There has been a lot happening behind the scenes via the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority of Kalamazoo -
1. 266 E Michigan Ave.
First, a new Brownfield Redevelopment Plan for 266 E Michigan Ave. was
posted on November 25 (
street view). This building currently houses the downtown Coney Island, which is one of the oldest continually operating restaurants in town, and, according to
Wikipedia, "the longest continuously operated Coney Island (in the same location... [since] 1915)." There is an adjacent ground-floor restaurant space that recently became vacant when Ouzo's closed. The three floors above have been vacant for decades, as several plans to redevelop them have come and gone. This new plan reflects a renewed interest in finally developing the upper floors of this key structure in historic downtown's Haymarket District. My understanding is that redevelopment has been challenging for a variety of reasons, including issues related to achieving compliance with current codes & zoning.
The current plan was prepared by Southwest Michigan First, and it lists "266 MICHIGAN AVE KALAMAZOO LLC" (Matt O'Connor) as the owner / developer, with an address of 1000 Front Ave. NW Grand Rapids, Michigan 49504. The plan reports that the goal is to develop the upper three floors into a total of 11 market-rate apartments, while retaining the two business spaces on the first floor. The report projects a total investment of $3.5 million. The attachment that includes the floor plans is missing from the report. While this is probably intentional, I did email the city to ask if it is possible to see these.
It may not seem like a lot to get excited over - 11 new apartments downtown - but this does represent a pretty big success, if it happens. The upper floors have been dark for decades, and any time a historic building can get its upper floors activated once again in downtown Kalamazoo is a win. In addition to being a BRA property, the building is in a national historic district and it is located within The Opportunity Zone, making it eligible for several sources of financial support.
Approval of the development agreement was on the BRA's
agenda for November 19. I will follow this post up with some photos.
2. 809, 813, and 817 Porter Street
Also on this agenda -approval of a purchase and sale agreement between Innovative Design Properties, LLC and the BRA for the properties at 809, 813, and 817 Porter Street (
street view). IIRC, this proposal is going to be some sort of housing development as well.
3. 315 E. Frank Street
Third, the October 15 meeting minutes (included in the November 19 agenda packet) indicate that the purchase and sale agreement between Bogan Developments, LLC and the BRA for 315 E. Frank Street was approved (
street view). The plan is for a mixed-use development, with a mix of affordable & market-rate apartments.
4. 508 Harrison Street
Lastly, the October 15 meeting minutes contain some updates for 508 Harrison Street (
street view). Few will recall that this redevelopment proposal was first announced in 2017. The plan is for a mixed-use / affordable housing development, at a projected cost between $12.5 - $25 million. That price range alone is a big clue to how many uncertainties & contingencies still exist for this prospective project, which has ran into numerous snags, including MEDC / MSHDA funding issues, site contamination from decades of industrial applications, site flooding, bad soils... well, just read this one excerpt from the minutes:
Quote:
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...MEDC and MSHDA were originally both offering support of this project. A year and a half into it, MEDC pulled their support. Then MSHDA said they would deny the site because of the active heat treatment plant next door. The site flooded twice. River Caddis found that the heat treatment plant site was badly contaminated... it took a year to get a purchase agreement with the heat treatment plant... because of the bad soils, they will put in Geopiers for all the buildings. They will have to dewater the site and they believe the water has PFAS... it has a long industrial history dating back decades. That has resulted in soil and groundwater contamination which includes petroleum contamination, chlorinated solvents and metals... they will need to install a vapor intrusion mitigation system, dewater the site and treat the water. Stormwater management will be important on this site. There is also asbestos on the site that needs to be abated...
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Ugh. Who would want to touch this?!
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