Real Estate/Development
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Continental Linen Services Inc. is wrapping up the first phase of expansion at its Kalamazoo headquarters as it plans to break ground next week on a new office to serve customers in Northern Michigan.
Compliance One LLC of Kalamazoo has acquired Rockton, Ill.-based Keyes Life Safety Compliance LLC.
After helping save one historic building from the wrecking ball and rehabilitate it into usable office space, the Inner City Christian Federation is looking to do “an encore performance.”
With ‘beautiful little niche’ in green building, Bazzani Building transitions to new owners
Written by Mark SanchezGRAND RAPIDS — In selling shares in the design and construction management firm he started 23 years ago, Guy Bazzani begins to wind down a lengthy career that had a significant influence on the green building movement in West Michigan. Bazzani Building Co. is among the pioneers locally of design and building principles and practices that follow a Triple Bottom Line philosophy that blends economic, social and environmental sustainability.
Lawmakers, advocates push for revival of state’s historic preservation tax credit
Written by Sydney SmithA bipartisan group of lawmakers in Lansing hopes to revive Michigan’s historic preservation tax credit, which they say will encourage redevelopment in communities across the state. Bills introduced in the state Senate and House earlier this year would reinstate a tax credit of up to 25 percent for rehabilitation expenses on historic properties.
Shrinking margins, higher costs could limit access to recycling in West Michigan
Written by Sydney SmithThe closure of two recycling drop-off locations in West Michigan highlights the need for the industry to focus on operational efficiency at a time when margins are shrinking. But recycling advocates say the loss of access stemming from the two closures could act as a deterrent in the push to increase Michigan’s recycling rate, which is about 15 percent and ranks among the bottom of all U.S. states.
GRAND RAPIDS — The new owner of Bazzani Building Co. in Grand Rapids plans to maintain the company’s niche focus of sustainable design and construction Investment firm ASA Group LLC, based in Granger, Ind., near South Bend, closed in late April on the acquisition of a majority stake in Bazzani Building, a design and construction management company that over more than two decades established a niche and reputation for its sustainable business practices.
CWD Real Estate Investment Inc. is nearing completion on a project that will offer offices in a historic building in downtown Grand Rapids.
The Waldron Public House, owned and operated by BarFly Ventures LLC, will be transformed into a three-story tiki bar and restaurant this summer.
GRAND RAPIDS — As Michigan’s second-largest city continues to grow and developers scoop up the remaining developable vacant land, it’s likely that some Grand Rapids residents who rent homes in desirable neighborhoods could face being displaced.
GRAND RAPIDS — Studio Park developers announced Tuesday that five retailers and a restaurant will be included in the development.
Developers plan mixed-use project featuring Mercy Health at vacant Norton Shores Kmart site
Written by Sydney SmithNew York-based real estate development and management firm RD Management LLC plans to convert a former Muskegon-area shopping center into a mixed-use development.
Professional services firm BDO USA LLP has relocated its service center to a Franklin Partners LLC building at 5300 Patterson Avenue in Grand Rapids, the development firm announced today.
Until a couple of years ago, environmental assessments for property transactions did not include checking for PFAS contamination. Now, it has become standard practice in areas that have confirmed contamination with the family of industrial chemicals. According to legal experts who work in the real estate industry, both buyers and sellers need to complete due diligence when it comes to properties contaminated with PFAS.
Kent County Land Bank purges properties; Grand Rapids to work with state land bank
Written by Sydney SmithGRAND RAPIDS — Ahead of the impending dissolution of the Kent County Land Bank Authority, the city of Grand Rapids and the Michigan Land Bank are working to form a partnership to allow the local agency’s services to continue under the state banner.
WALKER — Industrial technology and electrical services firm Feyen Zylstra LLC plans to invest $5.3 million in a new facility in Walker.
KALAMAZOO — Campus Advantage Inc., a student housing management company based in Austin, Texas, has taken over management of a property in Kalamazoo, near Western Michigan University.
GRAND RAPIDS — A development partnership wants to convert the massive former Display Pack Inc. building at 1340 Monroe Ave. NW into a 310-unit affordable housing project.
GRAND RAPIDS — RDV Corp. is planning a transformation of a former Fifth Third Bank building in downtown Grand Rapids where it announced in December it would move its headquarters.
GRAND RAPIDS — Developers for the new Studio Park entertainment district have resurrected plans to add an office building at the project, MiBiz has learned. Olsen Loeks Development LLC of Grand Rapids, in partnership with Studio C, says it will develop a new $30 million office development at 100 Ottawa SW in Grand Rapids.
GRAND RAPIDS — City planners hope a road diet along the Michigan Street corridor will move traffic more efficiently and help reduce crashes The road diet, planned for this spring, will extend from College Avenue to Eastern Avenue on the northeast side of Grand Rapids. Modifications include changing the striping configuration to create one travel lane in either direction and a center left-turn lane, plus a parking lane on the south side of the road.
GRAND RAPIDS — New ownership plans to turn Local 741 into a neighborhood bar after acquiring the site from a partnership involving an affiliate of Third Coast Development LLC. James Matthews, owner of Iron Well LLC, purchased 741 Leonard St. NW and Local 741 from Third Coast on March 20. Terms of the deal, which included Class C liquor and specialty designated merchant licenses, and the property transaction were not disclosed.
The Kent County Road Commission has voted to deny a more than $5 million bid for its Central Complex property along the Grand River
GRANDVILLE — Mall owner Brookfield Property Partners LP has purchased the former Younkers store at RiverTown Crossings in Grandville. The purchase came as part of A&G Realty Partners’ auction of 10 department store properties formerly owned by Milwaukee-based The Bon-Ton Stores Inc., which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2018. The Younkers location at The Lakes Mall in Fruitport Charter Township near Muskegon was also included in the auction.
LINC UP partners with Ohio developer on proposed $17 million housing project
Written by Sydney SmithGRAND RAPIDS — To help curb fears of gentrification, a local nonprofit and an Ohio-based developer have partnered on an affordable housing development on the city’s southeast side. Ohio-based MVAH Development LLC, a development, construction and property management firm, is working with LINC UP on the proposed Eastern Lofts at 623 Eastern Ave. SE. The two hope to secure Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) in the April funding round.
Grand Rapids-based Long Road Distillers LLC hopes to open a new satellite tasting room on the lakeshore.
A vacant church in Grand Rapids’ Heritage Hill neighborhood could be transformed into affordable housing by next year.
VICKSBURG — A proposed large-scale redevelopment in Southwest Michigan is angling to be the second project in the state to use a new funding tool. Paper City Development LLC is hopeful its proposal will meet the Michigan Strategic Fund’s criteria to use the state’s transformational brownfield program, an incentive first enacted in 2017.
Q&A: David Denton, Vice President of Real Estate Brokerage, DAR Development Inc.
Written by Sydney SmithDavid Denton says even though e-commerce is affecting the retail market, he’s expecting another good year for the sector from a real estate development perspective. Denton, vice president of real estate brokerage at DAR Development in Grand Rapids, was recently named to the Midwest Real Estate News Hall of Fame and previously served as president of the Commercial Alliance of Realtors.
A Grand Rapids-based development group has proposed plans to activate Grand Rapids Public Schools’ long-vacant West Leonard Elementary facility.
Holt-based Moore Trosper Construction Co. has opened an office in Sault Ste. Marie in an effort to work with the local Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.
Schostak Development buys Grand Rapids distribution facility for $24.1 million
Written by Sydney SmithThe real estate and development arm of Livonia-based Schostak Brothers & Co. has purchased a 950,000-square-foot distribution facility in Grand Rapids.
Kent County Road Commission receives one $5 million bid for Central Complex property
Written by Sydney SmithGRAND RAPIDS — The Kent County Road Commission is evaluating one bid valued at more than $5 million for its property on the Grand River. The Road Commission in December released a notice of sale for its Central Complex property located at 1500 Scribner Ave. NW along the west bank of the Grand River near U.S. 131. According to the Road Commission, 2722 Vassar LLC, which is registered to Christopher Weller, was the only entity to submit a bid.
A proposed headquarters project in Cascade Charter Township could become the home for Acrisure LLC, a Caledonia-based insurance brokerage that’s been growing rapidly through an ambitious M&A strategy.
Two lakeshore communities are rethinking how former industrial sites will play a role in future development along their waterfronts.
Health care construction remains steady amid hospital consolidation, technology updates
Written by Sydney SmithTo help make Bronson South Haven Hospital more efficient, the owners are planning to shrink the facility’s footprint as part of a compact, contemporary health village design. Kalamazoo-based Bronson Healthcare, which acquired the former South Haven Health System in 2017, tapped Elzinga & Volkers Inc. to lead the $22 million project, which exemplifies a shift away from the inefficient designs of the past.
A $44 million hotel development in downtown Kalamazoo has secured project funding from the state of Michigan.
A project to construct townhomes in the city’s Michigan Oaks neighborhood gained financial support from the state on Tuesday.
Developers hope to begin construction this summer on housing and commercial space at a former church on the west side of Grand Rapids.
Hotel development in West Michigan remains on a torrid pace for 2019. Developers have plans to add more than 800 new rooms this year, with developments popping up in downtown Grand Rapids and in suburban areas surrounding the city. At the same time, although annual hotel occupancy dipped slightly for 2018, hotel revenue actually increased, a reflection of record room bookings.