KALAMAZOO / PORTAGE / BATTLE CREEK | Development Thread

[DetroitMan]

‘This is our reinvention’: $21M Kalamazoo Avenue two-way conversion begins

Cones have been in place and work has already begun to turn Kalamazoo Avenue back into a two-way street, but Monday, July 20, marked the official groundbreaking of the transformative $21 million project. The project is one that will contribute to the safety of cyclists, pedestrians and drivers and make downtown a much more accessible place for visitors, said Kalamazoo City Manager Malcolm Hankins. “I am so excited about this project for lots of reasons,” said Jane Ghosh, president and CEO of Discover Kalamazoo. “Downtown Kalamazoo is the No. 1 place that out-of-towners come when they come to Kalamazoo, and right now these one-way streets really act as an obstacle for people being able to explore downtown.

“Changing this will make our downtown much, much easier to navigate for visitors. It’ll also help them explore more of downtown. We have fabulous small businesses, locally-owned and operated, north of Kalamazoo Avenue that people never get to because this road acts as an artificial barrier for people.”

https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/202...oo-avenue-two-way-conversion-begins.html

[deja vu]

^ Haters gonna hate, but I think this 2-way conversion has great potential. People are worried about traffic and backups from the event center. Time will tell, and we'll be here to follow it all.

[deja vu]

I also posted this in the Google Maps: Grit, Funny, WTF, Anything Interesting thread -

I was street-viewing around, as one does, and I took a few before / after screenshots of various locations around town. I wanted to showcase some of the incredible transformations that have taken place in the last 18+ years, which, coincidentally, coincides with how long I've been a member of SSP...

101 N Rose (looking towards The Exchange) -




179 E Water (looking towards the Catalyst development, a.k.a. 180 E Water St, a.a.k.a. The Warner Building) -




199 N Church (looking at the back of Lofts at Ironworks, a vertical housing expansion; new Home2 Suites also visible in the distance) -




330 Eleanor (the new county courthouse and Home2 Suites) -




350 S Rose (looking towards 400 Rose Apartments) -




400 Rose Phase 2 (viewed from 499 S Park) -




The new half-billion $-plus Event Center, very much under-construction, as viewed from 400 Cooley (it is much further along than this now). New court house in the distance -




518 S Rose (looking towards 530 Rose Apartments) -




529 Harrison (looking toward 525 E Ransom, a.k.a. Harrison Circle Apartments) -




707 Walbridge (looking towards Walbridge Commons) -




~ 2700 Michigan Ave (mixed-use) -




4620 Arboretum Pkwy (looking towards Parkway Flats Apartments) -




Ring Road S (looking toward Arcadia Flats) -




1964 N Pitcher (looking towards the Graphic Packaging Int'l expansion) -

[jkazoo]

Quite a transformation! I'm really curious to see what the arena will spark in terms of development, especially along Michigan Ave stretching back to Lovell Street.

[deja vu]

Originally Posted by jkazoo

Quite a transformation! I'm really curious to see what the arena will spark in terms of development, especially along Michigan Ave stretching back to Lovell Street.

Yes, agreed, and hopefully we see the fruits of this investment develop in sooner than 10 years, which seems to be how long most proposals take in Kalamazoo to turn into something.

Oshtemo Township -

I missed this small update from last month. KPS' new Central Kitchen, which replaces the demolished Chime Elementary School, had its ribbon-cutting in June -

New $8.5M kitchen will prepare millions of meals for Kalamazoo students
Aya Miller | MLive
June 13, 2026

Source: MLive

[deja vu]

Portage -

The former PNC Bank building at 7920 Portage Rd. is being torn down, in advance of the long-planned Centreport Apartments project. It was built in the 1960s -

What’s that being torn down? Brick building demolished to make way for $32M project
Taylor DesOrmeau | MLive
July 22, 2026

The 151-unit residential development will bring some atypical height + corner density to the suburban city. Might this be the harbinger of similar future developments? A reminder of what this one will look like -


Source: MLive | Taylor DesOrmeau

[deja vu]

Kalamazoo -

Valley Oaks, WMU's new residence hall, opens today with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 2:00 pm, followed by an open house with guided tours from 2:30 to 5:00 pm -




















Source: Facebook | WMU

[deja vu]

Kalamazoo -

The Event Center, as photographed yesterday evening -












Source: Facebook | Vicki Virgo Okuniewski

[deja vu]

Something happened with OneDrive and now all of my embedded image links appear to be broken. I'm currently looking into other options. Stand by...

[deja vu]

Originally Posted by deja vu

Something happened with OneDrive and now all of my embedded image links appear to be broken. I'm currently looking into other options. Stand by...

Switching to hosting on imgur seems to work better. I might have some long days ahead of me, to update old links...

[deja vu]

Kalamazoo -

A groundbreaking ceremony was held yesterday for the new youth sports complex -

$49M indoor youth sports facility breaks ground in Kalamazoo with fall 2027 opening targeted
Ryan Boldrey | MLive
July 31, 2026

This is the first time I've seen any renderings of it -










Source: MLive

[deja vu]

Kalamazoo -

A recent article on the new Ecumenical Senior Center includes some fresher renderings and construction photos. It's a vast improvement for this corner / block -

From one room to endless possibilities: Kalamazoo’s new Ecumenical Senior Center is taking shape
A new, expanded Ecumenical Senior Center is set to open next spring, providing more space, services, and opportunities for older adults while helping drive the ongoing revitalization of Kalamazoo’s Northside.
Mike Wenninger | Second Wave Media / Aging Matters
July 29, 2026

Source: Second Wave Media | Mike Wenninger






Source: Second Wave Media | Abonmarche Byce

[deja vu]

Kalamazoo -

A new, barrier-free kayak launch is open at Verburg Park - a small improvement to what wasn't there before -








Source: Facebook | The City of Kalamazoo

[deja vu]

Kalamazoo -

"Expansion" is used loosely here. It's not really a building addition; more just reappropriation & renovation of existing space. Still, a good thing to read about -

Kalamazoo Institute of Arts announces campus expansion project
MLive
Aug. 3, 2026

Source: MLive | KIA

[deja vu]

Kalamazoo -

Rumblings about a new county jail that could run in the hundreds of millions. Article is paywalled though -

Jail tops list of Kalamazoo County priorities for capital projects
Brad Devereaux | MLive
Jul. 30, 2026

KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MI — Kalamazoo County commissioners have identified the jail as the top capital priority among capital projects, discussing a hypothetical $300 million bond to fund that and other projects. The Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners met Wednesday, July 29, for a retreat focused on financials. Commissioners discussed concerns about the aging of the existing jail facility and its physical condition...

[deja vu]

Battle Creek -

Aerial views of the site prep for the Riverbend at Capital project -










Source: Facebook | Patman Droneography

[deja vu]

Battle Creek -

Demolition of Southwestern Junior High School at 390 S Washington Ave. is underway. This planned demo was included as part of the 2024 bond. Closed in 2006, it had sat vacant for many years -






Source: Facebook | Patman Droneography

Opened in 1928, it was once a quite beautiful structure, as evidenced by this rendering -


Source: Battle Creek Enquirer | The Thornton Collection

[deja vu]

Kalamazoo -

I have such mixed feelings about this complex. It is a bit of a clunker -








Source: Kalamazoo Event Center










Source: Facebook | Southwest Michigan First | Kimberly Moss

[deja vu]

Kalamazoo -

Some updates, from my walkabout today -

Friendship Village -







The Legacy (nearly done) -









Ecumenical Senior Center -









River's Edge (partially occupied now) -

























County Parking Deck -





Kalamazoo Avenue reconstruction -





Event Center -

[deja vu]

Kalamazoo Township -

I also drove by the site of the future Community Complex / new Township Hall. Not much more than a big pile of dirt right now, but you can get a sense of the scale of it -