Business View Civil & Municipal | Volume 2, Issue 8

102 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 2, ISSUE 8 that does come up for sale is snatched up within one or two weeks of hitting the market. That being said, the city and developers are working to fill the gap by creating affordable housing solutions downtown and throughout the main thoroughfares. One such development took place at the Exchange Building on East Michigan Avenue. It’s a 340,000 sq. ft project that includes 15 stories with 130 apartments and opened to rave reviews in 2020. Another development on Rose Street is a 158,000 sq. ft, four-story building with 135 apartments. Mitchell explains, “That was just phase one of the project, they are working on phase two now. Hopefully, that will be done next year to match that development with another large 150,000 sq. ft apartment complex. They moved up phase two because they were literally sold out for apartment leases before the project was done, then they had a large waiting list.” Another development, that is in the final stages on 180 East Water Street, will become a 275,000 sq. ft mixed-use residential and retail location. It will be seven stories with 40 apartments and will include workforce affordable housing. That development is projected to be competed this year. The Creamery Project is about 1.5 miles away from downtown, but it’s on a main corridor. Mitchell describes it as “a connection point between our downtown and our Kalamazoo Battle Creek International Airport.” The project contains 48 affordable units, with workforce affordable housing and a 24-hour daycare run by the YWCA. They aren’t stopping there though. The city has also seen development of the Health and Service Campus on a 10-acre brownfield site, which includes a Family Health Care Center, Department of Mental Health, and across the street there is a variety of housing available. They are also looking to add more than 100 affordable housing units nearby. From a