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.

GRAND 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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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 $44 million hotel development in downtown Kalamazoo has secured project funding from the state of Michigan.

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.

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.

Grocery chain operator and food distributor SpartanNash Co. plans to open a small-format Forest Hills Foods store in the Grand Rapids suburb of Ada.

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.

A co-op hopes to open a grocery store as part of a larger mixed-use project just south of downtown Grand Rapids.

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.

MUSKEGON — A deal to redevelop the former Ameribank building is making headway, but the project remains contingent on incentives from the city and the Michigan Economic Development Corp. Muskegon developer John Essex, managing partner and president of Core Development LLC, submitted a formal purchase agreement to the city prior to the Jan. 30 deadline. If the project goes ahead, it would transform a partially demolished building into a new use in the core of the city’s downtown.

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.

A corner commercial building along the East Fulton Street corridor in Grand Rapids is under new ownership.

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.

Federal tax reform means multiple benefits to the real estate industry, although some further guidance is needed for investors to fully understand what that means. After President Donald Trump signed into law the most sweeping changes to the U.S. federal tax code since 1986 with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, experts pointed to the real estate sector as one of the winners with the reforms.

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

GRAND RAPIDS — The construction industry, both nationally and statewide, continues to express persistent concerns related to a labor shortage and escalating construction costs in the year ahead. 

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

The proposed sale of a site on the west bank of the Grand River could offer the property’s next owner a chance to fulfill some community goals for the city’s waterfront.

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

Two department store properties in West Michigan will hit the auction block this month.