Posts

Switch Expands Former Steelcase Pyramid Site

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The former Steelcase Pyramid site south of Grand Rapids is facing a major expansion. Switch, the Las Vegas-based data storage company, is excavating at the Steelcase Pyramid campus in Gaines Township.  It’s building a 312,000-square-foot building separate from the Pyramid.  The project includes a 1,000-square-foot pump house.  Work on the expansion site began in the spring, with the concrete foundations expected to be poured before the snow flies. The cost of the project, its contractor and completion date have yet to be disclosed. According to Switch’s second-quarter earnings report, it allocated $800,000 toward site preparation.

 

New Amazon Fulfillment Center Opening is Delayed

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Detroit’s new fulfillment center opening will be delayed until next year. The 3.8 million-square-foot fulfillment center was originally scheduled to be open by spring of 2022.  It’s being built on the city’s old Michigan State Fairgrounds on Woodward near Eight Mile. Developers faced backlash from community members who expressed concerns about hiring locally and environmental protections at the site. Amazon promised the city to recruit Detroit residents through the Detroit at Work employment program, beginning 5 months ahead of the facility’s opening. According to the city, 100 Detroit residents currently work at the fulfillment center. Recruitment efforts to fill those positions began earlier in 2022. Michigan currently has five Amazon fulfillment centers, one tech hub and seven Whole Foods Market locations.

 

New Costco Business Center Is On The Horizon

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The planned Costco Business Center in Southfield is one step closer to happening. Southfield City Council approved Contour Companies LLC’s sale of the property at the southwest corner of the former Northland Center site. When complete, it will be Michigan’s first Costco Business Center. The center would be geared toward small businesses, restaurants and the hospitality industry. Michigan’s Costco Business Center would be one of 15 located in the United States. Project demolition has started, and framework for the buildings has begun. The overall plan will bring more than 2,800 housing units to the site.

 

Detroit Developer Revamps Plans For Grand Rapids’ Furniture Company Property

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Detroit developer, Sturgeon Bay Partners is revamping its plan for a huge apartment complex southwest of downtown Grand Rapids. The previously announced plan was to convert the historic Sligh Furniture property into a mixed-use development with residential, retail and commercial spaces. The project’s current price tag is at $100 million due to rising construction costs and interest rates. The developer is revising its plans for the concept design and mix of incentives. The original plan was to create a mixed-use devlopment with 753 apartmes, a five-story parking garage and ground-floor retail space.

 

Detroit City Airport ALP Approved By The FAA

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The Federal Aviation Administration has given a thumb’s up to the city of Detroit’s Airport Layout Plan (ALP) for the Coleman A. Young International Airport. The ALP is expected to net about $100 million for airport development over the next 10 years. According to Mayor Duggan, the too-short runway made the airport nonviable. The grants will be used to add new hangars, a control tower, taxiways, and to improve the safety of the existing runway. Plans for the return of the Davis Aerospace Technical High School to the city airport will also be funded. The city previously received $111,000 in state and federal monies to fund plans for the airport, including the ALP.

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Grand Rapids Office Market Continues to Sputter

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The Grand Rapids third quarter office market vacancy rate hit 13.1 percent. The vacancy rate has been increasing since the pandemic as employees move between work-from-home and in-office situations. According to the real estate firm JLL, the market will continue its stops and starts for a while to come. Detroit’s General Motors is an example of the trend. The employer requested employees to come in three days a week only to rescind the request when employees pushed back. Grand Rapids suburban and central business district vacancy rates are one of the lowest in the U.S.

 

 

 

State Suspends Novi Dealership’s License

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The Michigan Department of State has suspended the license for Carvana LLC, located in Novi. Several alleged violations of the Michigan Vehicle Code led to the suspension. The violations were found during an investigation of multiple no-title complaints from consumers. The violations include failure to make application for title and registration within 15 days, fraudulently selling and dealing in vehicles whose title applications and sale documents were destroyed by employees and then accepting the return of the vehicles, failure to maintain odometer records, improperly issuing temporary registrations, failure to supply records for inspection, possession of improper odometer disclosure records, and 127 instances of probation agreement violations. According to MDOS, the continued violations pose an imminent threat to the public’s health, safety and welfare

 

Lansing-Based Company Announces Grand Rapids Satellite

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Lansing-based Clark Construction Company announced this week that it will open a Grand Rapids office in McKay Tower. The office will house the company’s West Michigan outpost. The company has done more than $500 million of work in the Grand Rapids area in the past ten years. The outpost is expected to open in the next 1 to 2 months. The company’s Vice President Dan Korte will lead almost 30 West Michigan employees at the new site. Currently, the company is in the middle of the Gun Lake Casino’s Phase Five project.

 

Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Celebrates New Headquarters

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Mercedes-Benz Financial Services USA (MBFS) has opened its new corporate campus in Farmington Hills. The headquarters are designed to support a new hybrid workforce model. The 3-story headquarters building is located on 35 acres at 35555 W. 12 Mile Road. The new workspaces encompasses 200,000 square feet. Olympia Development of Michigan, KIRCO MANIX and Gensler Detroit partnered with MBFS on the project. Mercedes-Benz Financial Services USA provides brand-specific financing and leasing products and insurance services.

 

Detroit’s New Huntington Tower Opens

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Huntington Bank held its grand opening of its new 20-story glass-clad Huntington Tower. Neumann/Smith Architecture designed the building which is located at 2025 Woodward Ave. The property houses Huntington’s commercial banking operations. Half of the tower is for indoor parking, with the top 9 floors mostly filled with offices. The ground floor includes a lobby and will include a Huntington branch. Construction of the tower began in 2019. Although it originally announced as a $104 million project, Huntington officials have not disclosed the project’s final costs. Huntington Tower is the first large new downtown Detroit building to be completed since the pandemic.