White Creek Coming To Red Flannel

CEDAR SPRINGS — The red-flannel town of Cedar Springs is getting some much-needed retail, as construction is underway on the White Creek Plaza.

The 16,240-square-foot retail center is going up on White Creek Avenue, just east of U.S. 131. The development is owned by GS Properties LLC of Allendale and is being designed and built by Elmridge Construction Co. of Walker.

“Already one tenant is signed up for the building. Dollar World is going to be taking 5,400 square feet of the building. And there will be other multiple tenants in there for various retail operations,” said Greg Petersen, the White Creek Plaza project manager for Elmridge.

The plaza should be finished and open for business by the middle of September.

“Right now, the mason is finishing up with all the walls and we have bar-joist ducking being delivered,” said Petersen. “So, it’s well underway.”

Petersen said the White Creek Plaza will become an important part of the retail sector in Cedar Springs.

“It’s very important. It’s built right in the highway district zone there that has been developed. It’s actually in Solon Township, but that has been annexed to the city of Cedar Springs, and it’s in the prime area that they’re trying to develop around the U.S. 131 corridor,” he said.

“It’s highly visible from 131 and the developer has put a little extra money into the design of the building to fit the décor of Cedar Springs, per se, with their red-flannel city, by picking colors to complement that. He also has done some things on the back side of the building, so when someone is going down 131 it doesn’t look like the back side of a building,” he added.

GS Properties is owned by Gary Stroven. White Creek Plaza is Stroven’s first venture into Cedar Springs and retail. Normally GS Properties develops industrial holdings in the Allendale area.

Elmridge Construction has been around since the 1950s, starting back then as a mason constructor. The company designs and builds commercial, industrial and municipal projects.

“We’re finishing up the Kentwood Justice Center, a project that we’ve been working on for a year and a half,” said Petersen. “We also do libraries. The most recent one we’re finishing up is the library in Hesperia.”