PLAINFIELD TWP. — Funding the construction of a 52,000-square-foot community center with a 20-year millage will be up to township voters to decide during the Nov. 2 election. 

KENTWOOD — Phoenix Theatres LLC plans to invest $4 million to refurbish the Woodland Mall’s movie theater space formerly occupied by Celebration! Cinema. 

The short-term outlook of city officials and commercial real estate experts is improving as office workers gradually return to in-person work, and they share an optimism as downtowns reawaken from the COVID-19 pandemic.

HOLLAND — City officials are in the final stages of what has been a three-year process to overhaul Holland’s zoning codes into a model that encourages housing density while balancing neighborhood concerns. 

WALKER — The city’s Planning Commission will consider plans next week for an industrial speculative building as well as a rezoning and site plan review request for a planned mixed-use development at the former Lincoln Country Club.

GRAND RAPIDS — The owners of Eastern Kille Distillery have sold their Grand Rapids manufacturing and tasting room property to Spectrum Health, generating a major return on the craft spirit makers’ real estate investment as they seek to maintain operations within the city.

Developers and contractors see some light at the end of the tunnel as sky-high prices for lumber and other construction commodities begin to decrease from peaks during the pandemic. 

GRAND RAPIDS — As city officials and private developers structure a property deal to advance plans for a downtown amphitheater, Kent County commissioners are seeking more involvement in a process on which they will ultimately vote.

ZEELAND — Coworking space Little Space Studio LLC recently reopened its downtown Grand Rapids location after delays from COVID-19, and is now expanding with another facility in Zeeland.

SAUGATUCK TWP. — New Standard cannabis company has opened its sixth dispensary in West Michigan with a newly built retail store in Saugatuck Township.

GRAND RAPIDS — Wheeler Development Group LLC is in the conceptual stages of a planned mixed-use development with 39 apartment units and ground floor retail in Grand Rapids’ Eastown neighborhood.

Planning officials in Grand Rapids, Kentwood and Wyoming hope a nearly completed study will help spur redevelopment along South Division Avenue after a highly touted bus rapid transit project failed to deliver on its economic development promises.

The Michigan Senate passed a package of bills today that would allow municipalities to award a range of tax incentives to developers for affordable housing projects. 

GRAND RAPIDS — City officials expect to purchase riverfront property currently home to the Kent County Road Commission by fall of 2023, setting in motion plans for an amphitheater to be constructed roughly two miles south.

KALAMAZOO — Prominent businesses and community organizations will soon move into the newly constructed mixed-use Warner Building in downtown Kalamazoo.

State lawmakers have introduced a bill seeking compromise in the ongoing dispute between local governments and real estate advocates over short-term rental property regulations.

GRAND RAPIDS — Glass fabricator and installer Vos Glass LLC is planning to relocate within the city of Grand Rapids to accommodate growth and expansion.

Proposed changes to the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program administered by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority seek to increase access to the funding tool to communities beyond downtowns and city centers.

Local officials and affordable housing advocates in Michigan have been vocally opposed to legislation that would make short-term rentals a permitted use in all residential zones.

West Michigan tourism officials are reporting upward trends in travel and hotel stays as COVID-19 restrictions lift, and leaders are optimistic about the local tourism economy for the rest of the summer.

Municipalities could lose a significant amount of their authority to regulate short-term rental properties under legislation that was approved Tuesday by a state House committee.

The lifting of Michigan’s in-person work restrictions is a light at the end of the tunnel for remote workers eager to get back to the office, while others are hoping flexible work settings will stick long term.

GRAND RAPIDS — A year after starting her boutique real estate law firm, Sara Lachman is moving operations to leased office space in an iconic downtown Grand Rapids building.

Michigan business leaders expect a strong third and fourth quarter this year as vaccinations and federal stimulus funds are deployed, while most companies expect a gradual return to in-person work, according to a survey by a statewide business roundtable.

GRAND RAPIDS — Construction is expected to start next spring at the historic Sligh Furniture Co. factory near downtown on what would be one of the city’s biggest housing developments in recent years.

Multifamily and industrial are the two hottest commercial real estate markets in West Michigan while the outlook for office and retail is comparatively less optimistic, according to a new first quarter commercial real estate trend report.

PLAINFIELD TWP. — The Plainfield Charter Township Planning Commission on Tuesday voted in favor of the Reimagine Plainfield Plan, which recommends ways to build vibrant places, encourage green space, and make Plainfield Avenue north of I-96 more of a destination.  

GRAND RAPIDS — The two-year redevelopment of the former Grand Rapids Christian High School building into a variety of uses, including 40 affordable apartment units, is now complete.

The Generation Z workforce — once thought of as craving the opportunity to work from home, where they find flexibility and freedom from the watchful eye of a superior — happens to be the demographic that is most eager to return to the office.

GRAND RAPIDS — Conceptual plans for a massive mixed-use redevelopment on the block of the Sligh Furniture Co. building received Grand Rapids Planning Commission approval Thursday.