been a lot of expansions and investments at Gun Lake Casino in Wayland in recent years. None of it has ever really been highlighted on here (probably because I'm not nuts about casinos, TBH, and it's not super-sexy architecture). But the work is notable, if nothing else for the scale of the investments. For example, the tribe recently completed $76 million, multi-phase expansion project, which included a 5-story, 475,000 SF / 1,200-space parking deck that opened in late 2018, a "High-Limit" gaming room with a new bar that opened in September 2017, and a new 300-seat buffet, slots, table games, and live performance venue in May 2017. That expansion also created space for an additional coat check, a rewards center, a self-serve station, and additional administrative office space.

Now, they are in the midst of another massive, $100 million expansion that will bring 72,000 additional SF of new dining, entertainment, and gaming space. That addition is expected to open sometime later this year, and it's completion will bring the tribe's total investment in the facility to $415 million since its original opening in 2011.

I can only imagine that the next major addition will be a hotel tower. It seems absolutely 100% inevitable that this has to be in the future for a space that has grown this much. Below is an older article, but it provides some details of the current expansion and the casino in general -

Gun Lake Casino adding $100M expansion
Holland Sentinel Staff
October 17, 2019

Current progress from today, via the OxBlue construction camera -


Source: OxBlue

Renderings of the current expansion -


Source: Holland Sentinel | Contributed


Source: Holland Sentinel | Contributed


Source: Holland Sentinel | Contributed

And a schematic plan of the addition (in blue) -


Source: Holland Sentinel | Contributed

Renderings of the completed parking deck addition -


Source: Gun Lake Casino


Source: Gun Lake Casino

"High-Limit" room, with slots, table games, and bar -


Source: Gun Lake Casino


Source: Gun Lake Casino


Source: Gun Lake Casino

Harvest Buffet -


Source: Gun Lake Casino

[deja vu]

South Haven -

In addition to the new hospital building that is wrapping up construction, ground was broken on February 3 for a new Wound Center & Surgical Services Building. It will be built on the same campus, just north of the new hospital, but completely detached. The 4,500 SF facility will include 4 exam rooms and a 2-chamber hyperbaric treatment room. The same design & construction team that is employed on the new hospital project is behind the development of this center (Chicago-based Matthei & Colin Associates, LLC and Holland-based Elzinga & Volkers). The current goal is to open the facility November 1 of this year.




Source: Bronson Health

[deja vu]

Berrien Springs -

Berrien Springs Public Schools' new $19.7 million Arts and Athletic Center (AAC) Bond Project is well underway. Groundbreaking happened back in August of last year, with site work starting before that in May of last year. The project consists of two main components: a new Performing Arts Center (PAC) and a new Indoor Athletic Center (IAC). The IAC portion is mostly enclosed and shelled now, along with the auditorium portion of the PAC. Scope of work from the district's bond website -

Scope of the Project

The Performing Arts Center (PAC) would provide classroom & instructional space for the choir program, band program, drama & musical productions, and possibly technology-related programming such as robotics, computer science, and future technology-related programming. In addition, the facility would provide auditorium style seating, storage areas and performing areas for the school district’s Fine Arts programs.
​
The Indoor Athletic Complex (IAC) would provide auxiliary gym and practice space for up to three (3) indoor athletic teams at one time, additional team locker rooms for male and female athletics, a new fitness and weight room, and wrestling and competitive cheer practice space. The IAC would be strategically located between the Tennis Complex, Sylvester Outdoor Athletic Center and Baseball/Softball complexes to allow all athletes to benefit from the Fitness and Weight Room.

A future phase of work will involve constructing a new high school building, south of, and connected to, these additions. The AAC is the yellow portions in this master plan -



Site Plan -



AAC Floor Plan -



Renderings -










Source for all of the above: BSPS

The General Contractor, FCC Construction, Inc. recently posted some cool drone footage of the construction progress at the PAC (screenshot below is from the video) -



• Video Link

[deja vu]

Allegan -

Some might recall that in March of last year, a proposal to sell public park land to a private hotel developer was voted down by residents of Allegan. That hotel proposal would have resulted in an un-named, 4-story, 80-room "boutique" hotel at 101 Brady St. overlooking the remainder of that park and the Kalamazoo River. The opposition to this was organized and fierce, with about 2/3's of voters opposed to the land sale. I kind of figured the project would die after the results of that vote (or at the very least, move to another site). But in December 2020, the developer, CL Real Estate, in partnership with Suburban Inns and Lakewood Construction, shared a new proposal for a Hampton Inn with the additional floor for an additional 24 rooms, for a total of 5 floors / 104 rooms. This doesn't exactly scream "boutique", though that word is thrown around as casually as "luxury" these days. The opposition still seems organized and fierce, and I don't really understand how this moves forward on that same site without a land deal -

The currently proposed hotel (rendering from the river / park side) -


Source: Facebook | Friends of the Riverfront

The earlier version, c. 2019 - 2020 (rendering from the Brady St. side) -


Source: Wood TV 8 | Courtesy Friends of the Riverfront