Project to turn empty Kalamazoo office building into 82 apartments

Madalyn Buursma
·1 min read
3

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — A development planned for downtown Kalamazoo will turn an empty building into housing and a restaurant.

Project leaders are working to turn a vacant building at 203 Rose St. into a mixed-use building with 82 housing units and a restaurant. The building used to be an office building, according to a memo from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, but it emptied out due to the pandemic.

More than 40% of the units will have “attainable” pricing, priced for those making 80 to 120% of the county’s area median income. Three will be set aside for those making 60% AMI. Those rates will range from $963 a month for studio units to $2,729 a month for two-bedroom units, the memo says.

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The project comes as the county works to build 7,750 new housing units by 2030 and 700 new affordable housing units for 80% AMI or below.

The Michigan Strategic Fund Board on Tuesday approved a close to $4.9 million Michigan Community Revitalization Program loan for the building, which the developers have requested due to the “substantial cost of construction,” the MEDC memo says.

The MSF also approved a state tax capture worth up to around $400,000. The city of Kalamazoo has approved a Neighborhood Enterprise Zone abatement worth around $1.8 million and tax increment financing worth around $460,000.

The developer, PlazaCorp, has also purchased the next-door commercial building that’s connected to 203 Rose St. by a skybridge. That is not set for improvements as part of the project, the memo says.

PlazaCorp’s other properties in the area include The Exchange Building, The Depot Building and the Globe Building.

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