Mayor Mark Northrup describes Hudsonville’s transformation as deliberate. In just a few years, the city is on pace to grow from roughly 7,500 residents to more than 9,000, supported by a major increase in housing development activity. That growth, he emphasizes, has been planned, structured, and aligned with a shared vision among city leadership, staff, and community partners. For a mayor, Northrup notes, the job becomes far more manageable when the commission, the city team, and the broader community are aligned around what kind of city they want to build. CREATING A DOWNTOWN WHERE NONE TRULY EXISTED Perhaps the most defining element of Hudsonville’s current evolution is that it is not revitalizing a traditional downtown—it is building one. City Commissioner Jack Groot, also Chair of the Downtown Development Authority, recalls that when he joined the DDA, residents often responded to the phrase “downtown Hudsonville” with disbelief. The original downtown had been fragmented over time, cut apart by a major state road and a railroad, with portions of the district dominated by used car lots and underutilized spaces. The city recognized that private investment was unlikely to arrive without a public catalyst. As a result, Hudsonville took a bold step that many small cities are reluctant to pursue: it led. The city bonded, acquired key distressed property, and redeveloped a former auto showroom site into a walkable downtown footprint—before there were even buildings to populate it. That public commitment created a framework that signaled to developers that Hudsonville was serious, prepared, and aligned. Once the environment existed, privatesector momentum followed. The results are now visible. The downtown district includes two completed three-story mixed-use buildings, and a larger multi-building development valued at approximately $35 million is underway. Hudsonville’s intent is clear: build a downtown that blends residential density, retail, restaurants, services, and gathering spaces in a way that feels cohesive and embraced by the community. 113 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 07, ISSUE 02 HUDSONVILLE, MI
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