GRAND RAPIDS — Mayor Rosalynn Bliss outlined the “next version” of Grand Rapids during her eighth State of the City address, emphasizing the need for more housing density to meet demand, completing major riverfront projects and improving policing.

GRAND RAPIDS — State and local housing leaders are beginning to collaborate on ways to accomplish goals established in Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Statewide Housing Plan.

GRAND RAPIDS — A West Michigan nonprofit that provides free temporary housing for families of children receiving medical care plans to renovate and expand its Grand Rapids campus after experiencing pandemic-related delays.

GRAND RAPIDS — Sustainability, transportation and placemaking are top priorities for Grand Rapids residents as city officials prepare a 20-year master plan to guide future development.

GRAND RAPIDS — DeVries Jewelers plans to tear down the abandoned Lannings’ restaurant on Grand Rapids’ west side to make way for a new storefront for the fourth-generation, family-owned jewelry retailer. 

GRAND RAPIDS — The developer behind a Grand Rapids workforce housing project that recently broke ground seeks to replace 10 ground-floor apartments with a daycare center to help address the widespread shortage of child care options.

GRAND RAPIDS — City officials have released a plan for spending $8.5 million in federal funding primarily on repairing or building hundreds of affordable housing units and creating homeownership opportunities.

GRAND RAPIDS — West Michigan workforce development leaders say Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s latest budget proposal should include a greater focus on short-term training programs and community organizations currently excluded from state-funded talent initiatives.

GRAND RAPIDS — House Rules Board Game Lounge plans to add a kitchen and expand its space to accommodate busy weekends at the bar, which features a collection of board games for customers as well as weekly trivia nights.

GRAND RAPIDS — Less than a decade ago, the Creston Neighborhood was positioned to be “that next hot spot” in the city of Grand Rapids. A developer planned two mixed-use housing projects in the neighborhood’s business district, spurring other businesses to plan for expansion or relocating to the neighborhood.

Some Michigan municipalities are getting creative with how they spend tax revenue coming back from their licensed cannabis businesses, while others are using the annual funding for core services and resolving budget deficits.

GRAND RAPIDS — Developers are making progress on the design and overall vision for a Grand Rapids riverfront amphitheater, which they call “the largest proposed redevelopment of a riverfront in the nation at this point.”

A portfolio of West Michigan businesses has tapped a longtime statewide policy advocate to help lead its strategy to bring more people of color into construction and related sectors.

MUSKEGON — Rake Beer Project LLC is moving its brewery and taproom across downtown Muskegon to the former Pigeon Hill Brewing Co. space, where owners also plan to debut a new coffee concept.

GRAND RAPIDS — A DeVos-owned building with a “long, storied history” in downtown Grand Rapids recently sold for nearly $6.4 million, and is set to once again house a private social club.

KALAMAZOO — The developer of a 15-story mixed-use project in downtown Kalamazoo will now fill one floor with 21 apartments instead of initially planned commercial space, which became “extremely challenging” to fill as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

GRAND RAPIDS — The Grand Rapids Trans Foundation plans to grow its programming via new office space and a full-time, paid executive director position for the first time in the nonprofit’s seven-year history after being entirely volunteer-run.

From transitioning to being an employee-owned company and moving its headquarters, Twisthink LLC is going through many changes as the digital consulting firm aims to attract more people to its team.

Despite construction cost escalations and a range of delays, real estate development and investment firm Magnus Capital Partners broke ground in December on a 240-unit, $51.5 million multifamily housing project in Grand Rapids.

Grand Rapids-based Edustaff LLC has quickly grown over the last dozen years from a regional company to the third-largest staffing organization in the country for substitute teachers.

GRAND RAPIDS — A 52-unit affordable housing development proposed in Grand Rapids’ Belknap Lookout neighborhood faces opposition from nearby residents and a city planning board about whether the project fits in the surrounding area.

ZEELAND — Ada-based developer Honeycrisp Ventures LLC recently closed on a former 45-acre agricultural site in Zeeland that will be converted into nearly 1 million square feet of much-needed industrial space.

GRAND RAPIDS — Leaders of environmental consultancy Catalyst Partners LLC started transferring ownership of the firm to a group of its employees in December in what has been a years-long journey. 

GRAND RAPIDS — Cannabis operators want Grand Rapids officials to provide more education and clarity around the city’s Cannabis Social Equity Policy, as well as make policy changes so more operators can comply with their social equity promises.

Discount home goods retailer Tuesday Morning plans to close more than half of its U.S. stores, including locations in Grand Rapids and Portage, after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Tuesday. 

MUSKEGON — The Muskegon City Commission approved amendments on Tuesday that will pave the way for construction to begin on the $250 million Adelaide Pointe development along Muskegon Lake.

GRAND RAPIDS — A group of affordable housing developers plan to construct a three-story, 52-unit apartment building next to the Union Suites on Coit housing project that is currently under construction in Grand Rapids’ Belknap Lookout neighborhood. 

Advocates are awaiting details on how to access $275 million in new funding programs to address the state’s housing shortage.

With the exception of a shaky office market, business leaders in West Michigan are reporting largely healthy downtown city centers with increased visitors, an influx of businesses opening and new projects under construction.

GRAND RAPIDS — The city Planning Commission has signed off on rezoning key parcels to facilitate a $150 million mixed-use redevelopment, despite concerns from a nearby business about whether the project conforms to surrounding industrial uses.