^It's a good move on the City's part, and has proven successful in other locales. It activates otherwise empty downtown streetfronts and, as you noted, serves as a kind of business incubator.

I get the feeling Muskegon and Ithaca are somehow related. ;) There's a similar mini retail location in Ithaca:

https://ithacavoice.com/2018/03/lot-...ess-bay-alley/

Been quite successful. :cheers:

Very cool! Definitely a more permanent incubator than Muskegon's chalets maybe we'll see something like that in the future too.

Muskegon -

Muskegon is getting in on the shipping crate construction trend. This should bring some new energy to the area around this planned restaurant site at 98 W Clay Ave.

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Source:MLive | Courtesy Jeff Church and Three Squared, Inc.

Muskegon -

Work is moving along on the 6-story Lake View Lofts project downtown, which fills in another portion of the large hole left by the demolished Muskegon Mall. On Tuesday, 5/22, MEDC awarded a $1.5 million loan to the project through its Community Revitalization Program. Up to 50% of that loan is forgivable if certain conditions are met. Here is the approximate site, located right next to MLive's Muskegon office.

There are also some nuggets in the below MLive and WZZM articles regarding a Phase 2 and 3, which sound like they will both include substantial construction projects, if all goes well. Also, mention of 2 other five-story buildings within a 3-block area, according to the WZZM video at the link below.

Construction progress May 23, 2018
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Source: MLive | Mike Krebs


Below are some construction progress screen shots taken from the above WZZM news story (May 22, 2018)
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Source: WZZM

A reminder of the finished project rendering
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Source: MLive

^ Great stuff!

Interesting news with that Italian restaurant as it looks like it will be to the east of Terrace. That's an area that hasn't seen much development in a long time.

This is the building currently at the address. I took this shot 10 years ago. It was already vacant at that point and as far as I know has been vacant since.
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2015/...fee1dd95_z.jpgMuskegon Auto Parts Has Run Out of Parts by Brandon Bartoszek, on Flickr

Grand Haven -

The Lynn Sherwood Waterfront 'Stadium' along Grand Haven's waterfront is wrapping up this month.

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Source: Grand Haven Tribune | Courtesy City of Grand Haven

Muskegon -

Well, this all looks / sounds very interesting. No developers on board yet though.

6/10/2018 Edit - Images Added

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Source: MLive | DPZ CoDesign

Holland -

Here is a link to a proposal for 68 W. 8th Street. This is a 4-story, 30-unit mixed-use project, which would be an expansion of the currently under-construction 60 W. 8th St. which itself has 21 units. The proposal is fairly recent, from May 20. This would be adjacent to the new mixed-use development at 102 W. 8th St. - which will be anchored by a movie theater, bakery, and Hopcat. This all furthers the city's goals of connecting the market and civic center to the main retail activity center further east.

The article below summarizes pretty well all of the cosntruction occuring along W. 8th Street right now -

North Elevation - the four-story building on the left is currently U/C by the same developer -
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West Elevation -
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South Elevation -
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Site Demo Plan -
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Site Layout Plan -
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Source: City of Holland

A reminder of the 102 W. 8th St. project, which at one point as proposed as 4-stories -
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Source: Holland Sentinel

Windward Pointe would be a game-changer for Muskegon; that is one sexy siteplan. :slob: This would be the city finally being able to capitalize off it's waterfront once again, but this time in a different and more accessible way.

Whoa. That would be incredible for Muskegon.

Love the fact that the city is recognizing how positive their waterfront could be. I wish Ithaca leaders were as responsible.

Grand Haven -

This approved new development is pretty suburban, but it has some merits, both in the form of two new 2-story structures and a re-purposed, former bowling alley.

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Source: Grand Haven Tribune | Courtesy renderings

St. Joseph -

This groundbreaking for this new outdoor sculpture park was last week.

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Source: Herald Palladium | Don Campbell

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Source: Herald Palladium | Courtesy Ratio Architects, Inc.

"Before" Site Plan
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Source: Patronicity | Courtesy Ratio Architects, Inc.

"After" Site Plan
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Source: Patronicity | Courtesy Ratio Architects, Inc.

Benton Harbor / St. Joseph -

I came across this impressive planning study document while searching around last night. The document was commissioned a few years ago now (2015) but the potential of what it contains is beginning to pick up steam in the area. There is a design charrette scheduled this month to review the plan and generate more discussion within the community.

Coastal cities like Benton Harbor and Muskegon are getting more serious about capitalizing on what is one of their best assets; the waterfront.

Like most planning tools, this is visionary, to be sure, but vision is a good thing when backed by funding and action, and I think the time is ripe for some of this to start coming to fruition. There is a lot of fight left in Benton Harbor, which has faced a lot of challenges. Many local activists and developers are dreaming big for the future of the Benton Harbor / St. Joseph Twin Cities Harbor area. The study is focused on the immediate harbor area - Marina Island and adjacent St. Joseph river shore line. There is a lot in this study to take in. It explores current land use and possible urban productivity, commercial shipping / port consolidation, recreational planning concepts, residential markets, walkability, environment and sustainability, zoning, funding strategies, etc.

The study was commissioned by the City of Benton Harbor, and was prepared in collaboration between the Southwest Michigan Planning Commission, local developers, Gibbs Planning Group, the 2015 Andrews University School of Architecture & Interior Design, and numerous other stakeholders.

There is too much imagery and information to post here, so go look at the study document if you want to read more.

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New Buffalo -

Another coastal city that is investing in its downtown and capitalizing on its assets is New Buffalo. NB is wrapping up a two-year streetscape improvement project that was the product of 15 years of planning. The bit below about the original wood water lines that were unearthed is quite interesting...

I couldn't find any really great photos to post of it. But here is a rendering and a potential reconfiguration plan from Houseal Lavigne Associates (Urban Planning Firm) -

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Source: Houseal Lavigne Associates

Another business opening up in downtown Muskegon at the corner of Clay & Terrace. That location puts it next to the new Italian restaurant mentioned upthread.

^ That's good news. And I see that the city approved a plan to sell bonds to help fund the planned new convention center -

Muskegon -

Muskegon -

This looks great - another 6-story project proposed for downtown Muskegon, filling in more void space that was freed up when the mall was demo'd. Called The Leonard, it will occupy the corner of Second Street and Western Avenue, and will feature underground parking, ground-floor commercial, 2 stories of office space, and 3 stories of apartments (18 units total). Could break ground this fall.

The rendering looks like it shows only 5 floors - either the design is changing, or maybe there's a penthouse floor that is cut off from the angle of view.

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Source: Justine McGuire | MLive