Michigan Tri-Cities / Great Lakes Bay Region development

[DetroitMan]

Long story, but a good read..


After years of mystery, Saginaw’s ‘medical diamond’ is taking shape: Here’s what we know.

One of the earliest developments announced as part of the “medical diamond” project involved plans to create a behavioral health clinic in Saginaw.

In late 2022, both the Saginaw City Council and Saginaw County Board of Commissioners voted to invest $5 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) stimulus funds apiece to the projected $15 million development, although county leaders later re-directed its share of the investment (the reason for that move was explained by county officials in a separate presentation).

Other elements of the behavioral health clinic initiative evolved in the last four years as well, officials revealed during the council strategy session.

Great Lakes Bay Health Centers, a Saginaw-based health care agency with locations across the region, took the lead in developing the behavioral health center concept, which now has an official name and illustrated renderings for the building planned in the downtown district.

Brenda Coughlin, president and CEO of the agency, said in her presentation to the city council the planned development — now known as Great Lakes Bay Health Centers Behavioral Health Center of Excellence — would be housed in a three-story, 15,000-square-foot facility. Early maps for the development show it residing on real estate tucked between South Washington Avenue and South Water, north of Thompson Street, and south of the historic, eight-story Michigan Bell Building that now serves as a location for AT&T.

The center would be located within a proposed $35 million mixed-use real estate development owned by Shaheen Development, which purchased the real estate from the city in July 2025.

The acquisition of some of the parcels there — including property under the umbrella of the Saginaw County Land Bank — remains ongoing, Great Lakes Bay Health Centers officials said.

Plans for the behavioral health center include child and adolescent fellowship clinics, adult behavioral residency clinics, 30 exam rooms, primary care services, lab services, a pharmacy, and both occupational and physical therapy spaces, Coughlin told the council.

The center would provide training for students studying in health care fields from both SVSU and CMU, agency officials said.

“Our vision is to transform behavioral health care and access in Saginaw and our region,” Coughlin told the council.

While no projected opening date was announced, agency officials said they anticipated scheduling a groundbreaking ceremony in fall 2026.

https://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw-bay-c...-is-taking-shape-heres-what-we-know.html

[DetroitMan]

This is what CMU’s new medical school building in Saginaw will look like when it opens

Central Michigan University officials provided new architectural illustrations of the planned building set to house its expanded medical school in Saginaw’s “medical diamond” district.

Plans for a new building in the riverfront neighborhood were announced years ago, and included architectural renderings. But organizers in November 2025 scrapped those original plans, scaled back a $200 million fundraiser while announcing a $100 million project cost, and moved the facility’s planned location while keeping it within the “medical diamond” corridor. The architectural illustrations provided by CMU on Monday, Aug. 3, represent the first public images of the revised building plans for the Covenant HealthCare College of Medicine at Central Michigan University. Scheduled to open for classes in fall 2028, the 90,000-square-foot, five-floor facility will sit on a currently empty lot adjacent to the MyMichigan Health hospital on South Washington Avenue, college officials said.

CMU officials said the planned medical college building was designed to reflect the hospital’s mid-20th century aesthetic and “the warm, welcoming feel of its sustainable construction materials, which include wood, glass, brick and resilient metals.”

The illustrations — designed by HDR Inc., a design and engineering company based in Omaha — showed multiple angles of the planned facility. The visuals include backdrops familiar to visitors of the 1961-built hospital, formerly known as Ascension St. Mary’s of Saginaw.

Dr. Joshua Nosanchuk, dean of the Covenant HealthCare College of Medicine at CMU, said college officials worked with HDR Inc. to develop the plans.

https://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw-bay-c...aginaw-will-look-like-when-it-opens.html