The city of Kalamazoo identified a vacant public safety building as a site for development that could activate the southern edge of downtown, providing a transition between the Burdick Street pedestrian mall and the historic Vine neighborhood. The building’s large overhead doors and front drive apron suggested an opportunity for unique indoor/outdoor dining, event, or gathering space.
The League engaged Beckett & Raeder, Inc. (BRI) to create three different scenarios for site redevelopment, including rehab and reuse of the existing structure, rehab and vertical expansion, and a complete raze-and-rebuild scenario.
The concepts were presented for public feedback at an August 2017 open house, along with examples of adaptive reuse of similar structures. We received strong support for the rehab-and-expand option–especially if the expansion allowed for additional affordable housing options within the downtown.
The city’s brownfield redevelopment authority issued a Request for Qualifications seeking a development for the favored scenario, and selected Hollander Development Corporation to further explore redevelopment of the site to include a six- to eight-story building containing a combination of retail, office, and affordable housing.
News Articles
Development ideas sought for downtown Kalamazoo fire station – Mlive, Aug. 7, 2017
Developer proposes razing downtown fire station for $10.5M project – Mlive, March 26, 2018