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Region's
Core Cities See Rebirth |
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May
3, 2004
MIBiz Network
By Tim Gwozdz
When The Shoreline Business Monthly first hit the streets
in fall 1988, the downtown core of West Michigan’s
major cities looked tremendously different than it does
today.
The region’s major metropolitan center —
Grand Rapids — was feeling the strain of years
of residential and business flight to suburbia. Monroe
Avenue North was a wasteland of abandoned or underutilized
warehouses and factories. Just south of the downtown
hub, more buildings remained either empty or in need
of serious repair. Business and social activity was
non-existent after 5:00pm as downtown workers fled the
meager entertainment offerings and uncomfortable urban
environment for the security of businesses closer to
home.
In 1988 downtown Grand Rapids was relegated to the east
side of U.S. 131 and was wedged between Fulton Street
to the south and Michigan Street to the north. Monroe
Avenue was a pedestrian mall.
But the landscape of downtown Grand Rapids has changed.
Since 1990 over $1.4 billion has been invested in downtown
development projects. Among the top dollar projects
— the Van Andel Institute, Eastbank Plaza Towers,
Bridgewater Place, the Grand Rapids Community College
Applied Technology Center, Van Andel Arena, the Grand
Valley State University Richard M. DeVos Center and
the Kent County Courthouse. New facilities built for
Spectrum Health alone account for an investment of over
$57 million.
These high-profile projects were augmented by a number
of smaller new construction and rehabilitation projects.
Those included the renovation of the Fifth Third Building,
renovations and additions to Mary Free Bed Hospital,
the renovation of The B.O.B. and the renovation of the
St. Cecilia Music Society facilities.
The Grand Action Committee is one of the driving forces
behind the rebirth of Grand Rapids’ core. Established
in 1993 as an offshoot of the Grand Vision Committee,
Grand Action put the plans for Van Andel Arena and DeVos
Place into motion. John Canepa, one of the visionaries
behind Grand Action, told The Shoreline Business Monthly
in May 1993 that the arena and expanded convention center
would have both local and regional implications.
“We recognize the vision is here and what can
happen if we don’t make it a more viable downtown,
a more viable region,” he said.
Rick Chapla is the redevelopment specialist at The Right
Place Inc. and facilitates the organization’s
Urban Redevelopment Council. He feels the real downtown
renaissance began in 1996 with the arrival of Van Andel
Arena. “It was a benchmark year, no doubt about
it.”
Chapla singled out three key contributors that have
kept that resurgence going. The first is the creation
of “Health Hill,” the area around Michigan
Street that includes Spectrum Hospital, the Van Andel
Institute and GVSU’s health sciences building.
“Without looking at documentation, I would guess
that the employment gain from those investments must
be in excess of 1,000 employees,” Chapla said.
The second is the creation of Grand Valley State University’s
downtown campus. The sprawling campus includes over
500 student housing units. Said Chapla, “It’s
truly astounding.”
The third contributor is the development of Cherry Street
Landing by Rockford Construction Group. Chapla said
that there are a number of other worthy projects, but
Cherry Street Landing sticks out.
“Rockford has picked up on a dozen different buildings
in the Heartside area during the course of the last
four years and is carrying into today. It has created
educational institution space, office space and now
residential, which has led to further residential in-fill
opportunities and residential reuse of office buildings,”
Chapla told MiBiz.
Fifteen years ago Muskegon’s downtown included
a shoreline that featured the contaminated Teledyne
Continental site, commercial docks and not much else.
The heart of downtown was an enclosed shopping center
— Muskegon Mall. In the Viewpoints section of
the April 1989 issue of SBM a guest column praised the
creation of the mall on its 13th anniversary and called
for its privatization.
“Those community leaders of the late 1960s and
early ‘70s who had the vision and fortitude to
see the massive redevelopment project through richly
deserve our gratitude for breathing life into a rapidly
deteriorating downtown area,” stated the column.
“The mall must be placed in private hands now.
The county, the city, the business community and the
citizens of Muskegon together must make it happen. The
plans put forward by Equity Properties of Chicago to
purchase and vastly expand the mall are indicative of
what Muskegon needs most — aggressive, solid first-class
entrepreneurs who know their business, are willing to
invest here and bring with them a refreshingly positive
business attitude.”
Moving Muskegon Mall into private hands proved to be
its ultimate demise. The promised new anchor stores
did not materialize and foot traffic decreased, mall
tenants abandoned the downtown location and the mall
closed its doors.
Today the mall site lies in rubble, demolished in late
2003 as its new owner, Downtown Muskegon Development
Corp. (DMDC), prepares to build a new urban core featuring
commercial, residential and retail elements. Legal wrangling
has kept the project in limbo for about a year, and
funding for the project has hit some snags.
Over the past 15 years major investments have been made
in Muskegon’s core downtown area. Of keen interest
was the construction of Shoreline Drive, which opens
up the lakefront to visitors by rerouting Business U.S.
31 along the waterfront.
The $11 million Shoreline Inn & Suites was built
on the shore of Muskegon Lake just down from the new
$5 million Grand Valley State University Annis Water
Resources Institute. A $1 million renovation of the
Hartshorn Centre has turned the once empty structure
into a vibrant mixed-use property with loft offices
and restaurants. The Muskegon Chronicle added to its
downtown roots with a $10 million expansion of its press
and production facilities.
A solid ray of hope for downtown Muskegon is the Muskegon
Lakeshore SmartZone property — Edison Landing.
The 32-acre former Teledyne Continental factory site
on the shores of Muskegon Lake was purchased by Lakefront
Development LLC several years ago and is now home to
GVSU’s second Muskegon investment — the
Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center (MAREC).
The site is also slated for a mixed-use development
with a strong residential component.
The internal infrastructure is in place and a bevy of
construction is expected to occur in spring 2004 as
the law firm of Parmenter O'Toole begins work on its
new law offices and Lansing-based Gillespie Development
starts preliminary work on its proposed project to construct
four buildings on lots bordering the entrance of Edison
Landing. The two-story buildings will have the look
and feel of the 1930s, with retail and office space
on the ground floor and apartments on the top floor.
It also is expected that some form of upscale residential
will find its place in the development. The possibility
of lakeside condominiums with marina access has been
proposed.
As for the future of downtown Muskegon, Chapla, a former
director of planning and economic development for the
city of Muskegon, has an interesting idea. “I
would advocate creating more water. I’d actually
reduce the amount of land mass and dig out some of the
foundry fill to bring the shoreline in closer to Shoreline
Drive.”
Residential
Grubb & Ellis|Paramount Investor Advisor Marv DeWinter
has been an architect in the Grand Rapids area for 40
years and has worked on a number of key downtown projects
including the Amway Plaza Hotel. That hotel renovation
sparked a renewed interest in downtown development,
said DeWinter.
One catalyst for the continuing revitalization of the
region’s core cities has been the introduction
of residential developments. This has certainly been
the case in Grand Rapids, DeWinter told MiBiz.
“Nobody lived downtown 15 years ago. Now we have
the Plaza Towers and residential north of I-196, an
area that was all factories and filled with buildings
that were dramatically underutilized,” DeWinter
said. “People have moved downtown. That’s
the biggest change.”
DeWinter points out that I-196 had been a barrier to
development north, but that’s no longer the case.
The burden of proof can be found on North Monroe Avenue.
The $35 million resurrection of the Berkey & Gay
Furniture Co. building complex on North Monroe was the
pioneering effort that kept the downtown residential
wheel rolling in Grand Rapids after the Eastbank Plaza
Towers introduced residents to downtown living in 1992.
Now known as The Boardwalk, the grounds of the old furniture
plant have been turned into a mixed-use community with
commercial space and close to 300 apartments. Other
projects, such as Monroe Terrace, continue to bring
residential back to downtown Grand Rapids.
The drive now is so great that some of the more recognizable
structures near the heart of downtown are slated for
residential components. Parkland Properties plans to
turn seven floors of the Peoples Building into condominiums
and Rockford Development group is incorporating residential
into two of four buildings it purchased on Monroe Mall.
Chapla told MiBiz he regularly gets inquiries from individuals
moving to the area who are looking for loft-style living.
“I believe the demand for that type of housing
is incredibly strong and will remain that way for the
foreseeable future, resulting in several thousand housing
units being developed around the near downtown.”
Grand Rapids’ student population is establishing
a foothold downtown with the extensive student housing
constructed to support GVSU’s Pew Campus. On top
of that Rockford Development has taken the top two floors
of the Commercial Building and turned them into student
housing for Kendall School of Art & Design. Rockford
also is transforming a building near Cooley Law School
into student housing.
The next step for downtown Grand Rapids is to satisfy
the needs of its newfound residential base.
“I think what downtown needs is more retail,”
DeWinter said. “I hear people saying there should
be a delicatessen, a grocery store. I think downtown
needs a grocery store because of all the people moving
there.”
Chapla agrees, stating that a full array of services
is needed, from bookstores to delis. Developers have
not missed the importance of residential in Muskegon.
The Amazon Building, a former knitting factory on West
Western Avenue, was converted from warehouse to residential
by Indiana-based Gough & Gough Inc. and its Muskegon
partner, Trinity Nonprofit Housing Corp. Since opening
in 2002 the $16 million project has consistently kept
its 126 residential units filled.
“The Amazon Building has done extraordinary things
for downtown Muskegon,” Property Manager Brooke
Copron told MiBiz in a 2003 interview. “I came
from downtown Grand Rapids and I think bringing life
to downtown Muskegon will bring some exciting changes.”
Along with the proposed residential units at Edison
Landing and the former Muskegon Mall property, plans
are underway to convert the former Shaw-Walker office
furniture factory into a residential property. The first
of those units should come on line later this year.
The downtown Holland area has remained vibrant over
the past 15 years, however Lumir Corp. has introduced
the residential into the mix. In early 2002 Lumir renovated
a four-story building across from the J.B. Labs Building
at Sixth Street and Central Avenue. The development
has 12 condominium units that feature a port or patio
and an attached garage.
The Renaissance age
The state of Michigan’s tax-free Renaissance Zone
program has provided an impetus to core city development
across West Michigan. Launched in 1996, the Grand Rapids
Renaissance Zone program has resulted in the initiation
of 119 projects and investments totally more than $247
million. Projects range from the multi-million rebirth
of the Brassworks Building on North Monroe Avenue to
a $35,000 investment in a hat store on Hall Street.
Grand Rapids Economic Development Director Susan Shannon
told MiBiz that the Renaissance Zone program opened
doors for local developers. “Grand Rapids developers
and business people are always looking for good opportunities.
They like rehabbing older building, which makes our
community unique. Given the little push they needed,
they rose to the occasion.”
COPYRIGHT 2004.
MIBIZ NETWORK.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
This article
appeared in the May 3, 2004 issue of MiBiz, read by
upper management executives in West and Southwest
Michigan. Print subscriptions are free to qualified
individuals who do business in West and Southwest
Michigan. For further information about MiBiz Network,
visit www.mibiz.com
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Printable Version |
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“On
August 11, 2001, we celebrated 50 years in Western Michigan.
You don’t do that without excellent relationships
with everybody.”
Mike Pepper,
General Manager
Howmet Corporation
an Alcoa Business |
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