HASTINGS, Mich. — A development bringing 135 apartments, childcare and space for food businesses to downtown Hastings marked its ribbon cutting Wednesday, with residents expected to begin moving in as early as November.
The more than $40 million Riverwalk Lofts and Mill Street Market campus at 420 E. Mill St. combines housing with a planned farm stop, cafe, shared kitchen and a 60-slot childcare center.
For Hastings resident Sally Shuster Shoff, the project represents new possibilities in the community she returned to after living elsewhere.
“I left for a little while, and now I’m a boomerang. I am back,” she said.
Shuster Shoff said she welcomes the additional housing.
“I am so excited about housing in this area. We’ve needed it for a really long time,” she said.
Bonnie Gettys, president and CEO of the Barry Community Foundation, said the project addresses a shortage of housing options.
“We have a critical need for more housing in our community for all levels,” Gettys said.
Twenty percent of the apartments are designated as workforce housing, with eligibility based on household income. Gettys said those units are intended for households earning between 80% and 120% of the area median income.
Monthly rents range from $1,420 to $2,640 for one- to three-bedroom apartments, according to the property’s listing on Apartments.com.
Residents could begin moving in Nov. 6, Gettys said, depending on the completion of safety inspections and occupancy approvals.
The city supported the development by waiving $288,000 in water system improvement fees, Mayor Dave Tossava said. The project also has a brownfield tax increment financing agreement, he said.
“This is a culmination of everything we’ve been trying to do for the last three or four years,” Tossava said.
Mill Street Market is expected to open in late December or January, Gettys said.
Plans for that portion of the campus changed as organizers evaluated community needs. An event space initially envisioned for the building was replaced with childcare.
“What we realized was we don’t need event spaces. We need childcare,” Gettys said.
The shared kitchen is intended to give food entrepreneurs and farmers a place to prepare products. Gettys said farmers could use it to turn produce into items such as applesauce, extending its use. Plans also call for fresh food to be served to children at the childcare center.
Gettys said a pedestrian connection to downtown could encourage residents to visit nearby shops and restaurants.
"They are definitely beautiful and safe, and the fact that they overlook this gorgeous river, that there's childcare on the campus, makes it so much easier for the residents," Gettys said. "And I know that what this is going to do for the city is just create far more foot traffic in our downtown, which will then in turn help the local economy and our local small businesses.”
For Shuster Shoff, that access is part of the development’s appeal.
“You could walk to everything from here,” she said.
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