Kalamazoo -

There's a "new" site plan review packet for the 508 Harrison / 600 Gull Road (River Caddis Development), a.k.a. "River's Edge". It's actually dated 7-20-2022, but was just posted yesterday. I'm not sure what the delay may have been, but it doesn't look like the design has changed substantially from what we saw in December 2020 in the Zoning Board of Appeals minutes. The development still includes four buildings, including (2) 4-story apartment buildings (222 units total), a much smaller 4-unit building, and a community building -

https://www.dropbox.com/s/afx2jmw5ol...Plan.jpg?raw=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/j1cwbyggid...ions.jpg?raw=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/m8qyc9evuk...ives.jpg?raw=1
Source: City of Kalamazoo | Byce & Associates

A little more context to my previous post - the BRA has reportedly been awarded a $1 million grant from EGLE to clean up the property for development. So with that assurance, maybe now the developers feel it is the right time to proceed with site plan review -

https://www.dropbox.com/s/v8eo8m1xxi...%201.jpg?raw=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/18cfrjyy0m...%202.jpg?raw=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/twuopwpyrt...%203.jpg?raw=1
Source: MLive | Byce & Associates

Battle Creek -

Bronson Behavioral Health Hospital progress - October & November (right before all of the snow) -

https://www.dropbox.com/s/enim4jiljh...ober.jpg?raw=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8v531n95k7...mber.jpg?raw=1
Source: LinkedIn | CSM Group

Condo development on vacant lots aims to revitalize Kalamazoo’s Eastside neighborhood
https://www.mlive.com/resizer/6zPGWs...DIO6JQNUGE.jpg
https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo...ghborhood.html

There's really not been much to report on lately. I did notice that the tower crane for the downtown justice facility came down yesterday. This marks the first time in a long time that a tower crane hasn't graced Kzoo's skyline. Pretty much since this thread's inception, there has been at least one crane consistently on the skyline. I wonder what & when will be the next occasion to see one...

I was unable to get a photo of the crane dismantling yesterday, but I walked by it today at lunch -

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ny3cb40xc6...lity.jpg?raw=1

Also, 400 Rose Phase 2 looks nearly complete from the outside. One curious difference with this second phase is that all of the first floor units have balconies, instead of concrete patios with stairs that connect to the public sidewalks. There is a perimeter fence around all of the balconies. I wonder if tenants of the phase 1 units have had issues with random people wandering up their steps, even with the squat, locking gates at the stair landings -

https://www.dropbox.com/s/feurx1p4mu...02-1.jpg?raw=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/bo0n0544ar...02-2.jpg?raw=1

I'm crossing my fingers for this one:
https://wwmt.com/news/local/kalamazo...ention-center-

Agreed. That seems like the mostly one to go next, at least based on what we know right now.

Portage -

The Pfizer MAP facility - this building has some serious girth. Drive-by from this morning -

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ak1xtaoxdp...%201.jpg?raw=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gxv7r7mzt1...%202.jpg?raw=1

Kalamazoo -

Restaurants come and restaurants go. That's been especially true in Kalamazoo as of late. Here is some local restaurant news. Probably not all of these will succeed. Which ones will you frequent?

1. ThunderBird River Ranch

Newly opened, I give this place a year, tops. It's basically just Arcadia Ales 2.0. I think it will suffer from the same challenges that killed the original prospect. An over-saturated downtown restaurant market, less-accessible and less walkable than the nearby competition, riddled with nearby homeless encampments, persistent labor shortages, just average-looking food, and bad décor / overall ambiance. Plus, a stupid-sounding name -

:yuck:

2. HighDive Kitchen + Bar

This one might have a better chance, centrally located in the former Olde Peninsula Brewpub (and maybe eventually expanding into the adjacent Grand Traverse Distillery with SideBar) -

3. The Hub Tavern & Grill

I'd give this one a 50/50 success rate. Good location, but just a rehashed version of Central City TapHouse -

4. Apoptosis Brewing Company

This one is scheduled to open in the former Big Apple Bagel shop on South Westnedge. Not sure if its location away from the concentration of downtown restaurants will help it or hurt it (it didn't seem to help the bagel shop) -

5. Theo & Stacy's

In closure news, a long-term staple is finally shutting its doors -

228-unit apartment complex proposed near Portage City Hall

https://www.mlive.com/resizer/OzZxpL...NHG7WL253M.jpg

https://www.mlive.com/resizer/2dlXNt...CWKETLYWZU.jpg

https://www.mlive.com/resizer/0RLKuW...NN4NW4J6A4.jpg

https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo...city-hall.html

^ Wow that's big, and about time we saw some higher-density housing in Portage's "core" area. Can't really call it a downtown in the traditional sense, but this is a good step in the direction of a denser, more walkable city center. Looks like River Caddis Development is doubling-down on the housing market in the region, with both this one and the 508 Harrison / 600 Gull Rd. proposal in Kalamazoo, mentioned at the top of this page.

I took this picture of the Kalamazoo Justice Facility about a week ago, from the top level of The Exchange. I always assumed you needed some sort of card access credential to get to the 15th floor, but it is very much open to the public (at least during business hours) and you can get a pretty good view looking south and north from windows in the common area. Not visible from this view, but the TAKTL UHPC rain screen cladding is finally starting to go up, on the west façade -

^ You can just barely make it out in the previous photo (top-left). Integrated Services of Kalamazoo’s new Behavioral Health Urgent Care and Access Center is making rapid progress -

https://www.dropbox.com/s/dfe02u9rvj...201.jpeg?raw=1
Source: LinkedIn | Miller-Davis Company

Also, as I was driving yesterday, I noticed it looks like they are staking out the new Boys & Girls Club on Portage Rd. so this one might finally get going -

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7bjxtiql47...GCGK.jpg?raw=1
Source: MLive | TowerPinkster - provided by BGCGK

Kalamazoo -

The small Woods Lake Square mixed-use development at 3110 Oakland Drive, seen yesterday. Right across from here, the Country Club is undergoing a somewhat controversial expansion, mainly because some natural green space is being cleared -

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qdujs9umca...%201.jpg?raw=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9l1tbujau0...%202.jpg?raw=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/nrfkcaqvyf...%203.jpg?raw=1

Country Club
 

Yes, a positive development! We're gonna have to swallow another credit union to get six whole residences, I guess. The country club is a waste of land close to several neighborhood centers, and while I support natural green areas around and outside the city, anything adjacent to a bus line and neighborhood shopping zone should be developed with more multifamily housing. Six more short golf holes for "training" is perhaps the worst use of land I can imagine, other than a parking lot.

But billionaires will do billionaire-ing. :shrug:

I'm trying to hold on to the knowledge that many golf courses are going under and being redeveloped as something other than lawnspace in much of the rest of the country.

I nominate the block occupied by the strip mall and the Comerica branch to be torn down for a four plus one stick-built 100+ unit apartment building. This node needs density.

Sadly, I'm resigning myself to Kazoo being a large parking lot with occasional niceties---much like that recent Portage City center development noted above.

I guess they need a place to train the city's future billionaires on how to properly golf (without clogging up the varsity links).

I honestly haven't kept up with it. But it seems like the process has been less than transparent. Is this on a portion of the shuttered Lakeside Academy property?

I saw there was a petition circulating social media, expressing neighborhood dissent. Also, a new Facebook group to galvanize the masses and rally around stopping the planned development. Maybe too little too late, based on images like below. But this is gaining momentum, and watch for another MLive article, reportedly coming soon too -

https://www.dropbox.com/s/azwowpllhm...Club.jpg?raw=1
Source: Mlive | Gracie Smith

News article on the Kalamazoo Country Club Expansion, including renderings. I didn't realize that it was this expansive, some (not any news outlets) are saying the total investment will be north of $100 million -

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rcnczfzoka...sion.JPG?raw=1
Source: MLive | City of Kalamazoo

Separately, groundbreaking is set for tomorrow for the planned mixed-use development 315 East Frank Street, on the northside -

Gotta love all this infill. Looking good.

A lot of the recent infill is aided by the County's new housing millage. The county is the only one in the state with such a millage. Last year was the inaugural year, and $6.7 million was invested into housing developments and supportive services. Time will tell if this system pays off. But early signs look positive to me. The Bogan Development (315 East Frank Street) that broke ground on Friday received $400K from this fund -

This chart is from the article and shows the county distribution of the first year's-worth of funding -

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qya7p5l4vd...lage.JPG?raw=1
Source: MLive | Taylor DesOrmeau / Created with Datawrapper

Kalamazoo -

The $95 million Zoetis expansion just north of the airport set its last beam a week ago -

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7am185jkkq...ion.jpeg?raw=1
Source: LinkedIn | Schweitzer Incorporated

The dream of a downtown arena is still alive in Kalamazoo -