KALAMAZOO / PORTAGE / BATTLE CREEK | Development Thread

[deja vu]

It's been a while since some construction cam updates with the stuff happening at WMU. Here are some stills from yesterday (which had much nicer weather than today).

Arcadia Flats -


South Neighborhood Overall -


New Student Center & Dining Facilities -

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Near the planned new Portage Senior Center, the existing Portage Community Center received a major remodel. Spotted on our walk in Portage yesterday -

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Short video concerning the great progress at The Mill at Vicksburg -

• Video Link

[deja vu]

Tonight (11/5)

There is a public hearing scheduled at 7:00pm for the City of Kalamazoo's Natural Features Protection updates. If the proposal is recommended by the Planning Commission, it will move on to final review and adoption by the City Commission. The updates involve proposed amendments to Chapter 50, Article 6 of the Zoning Code that are meant to clarify interpretation and application of the code, as well as a revised NFP overlay map that would expand protected areas.

[deja vu]

It's not everyday that the Kalamazoo-area has an international impact. But I think this might count... With the very positive news of a 90%-effective trial vaccine from Pfizer, the massive Kalamazoo (Portage)-MI production facility (see it on google maps) is ramping up & preparing to produce potentially millions of vaccination doses in our own backyard. News like this makes me proud to be a Kalamazooan.

Pfizer says COVID-19 vaccine is looking 90% effective
Lauran Neergaard and Linda A. Johnson | Associated Press
November 10, 2020

Image of a freezer farm under-construction at Pfizer's Kalamazoo (Portage)-MI production facility which will (hopefully) store COVID-19 vaccine doses -


Source: Jeremy Davidson / Pfizer via AP

[deja vu]

I practically forgot about the planned renovations to Battle Creek's "premier" hotel. It was announced so long ago. Now we hear why there's been a delay. Hopefully this is the best possible outcome... it can't be easy these days to operate a hotel as large and as dated as McCamly Plaza.

Battle Creek Unlimited assumes ownership of McCamly Plaza Hotel
Lacy James | WBCK
November 10, 2020

Battle Creek Unlimited assumes ownership of McCamly Plaza Hotel following legal action and years of promises to renovate the property. More than four years ago the news broke that Battle Creek’s McCamly Plaza Hotel would undergo a $3.5 million renovation in a process to convert it to a DoubleTree by Hilton hotel. Four years later, the community continued waiting for the owners to start the process. Two years ago, Battle Creek Unlimited (BCU) stepped up to try and move the process along, with a $3.5 million loan, underwritten by the Direct Investment Fund (DIF). After the owners failed once again to start construction, BCU announced in January that legal action had begun to foreclose on the property...

In separate news, the City of Kalamazoo formally approved the proposed downtown zoning amendments on November 2, and the changes go into effect November 12.

http://www.imaginekalamazoo.com/proj...owntownzoning/

[deja vu]

About one month ago, AMC announced it would be reopening the Kalamazoo Portage Street 10 (and 520 other theaters around the country), which had been temporarily shuttered due to COVID-19 (link to article).

Today, news has broke that this theater is now (seemingly permanently) closed. AMC's tenure at this location was sad and short-lived, and its demise is not all that surprising. Even before COVID, it rarely seemed full, with plenty of nearby competition offered by the more suburban GQT 10 on West Main, Celebration Cinema in Portage, and even M-89 Cinema in Plainwell.

AMC took over this location in 2017, after Alamo Drafthouse was effectively kicked out by not being permitted to continue its lease. Alamo was there for roughly as long as AMC - 3 1/2 years. Prior to Alamo, Rave Cityplace 14 occupied the building, before its lease was terminated after about 6 years, in 2012. The AMC closure, while no doubt influenced by COVID-19, seems to have followed a similar pattern to its two predecessors. The one consistent factor: Kansas City-based landlord, EPR Properties. I'm not saying this is all EPR's fault, but clearly they don't see the Kalamazoo market as a priority.

AMC Portage Street 10 in Kalamazoo closed
Wood TV 8 Staff
November 10, 2020

If you are saddened by this news, have no worries. AMC Theaters is quick to remind you on its website -

We hope to see you at our next nearest location: AMC Holland 8

...a convenient 60 miles away

[deja vu]

Here's two other articles on BCU's takeover of Battle Creek's beleaguered McCamley Plaza Hotel. I am curious if anyone on this forum has any experiences staying here, either recently, or in the "glory days" of the past. My neighbor is familiar with it and said that the interior is severely dated, and the windows and most of the HVAC systems have long-needed replacement. The property will turn 39 years old next week.

It is hard to envision right now how Battle Creek can sustain a ~240-room, 15-story hotel. Not to mention, what to do with the connected McCamley Place mall portion. Last time I was in there (pre-COVID) it was a ghost town. Then again, the city pulled off a miracle with the restoration of Heritage Tower (aka The Milton). I wonder if this could potentially become a mix of hotel and apartments.

BCU assumes ownership of McCamly Plaza Hotel, plans multi-million-dollar renovation
Jane Simons | Second Wave Media
November 10, 2020

Battle Creek Unlimited plans to restore, rebrand McCamly Plaza Hotel
WWMT News Channel 3
November 10, 2020

McCamley Place shortly after opening, c. 1981. Back then, it was originally called the Stouffer Battle Creek Hotel. You can see Kellogg Arena in the background and the mall in the foreground -

Source: WBCK | Courtesy Historical Society of Battle Creek archives

Same view of McCamley Place in 2019 -

Source: WBCK | Annie Kelley

[deja vu]

Here's an article containing a bit more info about Revel Creek - the new senior housing that will start construction in January 2021 at Kalamazoo's Heritage Community. Specifically, information about the Memory Care Learning Center Component, which is scheduled to be completed in the initial phase - just five months of construction time - and will include basically everything shown in the below interior rendering. I don't know how they are going to pull that off.

Event to highlight new research on Alzheimer’s, launch next phase of fundraising for learning center
Al Jones | Second Wave Media
November 10, 2020

Source: Second Wave Media | Courtesy Heritage Community of Kalamazoo

[deja vu]

​The Kalamazoo Promise turns 15 this week! According to KPS's new superintendentt, The Promise has helped nearly 7,000 graduates of the public school system, and it has resulted in nearly $150 million being invested in the community, so far.

The Kalamazoo Promise Turns 15​​​​​​​
Andrew Robbins | WMUK
November 13, 2020

[deja vu]

In local, extremely underwhelming architecture news, the new Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) office at the growing public health services center on E. Alcott is complete. This bland EIFS edifice was designed by Royal Oak-based architecture firm Krieger Klatt and constructed by Walbridge. It "features" a 2-story, 70,000 SF building atop a level of covered parking. This rounds out the campus, which is also home now to the County's own department of Health & Human Services, a Family Health Center, and Kalamazoo Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services (now known as "Integrated Services of Kalamazoo").

The majority of this campus sits upon former brownfield property. It is a good example of reuse and community vitalization, turning previously toxic land into a campus devoted to public health. And I have no issues with that. My main complaint is the odd agglomeration of architectural styles. The county health building is a repurposed historic masonry building from the paper mill days. The mental health facility is a 1980's-era, office-park style brick building. The family health center looks kind of like a glass spaceship. And then the state department building is a giant stucco box.

It seems like the campus entirely lacks any foresight or masterplan, even though it all came together in just the past 5 years. There's really no rhyme or reason to it (except that the state department building was the one that was most-obviously budget-driven).

Health services campus completed on former paper mill site in Kalamazoo
Kate Carlson | MiBiz
November 11, 2020

Source: MiBiz (Courtesy Photo)

For comparison...

The Family Health Center -


The County Department of Health & Human Services -


The Integrated Services (Mental Health & Substance Abuse) Building -

Source: Google Maps

All adjacent to each other.

[deja vu]

The City of Kalamazoo dropped three new site plan reviews recently. All three are small projects - all urban garden proposals, all in the Edison Neighborhood, and all led by "Zoo City Farms". The properties under proposal are:

1. 1316 Mills Street
2. 736 Jackson Street
3. 1503 Washington Avenue

The site plans list Battle Creek-based "The Urban Arts Exploratory & Meditation Center" as the client.

[deja vu]

Recently, the Northside neighborhood, with the help of the City of Kalamazoo, launched an RFP for 501 N. Westnedge, and there was a virtual bidder's conference on Saturday, November 14. This property is a brownfield site, most recently home to an auto repair shop that closed its doors (see it on Google street view). Among other things, the RFP lists preferred uses for the site, several of which are bolded (meaning, they received more than one vote from community stakeholders). This list tells you just some of the deficiencies in the neighborhood -

• Laundromat
• Cafe / Coffee Shop
• Prevention Center
• 24-Hour Day Care
• Urgent Care / Walk-In Clinic
• Discount Variety Store (Dollar Tree)

You can view the RFP here. Letters of intent are due November 30.

[deja vu]

Two new site plan review applications were posted for review today for Kalamazoo.

1. The first is a new Marijuana Provisioning Center at 815 W Michigan Ave. Nothing too exciting here. A portion of an existing fitness center will be converted. This is direct-adjacent to WMU + K-College Campuses & off-campus student housing, so it seems like a no-brainer location. It looks like there will be some site work too, mainly to redo the parking lot. Architect is Driven Design (out of Battle Creek).









2. The second is much more significant. There is apparently a Phase 2 of 400 Rose, which I had no idea about. The street address is 234 W Cedar St. This will be directly west of Phase 1, and will take up the corner at W Cedar & S Park Streets. These three houses along S Park and this office building along W Cedar that served as AVB's Phase 1 field offices were already being demolished in September, so I figured something was up, but nothing of this magnitude.





This looks to be almost the same magnitude as Phase 1, which was 4 stories / 135 units. Phase 2 is 4 stories, 101,00+ SF, and 102 new units. The materials and massing look like they will be pretty much the same as Phase 1 too. The CM is AVB. Architect is Progressive AE (out of Grand Rapids).

[deja vu]

Here are some construction images of the new Advia Credit Union HQ, taken during a building walk through on November 5. The exterior finishes are nice, and I think the interior will look good too when finished. There is some interior masonry work in the 3-story atrium lobby that will really look sharp. The vertical connections and transparency throughout the interior spaces would never be suspected from the outside. Almost the entire building will feature a UFAD (Underfloor Air Distribution) system.

[shivtim]

Thanks for all of the updates. We normally don't see these for cities under 100K. Much appreciated!
Do you know if phase I and II of 400 Rose are market rate apartments? Low income or mixed income housing? Something else?

[deja vu]

Originally Posted by shivtim

Thanks for all of the updates. We normally don't see these for cities under 100K. Much appreciated!
Do you know if phase I and II of 400 Rose are market rate apartments? Low income or mixed income housing? Something else?

Thanks! Yeah, I / we try to keep it interesting on here. No skyscrapers, but plenty of development in our small town right now and in the past few years. As to your question, there is some low income / workforce housing in Phase 1 of 400 Rose, but not very much. It's mostly market-rate (and mostly marketed as "luxury downtown living"). Here's a clip from an MLive article in 2018 about Phase 1:

The sales agreement guarantees 14 units, 10 percent of the total, are affordable for people making 80 to 120 percent of the area median income. Rates are based on workforce housing figures published by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority.

According to rates published in April:

• Monthly rent for five units must be $866 for one-person room and $990 for a two-person room.
• Monthly rent for five units must be $1,082 for one-person room and $1,237 for a two-person room.
• Monthly rent for four units must be $1,299 for one-person room and $1,485 for a two-person room.

The workforce housing requirement will expire after 21 years. Developers are required to prove in writing each year that rental rates for the units remain reduced until then.

I imagine it would be similar ratios for Phase 2, but I haven't dug into it yet.

[deja vu]

This is a little bit of a bummer, but not altogether surprising, given the series of circumstances leading to its demise -

Judge orders 6-story downtown Battle Creek tower demolished
Trace Christenson | Battle Creek Enquirer
November 12, 2020

A judge has ordered that a 120-year-old, six-story building in downtown Battle Creek be demolished. Calhoun County Circuit Court Judge Sarah Lincoln on Thursday granted a motion from the City of Battle Creek to remove part of the Binder Building at 34 E. Michigan Ave. because it is unsafe. The judge's decision may end a fight between the city and the building's owner, Bryant DeBolt, about the future of the stone triangle-shaped tower built in 1900...

It is one of the more unique historic structures in downtown Battle Creek. At least the portion that will be demolished will not leave a gaping hole on Michigan Ave. as it is on the back alley side - google street view.

[deja vu]

Here are two more updates that are bummers (to me), in Kalamazoo. An unnecessary reminder in 2020 that you can't win them all.

The first update is disappointing from a historic preservation perspective. I just can't wrap my mind around the merits of knocking down a 140 year old church (one of the oldest left in the city) for a playground. For reasons I've expounded on before, this seems like a terrible move by the adjacent church (which owns the property) and the city (for allowing it to happen). Like most things in life, this decision, at the end of the day, is money-driven.

The second update is disappointing primarily because it further mars the potential of the Kalamazoo River near downtown to ever become a draw for visitors and locals. It is being done so that Consumers can run two new power lines over the river to the Graphic Packaging Expansion. Like most things in life, this decision, at the end of the day, is money-driven.

All in the name of progress, I suppose.

Vacant Kzoo church to be razed to make way for playscape
Nick Ponton | Wood TV 8
November 20, 2020

Source: Wood TV 8

City Commission Votes To Cut 721 Trees
Sehvilla Mann & John McNeill | WMUK
November 16, 2020

Source: WMUK | Courtesy Consumers Energy

View looking south at the Kalamazoo River from the Mosel Ave. bridge. Two power lines will cross here and 720 trees will be removed, further marring the natural landscape of the river -

Source: WMUK | Sehvilla Mann

[deja vu]

Celebrating 250,000 thread views today!

And to reflect this thread's recent title revision to include Battle Creek, the first two posts - comprising some city background data & project rundowns - have both been refreshed. I'm still going through and updating some of the rundowns with the significant projects that are under construction, proposed, and recently completed in the Kalamazoo-Portage-Battle Creek CSA. So far, the projects currently listed in the rundown represent a combined ~ $2.8 billion + in construction investment. This includes anything greater than $5 million that is completed, under construction, or an active proposal in 2019 or 2020. And I'm still populating the list. It really shows just how much has happened in the three years since this thread kicked off.

Check them out here.