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Originally Posted by Westernwilly
Thank you deja vu for all of your updates on developments in this area! I love checking everyday to see what is new and have turned several other people onto your posts here.
I am interested in your opinion of the Woodbridge project. To me, it appears that they are trying to capitalize on the urban apartment trend. However, they are doing so by slapping an urban apartment style building in a suburban strip mall. I believe that they are entirely misunderstanding why people (particularly Millennials and Gen Z) want to live in these types of buildings.
The people that are paying premiums to live in these types of apartments are doing so because they want walkable and bike-able neighborhoods that are not car centric. They want to look out their window and see lively urban life. They do not want to look out the window and see 5 acres asphalt, parking lot!
Will people rent these units? .....Of course they will, but not at the premium rates that they get downtown Kalamazoo.
This whole project reminds me of the way core cities tried to compete with the then new trend of the suburbs in the 1950s and 1960s. Cities back then were demolishing entire blocks and replacing them with parking lots in an attempt to mimic the car centric, suburban shopping districts. That was not only ill thought out, but it destroyed most urban cores and helped to expediate their demise.
In conclusion, if these developers want to capitalize on the urban living trend and get the premium rents that urban apartments receive, then they should develop downtown! As the urban cores of the 1950s and 60s could never succeed at creating a suburban look in any way that made economical sense, the same goes to trying make a 1980s style suburban development (Woodbridge) dress up as an urban area!
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Thanks for the support, and welcome!
I agree 110% with all of your points RE the Woodbridge Hills apartment project. I wish Portage had a real downtown, and not just the civic center that it has today. Thankfully, at least developers are slowly infilling vacant lots in downtown Kalamazoo with denser housing.
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The below project was also just posted to Kalamazoo's site plan review page. In terms of development style, this one is more akin to Woodbridge Hills than downtown Kalamazoo, but at least it brings some more density to a small commercial center - this project has been in the works for years, at the site of the former Bacchus Wine and Spirits, which closed in 2016 after 45 years in the community (at
3110 Oakland Drive). It's a nice little surprise (to me, at least) to see that it will be developed into more than just another Consumers Credit Union.
There are two, (2)-story buildings proposed. One will house a small CCU branch and a second small lease space on the ground floor, with undefined some space on the second floor (maybe two apartments). If you study the Consumers floor plan, you'll notice that there are zero transaction counters, just two ITMs (Interactive Teller Machines) and two private offices. The other building will provide space for 3 apartments atop 4 additional leasable retail spaces -
Source:
City of Kalamazoo | Bosch Architecture