March 21, 2016
City may reconsider NEZ rules
The wave of development throughout Grand Rapids is prompting closer scrutiny of existing incentive tools and building guidelines. City commissioners raised some concerns regarding existing development incentives and certain guidelines for proposed projects during the Committee of the Whole meeting last week. During the March 15 meeting, officials were presented with a Neighborhood Enterprise Zone […]
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300 Ottawa Building undergoes $3M facelift
A mid-century downtown office building is in line for a nearly $3 million makeover. Renovation of the eight-story 300 Ottawa Building, owned by DP Fox Venutres, is underway and expected to be completed by May. Monica Sekulich, DP Fox senior vice president, said the plan is to upgrade the space, give it its own identity […]
Street Talk: A real education
Gov. Rick Snyder was in town last week to discuss an issue that hasn’t exactly made him popular among Michigan’s teachers: education. Snyder opened the Governor’s Economic and Education Summit 2016 at DeVos Place last Tuesday, and Jaime Casap, Google’s chief education evangelist, served as the keynote speaker. “This is a great community that’s done […]
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Ludington rides the wave of a booming tourism industry
The northern lakeshore community of Ludington charmed a record amount of visitors last year. Tourism in the area reached a milestone as attendance at a number of events soared and hotels generated more than $12.3 million in room rental income, according to the inaugural tourism report by the Ludington Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. Kathy […]
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Lunafest kicks off Gazelle Girl Weekend
A film festival dedicated to all-female talent is returning to Grand Rapids. Lunafest, a national travelling festival of short films by women, about women and for women, is coming to Grand Rapids next month. The fundraising film festival, which was created in 2000 by the makers of nutrition bar Luna, is being hosted by Gazelle […]
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Google executive maps out the future of education
Every time Jaime Casap hears someone ask his 14-year-old son what he wants to be when he grows up, he cringes. From the perspective of Casap, Google’s chief education evangelist, that’s the completely wrong way to approach education in the 21st century. “It’s already a well-established fact that the jobs of the future don’t exist […]
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Change Ups: Leonard wins lending officer award
Kenny Leonard, vice president of commercial loan services for Kalamazoo-based Educational Community Credit Union, has won the Credit Union Times 2016 Trailblazer Award for Lending Officer of the Year. The award recognizes top credit union professionals in the country in the areas of lending, marketing, volunteering, and more. Leonard’s extensive background in SBA lending and […]
Eight is enough: Construction prices fall again
Construction input prices fell for the eighth consecutive month during February, according to an analysis of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index. Construction input prices fell 0.6 percent on a monthly basis in February and have dropped 3.7 percent on a yearly basis. Inputs to nonresidential construction fell even further, declining 0.7 percent […]
Public Record
MORTGAGES Selected mortgages filed with Kent County Register of Deeds PARRIGIN-SYME, Kimberly et al, Quicken Loans, Mason Lake Estates No. 2, Lot 22, $232,000 LEETE, Lucas et al, Finance Of America Mortgage, Masonic Home Add., Lot 6, $462,000 IRWIN, Shawn P. et al, Lake Michigan Credit Union, Rogue River View Estates No. 2, Lot 38, […]
Leaving for greener pastures? Are you sure they’re green?
Why do salespeople quit their job? More money? Better job opportunity? Don’t like what they’re doing? Don’t like their boss? Don’t like corporate politics? Don’t like how they’re being treated as a person? Don’t feel the company is supporting them as a salesperson? Just had their commissions cut? Company going back on their word about […]
Same-sex marriage and the equitable parent doctrine
Suppose two women are married in Canada and have a child by artificial insemination. The couple raise the child as co-parents for a few years, but eventually divorce. Initially, they agree to a parenting time schedule, but the agreement falls apart and the biological parent won't allow her ex-spouse to see the child. Does the […]
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Event examines ethics and policies surrounding medical marijuana
The ethics and practice of prescribing medical marijuana has been a hot topic for many years across the nation and in the state of Michigan. That discussion was brought to the forefront in Grand Rapids recently, as the focus point of the first DeVos Medical Ethics Colloquy of 2016. Featuring presentations from Dr. Yasmin Hurd, […]
Letter: Township has fiduciary responsibility to NOCHS
Editor: Health Pointe in Grand Haven will have significant impacts on the North Ottawa community. Some may be good, others bad, but decisions on Health Pointe’s request for special consideration by Grand Haven Township should come only after careful consideration. The proposed building is sized at about 120,000 square feet. This is more than double […]
Neighborhood summit sends message to city
The voices coming out of Grand Rapids’ neighborhoods are getting stronger. More than 400 community members gathered during the daylong Grand Rapids Neighborhood Summit earlier this month to have their voices, best practices and innovative strategies heard. The theme of the second annual conference was “Inclusion and Community Building” and featured a keynote address by […]
Crisis management demands action, not politics
Gov. Rick Snyder sat for a grilling by the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform last week regarding state government failures over the Flint water crisis and the impact of Michigan’s “emergency manager” law on the crisis. The legislators who should be held accountable sat back from the nationwide repudiations, though it was […]
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Inside Track: Former lifeguard immerses himself in new CEO role
Scott Lewis is one of the newest members of the Grand Rapids community, having moved here in January to take on the role of president and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids. Lewis’ career with the YMCA goes back to when he was 15 and took a job as a pool lifeguard with […]
City on hook for $205K in tax decision
Tax refund season has a whole new meaning for the city of Grand Rapids. The city lost a key decision last week before the Michigan Tax Tribunal and owes the nonprofit Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty $205,000 — plus interest — for taxes already paid to the city. Acton Institute filed […]
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Returning to Grand Rapids’ roots
(As seen on WZZM TV 13) The growth of a Grand Rapids furniture company is good news for America’s Furniture City. Although the city was once considered the nation’s capital for furniture making, the local furniture industry hasn’t seen much growth in recent years. But there are bright spots — including Kindel Furniture Co., a […]
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Solving the city’s gentrification ‘paradox’
Grand Rapids Planning Director Suzanne Schulz faced some tough questions during the panel segment of a talk on gentrification at Grand Valley State University’s Loosemore Auditorium last week. The panel discussion followed a presentation by Columbia University urban planning professor and gentrification expert Lance Freeman that called the process of gentrification a “paradox.” The questions […]
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Office space: How much is too much?
Available office space in downtown is set to grow in the coming months and years, but it’s yet to be determined if that’s a good thing. As some developers are building new, including Orion Real Estate Solutions and Rockford Construction, others such as CWD Real Estate Investment and Chicago-based Franklin Partners are renovating older buildings […]
