GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Last fall, I told you about this vacant old federal building here in my Grand Rapids neighborhood. At the time, the city was working to find a buyer, and they had a deal on the table. But within the last month, it fell apart.
I'm told the key to unlocking this riverside property's future rests in the hands of the federal government.
If you've driven by here or walked on the north side near Riverside Park, you've probably seen this building — the old U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Center on Monroe.
"It's been kind of condemned and a little bit run down for some time. I walk my dog by there regularly," Jason Kroll said.
The facility is now a blank canvas — one neighbors would like to see more done with.
"An extension of the park would be great. Some community center would be awesome," Kroll said.
"I would love to see a cafe, maybe a small market," Monica Risch said.
"Something like food court, seating, more restrooms would be great," Priscilla Hernedez said.
The city was working in partnership with the federal government to bring a developer into this space.
"This building right here on the back of the property, used to be a simulator, where they would simulate combat situations, and they had guns that would fire blanks," Morrison Industrial Equipment Sales Vice President Scott Timmer said.
Sarah Rainero, the Grand Rapids Economic Development director, explains the federal government priced it originally at $4.9 million and then down to $4.5 million after appraisal.
"Ultimately, mixed-use development in all four proposals was just not amenable to the sale price," Rainero said.
Rainero added the proposal that made it the furthest called for up to 200 apartments.
"It's neighbor adjacent, it's river adjacent, just south of Riverside Park. So, yeah, I think there's a lot of attributes going for that site," Rainero said.
When asked if it was just the sale price for the piece of property, Rainero responded: "That's where we were stuck."
Scott Timmer with Morrison Industrial Equipment says his company has always eyed that site.
"We're growing business, and we look for opportunities," Timmer said.
Opportunities are endless at this time.
"We expect it to be a very attractive site," Rainero said.
"So the hard moment I have is that we need housing in this city, but I don't want to see 180 apartments right there, necessarily," Risch said.
The city explained it's up to the federal government to put this property up for sale. A time frame for when that could happen wasn't clear.
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