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Crain's Grand Rapids Business

Essential business news, insights and analysis for West Michigan’s decision-makers.

Crain's Grand Rapids Business launched in 2023, bringing together MiBiz, the Grand Rapids Business Journal and Crain Communications to create the top source of business news, analysis and information in West Michigan.

21/07/2025

Sadoc Paredes and Rachel Berkal started Vetr Health LLC three years ago to bring pet care to customers’ homes.

Using a membership model, the co-founders of the in-home and telehealth veterinary practice now want to expand nationally and see participating in a business accelerator operated by Google as a way to achieve that goal. They also want to share with other mobile veterinary practices what they learn from Google about how to apply AI to run their business more efficiently.

“The idea is that this will help accelerate our platform to help mobile vets across the country,” said Paredes, the co-founder and CEO of Vetr Health. “Throughout this program, we’ll be building the infrastructure that we need and refining it so we can offer this as a service to other mobile vets.”

Read more here: https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/health-care/veterinary-care-stresses-both-patients-and-practitioners-a-grand-rapids-startup-says-its-created-a-better-model/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soc-own

20/07/2025

Former restaurant owner Keith Allard’s unlikely partnership with a Grand Rapids-focused meme page led to his most ambitious pop-up project yet: reviving iconic Wealthy Street hotdog joint Jonny B’z for an event steeped in local nostalgia.

An estimated 400 people lined up along Wealthy Street on June 25 for the opportunity to nab a $4.50 hot dog and a trip back in time to a restaurant that operated for nine years in Grand Rapids’ East Hills neighborhood.

Allard’s one-night pop-up event, “The Return to Jonny B’z,” held at Wealthy Street butcher shop Louise Earl Butcher, brought back the hotdog joint’s recipes for vegan and chili cheese hotdogs, alongside corn dogs and brisket sandwiches, beer and wine by the glass.

It also offered former customers of Jonny B’z a chance to gather and reminisce about the restaurant, which closed in 2019.

Read more here: https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/restaurants-1/partnership-with-grand-rapids-meme-page-sparks-demand-for-nostalgic-food-pop-ups/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soc-own

19/07/2025

After 22 years with the Marriott brand, most recently as part of the prestigious Autograph Collection, Up North resort Inn at Bay Harbor is returning to independent operation later this year.

The Inn at Bay Harbor, located at 3600 Village Harbor Dr. in Bay Harbor on Little Traverse Bay, is owned and managed by Petoskey-based Boyne Resorts, which operates numerous ski resorts and hotels, including Big Sky Montana, Sugarloaf Resort in Maine and Cypress Mountain in British Columbia.

The 105-room hotel joined Marriott Bonvoy’s Renaissance Collection in 2003 and upgraded to the Autograph Collection in 2016 following a $2 million renovation.

At the time, the Inn at Bay Harbor was the second Autograph Collection Hotel in Michigan and was one of only 100 Autograph properties worldwide.

Read more here: https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/hospitality-tourism/boyne-resorts-inn-at-bay-harbor-ends-22-year-run-with-marriott-to-go-independent/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soc-own

18/07/2025

A vacant, 16,000-square-foot half-finished “palace” with a massive glass rotunda near Ford’s planned Marshall BlueOval Battery Park is on the market for an enterprising buyer with a vision for completing the project.

Los Angeles-based real estate investor Rajeev Bhagowalia, founder and CEO of Kingdom: Architecture and Design, listed the seven-bedroom, 10-bathroom partially renovated sprawling mansion in Marshall Township for $2.5 million on July 7.

The home is about 7 miles northeast of Ford/CATL’s planned Marshall BlueOval Battery Park.

“The opulence and grandeur of the house was really like nothing I’ve ever seen before,” Bhagowalia said. “The huge atrium really struck me from the pictures.”

Read more here: https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/real-estate/unfinished-marshall-mansion-once-visited-by-dick-cheney-lists-for-2-5m/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soc-own

17/07/2025

The Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids is planning to close and sell four churches in West Michigan, which could open up the land for future redevelopment opportunities in the years ahead.

The closures are part of the “Rooted in Christ Pastoral Planning Process” report the diocese published on June 29 detailing plans for merging 13 parishes. The diocese operates 79 parishes and 31 Catholic schools across 11 West Michigan counties.

The diocese will try to sell properties, including ones with church buildings, if it determines they no longer serve the long-term needs of the community, said Annalise Laumeyer, director of communications at the Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids.

The move comes as the diocese evaluates its presence in communities across West Michigan.

Read more here: https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/real-estate/catholic-diocese-to-close-4-west-michigan-churches-opening-land-for-development/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soc-own

15/07/2025

Grand Rapids’ newest coworking space is in a nearly 100-year-old former mortuary building on the city’s west side, where two women have developed a community-focused workplace.

The Cottage on Turner, located at 429 Turner Ave. NW, is a two-story, approximately 5,000-square-foot building that offers both communal and private coworking space for between 40 and 50 people.

For owner-operators Kate Avery and Mallory Root, owner of Roots Brew Shop, the idea for The Cottage started back in 2023.

“With the proliferation of companies and businesses offering or sometimes requiring remote working, we’ve just seen the blessing of flexibility turn into the curse of isolation,” Avery said. “It was on our minds and on our hearts to have a space where people could have coworkers again.”

Read more here: https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/retail/former-west-side-mortuary-opens-as-coworking-space-cottage-on-turner/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soc-own

14/07/2025

A half-dozen projects that will add 300 units of low-income housing across West Michigan have secured a combined total of almost $8.6 million from the state’s latest round of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits.

The awards came as the Michigan State Housing Development Authority gave out more than $14 million in LIHTC funding to 10 rental housing projects in six communities, according to a statement from Gov.Gretchen Whitmer’s office on Thursday.

The awards went to a mix of new construction and rehabilitation projects.
The six projects in West Michigan would add a combined 300 new affordable apartments at developments in Muskegon, Grand Rapids, South Haven Township and Battle Creek.

Read more here: https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/real-estate/west-michigan-projects-land-nearly-8-6m-in-state-affordable-housing-tax-credits/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soc-own

13/07/2025

After 20 years growing their meal delivery service and deli from the ground up, Ken and Karen Bryan are looking for new owners to carry Making Thyme Kitchen into its next phase of growth.

The husband-and-wife duo put Making Thyme Kitchen on the market earlier this month as they plan to move into retirement. The turnkey business at 2409 Eastern Ave. SE is listed for $740,000, including all assets, the real estate, kitchen equipment and recipes. Commercial real estate broker Bradley Co. has the listing.

“For us, it’s really an age thing,” Karen Bryan said. “Your body gets worn out. We both have aches and pains, but (also) the business is at a point where someone can take it and launch into the next phase.”

Read more here: https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/restaurants-1/making-thyme-kitchen-founders-seek-buyer-after-20-years-in-business/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soc-own

11/07/2025

The 153-year-old downtown building that houses the now-closed Flanagan’s bar has hit the market for $4 million.

Moxie Real Estate and Development planned to list the Rood Building at 139 Pearl St. NW for sale today. The listing includes the street-level storefront, a salon suite on the second floor of the building, and 14 residential units that have hotel licenses.

The real selling points are the hotel license and the location in the center of downtown, especially with the construction of the Acrisure Amphitheater downtown and the Amway Stadium just west of downtown, said Danny Kolp, real estate agent at Moxie.

“The location specifically is unbelievable,” Kolp said, who is co-listing the building with Shawn Jacobs, also a real estate agent at Moxie. “Especially being in downtown Grand Rapids at the corner of Monroe and Pearl, it’s a legacy property. There is a ton of history behind it. Regardless of what someone’s plan may be, I think they are going to be in a great spot just due to the location.”

Read more here: https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/real-estate/historic-downtown-rood-building-with-hotel-license-lists-for-4m/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soc-own

10/07/2025

Community leaders for decades have eyed a riverfront district north of downtown Grand Rapids for its potential to attract additional, denser development.

Now, at least two properties hold fresh redevelopment potential in the Monroe North Business District: A Grand Rapids Fire Department training center on 2.5 acres that will be vacated within the next two years, as well as a 2.4-acre commercial property that recently hit the market.

Hannah Greening, founder and managing broker of Grand Rapids-based Fancy Real Estate, views the area along the east side of the Grand River as “the most obvious connecting piece between downtown, the Creston neighborhood, and the river,” she said.

“We have places that are walkable, but it would be really wonderful to have our entire city become more walkable, and when there are areas that are just sort of desolate and underutilized, it blocks that engagement from neighborhood to neighborhood,” Greening said. “I think that’s really what we need, so this sort of square of North Monroe is a tremendous opportunity to connect the city a lot better. We’d love to see some arts and entertainment in that area.”

Read more here: https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/real-estate/monroe-north-district-seen-as-tremendous-opportunity-for-further-development/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soc-own

09/07/2025

A coalition of Old Mission Peninsula wineries claimed victory this week in a protracted, five-year legal battle over township ordinances they contend unconstitutionally restricted their farm-based businesses.

In a 75-page opinion issued today in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, Judge Paul Maloney awarded nearly $50 million in damages in the case that the 11-member Wineries of the Old Mission Peninsula brought in 2020 against Peninsula Township, alleging that the local government unlawfully restricted their ability to do business.

The Grand Traverse County wineries alleged the restrictions prevented them from hosting certain types of events, including weddings, and barred them from selling branded merchandise or serving full meals in their tasting rooms.

Read more here: https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/food-drink/old-mission-wineries-awarded-50m-in-fight-over-township-restrictions/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soc-own

07/07/2025

A Grand Rapids-area company that upcycles used shipping containers into new commercial spaces is poised for growth thanks to widening acceptance of the building units and new state codes that outline their use.

Blox LLC CEO Chris Van Doeselaar says the idea he “stumbled into” as a way to differentiate his construction company, Newco Design Build LLC, has spun off into a blossoming business.

The company’s headquarters on Roger B. Chaffee Memorial Boulevard in Wyoming serves as a working showroom for repurposing shipping containers, which are used throughout the space to create offices and an employee coffee bar and break area.

In one area in the back of the facility sits a shipping container that has been modified to create a three-season room with a roof-top patio that can go on the back of a house.

Read more here: https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/real-estate/demand-grows-for-bloxs-upcycled-shipping-containers-as-perceptions-building-codes-evolve/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soc-own

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Grand Rapids Business Journal

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