Portage -
A second anchor tenant is set to vacate
The Crossroads mall. Unlike Sears, which closed in November 2019, Burlington is not closing so much as relocating. Once Burlington moves to vacant space in the
Maple Hill Pavilion in Kalamazoo (formerly occupied by several furniture outlets and seasonal Halloween shops), there will only be two out of four anchors left at the once-bustling suburban mall (Macy's and JCPenney). Exact closure / reopening dates were not provided.
I think there's a little irony in the fact that a Kalamazoo (well, technically Oshtemo Township) mall is now pulling business from the Portage mall (the reverse happened when The Crossroads opened in 1980 and contributed to the demise of both Maple Hill Mall & West Main Mall). Now Maple Hill & West Main Malls have been resurrected as successful "power centers", while Crossroads continues its slow plod towards dead mall status. I don't know the specifics of why Burlington is moving, but I have to guess that the main reason is that there is higher traffic at Maple Hill Pavilion these days (it also is home to Target, PetSmart, Marshalls, Hobby Lobby, Bath & Body Works, Five Below, and ~ 15 other stores).
Kalamazoo -
Somewhat surprisingly, hotel demand hit an all-time high this summer. Maybe this means that we will see other hotel proposals move forward into construction (like the planned hotel at the Trade Centre on the northern edge of Portage) -
City officials and Westnedge Hill residents celebrated a ribbon cutting and welcome event at
Crane Park yesterday. The work was completed a while ago, with the support of funds from the Foundation for Excellence. The park received:
- A new entrance area
- A new walkway made from the brick road that previously divided the park
- New pickle ball and tennis courts
- A redesigned wedding room and ornamental garden