David 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.

The real estate and development arm of Livonia-based Schostak Brothers & Co. has purchased a 950,000-square-foot distribution facility in Grand Rapids.

GRAND 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.

Two lakeshore communities are rethinking how former industrial sites will play a role in future development along their waterfronts. 

To 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 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.

Trillium Ventures MSV LLC, a Grand Rapids-based multifamily investment and property management firm, has acquired two Kalamazoo apartment complexes.

Pending finalization of the building’s purchase agreement, Gaia Cafe and the Division Avenue Arts Collective LLC have a clearer path to opening in Grand Rapids’ Creston neighborhood.

GRAND RAPIDS — Three Grand Rapids women on a mission to “keep Creston funky” have entered into a partnership to bring back Gaia Cafe and The Division Avenue Arts Collective LLC, this time in the city’s north quarter neighborhood. The partners are under contract to purchase a vacant 4,972-square-foot building at 1553 Plainfield Ave. NE, which has commercial space on the ground floor and a two-bedroom apartment on the second level.

GRAND RAPIDS — A strip shopping center along 28th Street has new owners. Grand Central Plaza, located at 2035 28th St. in Grand Rapids, was sold to an undisclosed Michigan-based firm, according to NAI Wisinski of West Michigan.

The state will help fund the cleanup of a contaminated former dry cleaner in Wyoming to make way for a redevelopment project.

For years, the city of Hudsonville wanted to encourage developers to create a more traditional downtown for the Ottawa County community. Officials often found themselves in a Catch 22 in trying to spur those kinds of development projects. Because the city lacked what’s traditionally classified as a downtown area, the local government was unable to seek funding incentives for developers, which in turn hindered the growth of a centralized urban area.

KALAMAZOO — Southwest Michigan’s largest city is radically rethinking how its street network connects its people to neighborhoods, businesses and major institutions. In a January agreement with the Michigan Department of Transportation, the city of Kalamazoo accomplished a long-standing goal of getting back under local control the major streets through its downtown and into adjacent neighborhoods. Now, officials want to reconfigure the streets into a multi-modal part of the city’s urban center.

GRAND RAPIDS — A private investment group has purchased a downtown commercial office building at 61 Commerce Ave. SW for $4 million, MiBiz has learned. An investment group affiliated with Byron Center-based E5 Ventures LLC bought the five-story, 28,245-square-foot commercial office building from ProCare Corporate Headquarters LLC. The transaction closed on Jan. 14.

GRAND RAPIDS — Developers relied on low-income tax credits to add nearly 2,000 units of affordable housing in the city over the last five years. While the credits provide key gap financing to affordable housing developers, officials who administer the funding say the program is consistently “oversubscribed,” leading to delays for new projects.

WALKER — With a massive amount of new housing in the works, the city of Walker hopes to further define its identity. Developers have planned and the city has approved more than 400 housing units for the Grand Rapids suburb, including 206 single-family units and up to 221 multifamily residences.

Van Wyk Risk Solutions has signed a lease to occupy Class A office space in the new Warner Building downtown.

Kingma’s Market will close its store in Ada almost 18 months after opening the second location.

One of the most active development and property management firms in Grand Rapids in the years after the Great Recession now faces liquidation, MiBiz has learned.

Pioneer Construction Co. will serve as construction manager for the city’s renovation of VandenBerg Plaza, known commonly as Calder Plaza.

Executives at nonprofit development organizations think the dissolution of the Kent County Land Bank Authority will affect their operations, even if some of the specific effects will remain unknown until the agency is officially closed.

The Greenwich Hospitality Group has acquired a northern Michigan beachside resort hotel.

The Hinman Co. is expanding its property holdings with the acquisition of a downtown Kalamazoo building.

KALAMAZOO — A market aims to “fill the void of groceries” for those living in downtown Kalamazoo.