Yes. It's the main failure from a state policy perspective, too. Or at least it was with the 'placemaking' programs. I was initially skeptical when the community development programs moved from MSHDA to MEDC, but now I'm optimistic. I've spent enough time in the great urban centers on the west coast to understand that if there are the right jobs, then people will come. And urbanism is en vogue right now, hopefully for good, but who knows. It's important have the middle and high density housing typologies many Michigan downtowns are so sorely lacking, and the amenities, but you need to have the jobs. And the schools. Schools are also where so many communities fail badly. Without good schools, you're going to get the young professional set and perhaps a couple empty nesters, but you're not winning unless you're getting the people with kids. End of story.

I would agree. I don't know the dollars and cents comparison for residential vs. commercial investment in this city over the past decade, but in terms of visible conversions and remodeling especially, I'd guess that residential is winning out, to the point that semi-vacant, downtown commercial structures (thinking Mall Plaza, Corporation Hall, 100 block of E Michigan Ave.) have all had their above-ground floors converted into residential lofts and apartments.

I concur. The question in Kalamazoo that I hear all the time is, housing for who? There are very strong racial and socio-economic divisions here, and for a city so small, I think local government and developers alike have struggled to navigate the dynamics and historical divides in the city when it comes to providing new housing. I also think a lot of businesses steer clear of downtown because of the complexities involved with developing something new (various overlay districts, taxes, land acquisition, parking challenges, etc. etc.). That's pretty much a challenge in any urban center, but in a region where rural land land is available just a few miles away from the city center (and is still quite cheap and less regulated), many businesses opt for staying outside the core. Maybe The Exchange will set a good precedent for the coming years in attracting more businesses with substantial employment #s to downtown.

One thing's for sure - if the number of folks who can currently claim live / work status in downtown Kalamazoo is less than 1/2 a percent of the entire city population, yet recent studies say the downtown is ready to support another 2,000 - 3,000 units of housing, something isn't adding up...

Well put. No doubt that education is a key factor. Kalamazoo has The Promise (guaranteeing discounted or free in-state college tuition to those enrolled at Kalamazoo Public Schools), which definitely helps, but its public schools need work. They are not considered as strong as many surrounding communities. Portage Public Schools, Mattawan Consolidated Schools, and Gull Lake Community Schools all rank highly in the state, and these are communities that are all growing faster than Kalamazoo proper, by at least double the rate. And I think business is growing faster in these outlying communities too.

Kalamazoo and Kent County take first and second place, respectively, when it comes to beer production that is made and sold in the state. I'm not surprised about the two front runners, but I was vaguely curious which of the two counties produced more barrels. Kalamazoo is ahead by a long shot, 196,398 barrels annually in 2017, (driven heavily by Bell's 95% of production) vs. the 135,265 barrels in Kent County, and a mere 36,628 barrels in Antrim County (3rd place). Oakland County came in 4th with 34,670 barrels produced.

Here's to Kalamazoo, the true beer capital of Michigan :cheers::cheers::cheers:

Well well well...this is pretty interesting. Some new design renderings were released today for the 7-story, mixed-use Catalyst Development Co. project, planned for Lot 9. Also, the City still has not agreed to the sale of the property. The vote for that happens this Monday. But a lot of equipment is already sitting on site waiting to go, so presumably this is a done deal.

It doesn't sound like the actual guts of the thing changed, just the overall aesthetics. And I'd say for the better. The new renderings -

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Source: WWMT | Courtesy Catalyst Development Co.

Compared to before -

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Ironically, it's actually kinda starting to look a little more like Tower Pinkster's original design for The Exchange, back when it was a planned 8 stories high around 2011, before Byce took over -

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Source: Tower Pinkster

Hmmm, I like the angles on the older version, but they did better with the roof in the newer one.

I like the treatment of the balconies and fenestration better now. It definitely seems more fitting for the area. And the sale of Lot 9 was approved by the city on Monday, so hopefully we'll see this Catalyst building break ground soon now (update - from a separate article, groundbreaking now slated for Monday, 7/23) I noticed a small crew on site evaluating an existing transformer today.

And Kalamazoo County finally approved a new animal shelter, estimated to cost $5 million. This article says construction could start in a few weeks - I don't know what the final design will actually look like though.

The Kalamazoo Humane Society is also working to build a new shelter. They announced a fundraising campaign in June.

This is kind of interesting. I didn't know this existed at WMU. Hopefully they will collaborate with the many architecture firms and ongoing construction in the area -

The components:

^ That's great news. I have long been wondering what progress was being made, if any, on some of these empty 'River's Edge' sites. The BRA issued an RFP for this site and a few others last year and then...nothing for a long while. And now this. Here's hoping that it pans out. It sounds like the right level of density, and a project that could catalyze more projects in the district.

Some updates from today:

The Exchange - up to the tenth floor now -
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Bronson / Former Kalamazoo Gazette - this is the slowest-moving project that I've ever seen downtown - work is happening, but at a snail's pace -
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251 E Lovell - all that remains
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We're getting a rendering now for Pfizer's new processing facility planned for its Portage complex. This will be adjacent to the new cold-storage facility (barely visible in the background). It is expected to generate up to 450 new jobs, with construction completed in 2021 and with full operation in 2024.

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Source: Crain's Detroit Business

It kinda has an airport-terminal vibe to it. Pretty funky for the suburbs.

That is an exceptional design for an industrial/processing/light industrial facility, way more than I was expecting. Heck, that would be a nice design for its usage anywhere in the country.

Let's hope it stays this way. That orange-yellow color looks to me like a unitized brick or panel system; a play off of the light-colored brick found on most of the other buildings. It helps break up what would otherwise be a monotonous glass curtain wall. I'm wondering who the Architect is.

And now that I look closer, this almost looks like it's on the other side of Portage Road, opposite side to the rest of the facility. Earlier news articles made it sound like it would be on the same side of the road as everything else. Maybe it's just the perspective, but it seems like too tight a squeeze to be right next to the cold storage facility.

This also looks vaguely like an arena.

I really like the redesign of the Lot 9 project. Much better than the original design.

The Pfizer building definitely looks like an airport terminal or arena of some sort. Infinitely better than the tasteless designs of many buildings of its type. I love seeing Michigan's smaller cities getting some nice modern construction!

Here's another article on the Pfizer expansion, including a photo of a 3D-printed model of their campus, with the new sterile processing facility shown (in the foreground). It definitely will adjoining the existing structure, and not be across the street. There's a neat story about that 3D model by the way, which was printed in 114 seperate prints, over 1,300+ hours, through a collaboration with KVCC.

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Source: Kathy Jennings | Second Wave Media

This is very preliminary, but Firekeepers Casino (near Battle Creek) could be getting a second hotel tower. The current hotel is 8 stories and has about 240 rooms. Apparently those rooms had an occupancy rate of greater than 95% last year.

I like the design for the first tower. It would be neat if the second one garnered even more presence along I-94.

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Existing Firekeepers Hotel Tower, photo courtesy NHPBI

The Catalyst development started coming alive earlier this week, and today marks the first day of real significant activity since the pile drill showed up. The perimeter fence was extended on Monday / Tuesday, and today the entire lot was milled and cleared. We can expect to see the pile borer start moving about the site very soon I think. It is currently parked out of site to the left of these images.

As an added bonus, you can see the Kalamazoo Ribfest ramping up in the distance.

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Lip Sync Challenge video with Kalamazoo Public Safety. Actually not half bad, and bonus footage of the skyline at the very end.

• Video Link

Happening now: groundbreaking ceremony for the Catalyst / Lot 9 development project.

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Update: The local media caught up:

This will be an incredible transformation for this part of downtown. The work is expected to be complete by June 2020 - less than 2 years. It sounds like it is being referred to as 180 East Water Street.

The Midtown Fresh grocery story, in the former Harding's - south of downtown, had its soft opening yesterday, and it looks good. Reminds me a bit of a Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. There's a cafe, a full kitchen with two full-time chefs, and curbside pickup. Eventually there will be a pharmacy and an eat-in dining area. This is an important addition for a community near the downtown core.

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Source: MLive | Joel Bissel

I don't know how I didn't realize Kalamazoo Promise was going to be one of the anchor tenants of Catalyst.

Midtown Fresh looks great. Is this an independent or local company? It's really great to see these places open up in the city. Lansing's then-rep and current mayor sponsored a bill last year that passed that requires requires the Michigan Strategic fund to set aside 5% of its subsidies through its Community Revitalization Program for the attraction of urban/downtown grocery stores. So I hope we see more of these. It's little things like this that can really make the most difference.