Crain's Grand Rapids Business

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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.

Microsoft Corp.’s request to rezone part of a 356-acre site in Kent County for a data center is on hold for several week...
12/23/2025

Microsoft Corp.’s request to rezone part of a 356-acre site in Kent County for a data center is on hold for several weeks after hundreds of people pushed a township meeting beyond capacity last week.

Gaines Township officials are considering the tech giant’s request to rezone a 40.5-acre portion of the site that it acquired from Republic National Distributing Co. in November 2024 for $9.7 million. The property is adjacent to 316 acres that Microsoft bought for $45.3 million in August 2024. Both parcels were previously owned by Steelcase Inc.

The township is tentatively planning to hold the public planning commission meeting in February, likely at South Christian High School auditorium, which has much more space, said Gaines Township Community Development Director Dan Wells.

The township meeting room can hold 250 people, which was well over capacity at the scheduled 7 p.m. start time on Thursday. The planning commission voted unanimously to adjourn and reschedule the public hearing for Microsoft’s rezoning request.

Wells said the first public hearing in February attracted little attention, but data centers have since become a hot topic across the state as residents raise environmental and land use concerns over emerging plans for large-capacity projects. Indeed, Gaines Township is the latest West Michigan municipality to pause a data center project as numerous residents come forward, following Lowell Township earlier this month.

Read more here: https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/real-estate/township-postpones-microsoft-data-center-request-as-project-draws-attention/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soc-own

The three-tower riverfront development proposed in downtown Grand Rapids, backed by the DeVos and Van Andel families, ha...
12/22/2025

The three-tower riverfront development proposed in downtown Grand Rapids, backed by the DeVos and Van Andel families, has landed a nearly $561 million state tax incentive package as the project team aims to start construction this summer.

The Michigan Strategic Fund Board, which is the governing body for the Michigan Economic Development Corp., approved the transformational brownfield plan for the Fulton & Market project during a special meeting Monday.

The tax increment financing will be reimbursed over 30 years. The MSF Board also approved another transformational brownfield plan this morning for a multi-site project in downtown Kalamazoo.

The $796 million Fulton & Market project is proposed for a 6.9-acre site along the Grand River, part of which was formerly occupied by the Charley’s Crab restaurant. Site plans call for three newly constructed buildings: an apartment tower, hotel and condominium tower, and office tower for a company’s headquarters.

Read more here: https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/real-estate/state-board-oks-561m-tax-incentive-for-downtown-three-towers-project/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soc-own

A massive castle with swinging bookcases that lead to secret passageways is on the market for $2.15 million in rural All...
12/18/2025

A massive castle with swinging bookcases that lead to secret passageways is on the market for $2.15 million in rural Allegan County.

Michael and Nancy Bylsma listed their 7,529-square-foot Castle Van Kula on Nov. 15 through Realtor Noel Berg of Noel Berg Real Estate of HomeRealty LLC in Grand Haven, citing a desire to downsize as they age.

The listing represents one of West Michigan’s more unusual luxury properties to hit the market this year, testing whether buyers will pay a premium for an architectural novelty in farm country.

The five-bedroom, four-bathroom 15th century Gothic-inspired castle situated on nearly 60 acres is named for its original owner who also helped to design and build it, the late Charles Van Kula, founder of CVK Construction.

“He took unique features from each one of the castles that he visited and things that he particularly liked, and he incorporated them in here,” said Mike Bylsma, who owns Wyoming-based Rigid Steel Construction LLC.

Read more here: https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/real-estate/rural-west-michigan-castle-with-secret-rooms-hits-market-for-2-15m/

Downtown Grand Rapids is getting its first non-alcoholic cocktail bar as two hospitality veterans bet on a growing trend...
12/17/2025

Downtown Grand Rapids is getting its first non-alcoholic cocktail bar as two hospitality veterans bet on a growing trend of younger drinkers cutting back on booze.

Cafe Jazzy Rose, set to open early next year at 44 Ionia Ave. SW, will serve coffee, mocktails and alcohol-free beer, wine and spirits.

Owner-operators Joseff VanHorn and Ben Kaja envision Cafe Jazzy Rose as a jazz-inspired bar and restaurant that creates space for customers to have “fun and a fancy cocktail” without “the pressure that alcohol imposes on people.”

“We’ve learned that ages 18 to 38 are not drinking anymore,” said VanHorn, the owner of Catering Concepts, YoChef’s Catering Co. and YoChef’s Cafe. He said the trend has shifted the balance of the craft beverage movement, as brewers, distillers and winemakers tackle a younger, more health-conscious generation.

The drinks menu at Cafe Jazzy Rose will range from Korean dalgona coffee to herb-based “botanical elixirs” from Three Spirits and classic cocktails made without alcohol.

Cafe Jazzy Rose’s food menu will span cuisines across Kaja’s 30-year hospitality career, from Southern style comfort food and Cajun flavors to New York City and Chicago staples.

Read more here: https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/restaurants-1/grand-rapids-first-dry-cocktail-bar-bets-on-gen-zs-shift-away-from-booze/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soc-own

The first major office-to-residential conversion in downtown Grand Rapids aims to begin pre-leasing in January 2026, wit...
12/17/2025

The first major office-to-residential conversion in downtown Grand Rapids aims to begin pre-leasing in January 2026, with tenants expected to start moving into the 140-unit development in June.

The development team at CWD Real Estate Investment LLC last week walked the media through the future Residences at 111 Lyon, a roughly $30 million office building conversion at the corner of Lyon Street NW and Ottawa Avenue NW. Seven floors of former office space in the 10-floor, brutalist, international-style building are being turned into apartments.

Floors one through three in the 95,025-square-foot building will continue to serve as Fifth Third Bank’s regional headquarters. The basement and sub-basement of the building, which used to serve as the athletic space for the University Club, are also undergoing renovations into tenant amenities, which will include a pickleball court, pool, locker rooms, golf and racing simulators, pool table, library and putting green.

Sam Cummings, managing partner at CWD Real Estate, which owns the building, estimates the project is about 60%-65% complete as of Dec. 11.

Read more here: https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/real-estate/20m-downtown-grand-rapids-office-conversion-to-start-leasing-apartments-in-january/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soc-own

Amway lost a $2.7 billion land dispute with Mexico on a legal technicality and now owes the country $1.3 million in lega...
12/16/2025

Amway lost a $2.7 billion land dispute with Mexico on a legal technicality and now owes the country $1.3 million in legal fees after international arbitrators dismissed its claim that the government illegally seized nearly 700 acres of company-owned farmland.

The dispute follows a 2022 land seizure that has been in arbitration since 2023. Amway affiliate Access Business Group has racked up nearly $3.5 million in legal costs to protect the company’s interest in a plot of land known as Rancho El Petacal that the Ada-based direct selling giant purchased in the early 1990s for its Nutrilite supplement operations.

While the land has been the subject of local dispute for decades, Amway believed it had a clear title to the property even as the Mexican government seized it three years ago in a move to return it to a communal farming group.

As part of the international arbitration, Amway accused the Mexican government of violating the North American Free Trade Agreement and claimed $2.7 billion in damages as a result of the government’s “illegal expropriation” of the farmland.

In a 107-page award published Nov. 21, a tribunal at the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes rejected Amway’s NAFTA-based claim, noting that the trade agreement was superseded by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement in 2020.

Read more here: https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/manufacturing/inside-amways-failed-2-7b-claim-over-seized-mexican-farmland/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soc-own

A Kent County Judge has denied a court-ordered receiver’s request to close the former Sligh Furniture Co. factory in Gra...
12/15/2025

A Kent County Judge has denied a court-ordered receiver’s request to close the former Sligh Furniture Co. factory in Grand Rapids, allowing tenants to stay in the 145-year-old building at least on a short-term basis.

Kent County Circuit Judge Curt Benson denied the shutdown request during a hearing last week to consider the receiver’s request based on public safety concerns and negative cash flow from building operations. Benson said he will order all parties involved, including tenants of the Sligh building at 211 Logan St. SW, to appear in court for a settlement conference.

Scott Brinkmann, attorney at Butzel Long who is representing building owner JV SBAM SB, told Benson during the hearing today that his client plans to submit a term sheet on Dec. 17. The proposal will lay out how they will pay off overdue property taxes and interest payments on the property and invest a “substantial amount” in needed capital repairs to the building, Brinkmann said.

Benson said he will schedule the settlement conference to hear the building owner’s proposal, although he said he is “extremely skeptical.”

Read more here: https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/real-estate/judge-allows-grand-rapids-sligh-building-to-stay-open-for-now/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soc-own

Microsoft has submitted plans to prepare a roughly 356-acre site in Kent County for a data center, roughly a year after ...
12/15/2025

Microsoft has submitted plans to prepare a roughly 356-acre site in Kent County for a data center, roughly a year after the tech giant acquired property for a potential project.

Gaines Township planning documents show Microsoft needs 40.5 acres rezoned to accommodate the project. Township planning officials have recommended approving the change, noting that it would not have an adverse effect on adjacent properties, property values and nearby wetlands.

Microsoft previously acquired 316 acres from Steelcase Inc. for $45.3 million in August 2024. The company subsequently acquired about 40.5 acres just to the north in November 2024 for $9.7 million from Republic National Distributing Co., according to property records. RNDC had acquired the property from Steelcase in 2022.

Microsoft plans to combine the properties to build a data center, according to planning documents, although a detailed site plan has yet to be submitted.

Read more here: https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/real-estate/microsoft-submits-plans-for-data-center-south-of-grand-rapids/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soc-own

A Grand Rapids developer plans to build a 115-room Tru by Hilton in Holland, marking the third hotel it has built in a g...
12/12/2025

A Grand Rapids developer plans to build a 115-room Tru by Hilton in Holland, marking the third hotel it has built in a growing industrial corridor on the city’s south side.

An affiliate of Grand Rapids-based Visser Brothers Inc. plans to build the hotel on a 3.16-acre parcel the company has owned since 2002 at 620 South Point Hotel Drive in Holland.

The developers hope to break ground on the $20 million project in spring 2026 and open by fall 2027. The hotel would employ about 15 people.

The hotel will rise in a previously approved planned unit development at the southeast corner of E. 48th Street and M-40. The development also contains two other hotels, with one remaining additional parcel besides this one available for potential commercial use.

Plans call for a four-story, 52,516-square-foot hotel with parking, bike racks, two EV chargers and four dedicated EV spaces. The developer also is seeking permits for a swimming pool, onsite food and beverage, and potentially a liquor license.

Read more here: https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/hospitality-tourism/115-room-tru-by-hilton-marks-developers-third-hotel-in-south-holland/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soc-own

While controversy stirs around OpenAI’s Stargate data center project in Saline Township, another data center complex nea...
12/12/2025

While controversy stirs around OpenAI’s Stargate data center project in Saline Township, another data center complex nearly as big is being quietly planned 45 miles northeast in Lyon Township.

A company called Verrus — started by Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners, a company backed by Google parent company Alphabet Inc. among other investors — has submitted plans to construct 1.8 million square feet of data centers on the 172-acre lot owned by Detroit-based construction giant Walbridge, according to a proposal that went before the township Planning Commission.

The property is off Grand River Avenue between South Hill and Milford roads in the New Hudson area south of I-96 in southwestern Oakland County.

Walbridge is expected to develop the project — called Project Flex — for Verrus, a subsidiary of Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners founded in 2024 that plans to develop energy-efficient data centers.

No investment total is listed in documents for the project, which consists of the construction of six 306,000-square-foot data center buildings and a power substation designed by DTE.

Lyon Township’s planning commission conditionally approved the site plan for the project in September. Verrus, along with design consulting firm Kimley-Horn and Walbridge, is required to submit a sound study on the project to ensure the data center complies with the township’s noise ordinances. Data centers are often considered loud because of whirling fans used to chill the servers and from diesel generators used in backup emergency situations.

To date, the developers have not submitted that study.

Read more here: https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/economic-development/google-spinout-proposes-southeast-michigan-data-center-nearly-as-large-as-oracle-megaproject/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soc-own

At least two major developments in West Michigan could benefit from a bill advancing through the Legislature to re-up an...
12/10/2025

At least two major developments in West Michigan could benefit from a bill advancing through the Legislature to re-up an incentive program that has spurred several large projects across the state but has kept others in limbo as it nears its limit.

The Democratic-led Senate on Tuesday voted to lift a $1.6 billion cap on post-construction transformational brownfield tax captures to $3.5 billion. It would be the second expansion of the program.

Multiple large West Michigan projects to date have benefited from the program, including the mixed-use Factory Yards in Grand Rapids, Acrisure Amphitheater and Amway Stadium, and the transformation of a former factory near Muskegon Lake into hundreds of housing units and commercial space.

However, the cap is holding back multiple other large projects, including an overhaul of the Renaissance Center in Detroit. General Motors and its partner Bedrock are also banking on brownfield incentives as part of a $1.6 billion partial demolition and renovation of the RenCen.

In West Michigan, an expanded transformational brownfield program could benefit at least two projects: John Ball Zoo’s proposed aquarium in the city of Walker, and Parkland Properties’ plan to convert the site of a former paper mill along Lake Michigan into housing.

Read more here: https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/economic-development/aquarium-lakeshore-paper-mill-could-benefit-from-expanded-transformational-incentives/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soc-own

A Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Kalamazoo County is back on the market for $1.44 million, an $806,000 cut from its...
12/09/2025

A Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Kalamazoo County is back on the market for $1.44 million, an $806,000 cut from its original asking price after failing to sell during post-election real estate turbulence.

Gloria Poore and Benjamin Harroll on Dec. 5 relisted the David and Christine Weisblat House built in 1951 in The Acres subdivision in Charleston Township near Galesburg.

Poore and Harroll initially listed it at $2.25 million in January 2025, then cut the price three times when it didn’t sell.

Now, they’ve hired Victoria Krause Schutte, of Christie’s International Real Estate in Oak Park, Ill., who has brokered four or five Wright home sales during the past few years.

She helped Poore and Harroll settle on the lower price and a new marketing strategy that involved shooting new photos and video and targeting a wider audience.

The Weisblat House is one of four Wright-designed Usonian homes built in the 1950s in a nearly 70-acre subdivision Wright devised called The Acres, about 11 miles east of Kalamazoo. The others are the Eppstein House, Pratt House and Meyer House.

Read more here: https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/real-estate/frank-lloyd-wright-home-near-kalamazoo-back-on-the-market-after-steep-price-cut/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soc-own

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