KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM/FM) — We first told you about Kalamazoo County’s huge plans for downtown Kalamazoo months ago. Last night the county board began to implement their plan by authorizing a land swap.
The county will trade the old Michigan Avenue Courthouse on Bronson Park for a parcel owned by Plaza Corp next to the county administration building on Kalamazoo Avenue.
The county tentatively plans to build a new parking ramp and a new courthouse on the vacant property. The county alone is planning to spend over $100 million.
On Tuesday, we learned that there is an 1832 deed restriction on the courthouse that would prevent private use of the land. County Attorney Thom Canny said they will need a judge to lift it. They would not be able to proceed with the deed restriction in place.
Exactly what the developer has planned for the old courthouse at Michigan and Rose has not been released, but they have promised to retain the facade of the historic building.
Several hurdles still have to be cleared before they will break ground in a few years, but they have begun to work their plan.
The land was partially cleared by the 1980 Tornado that blew through downtown Kalamazoo and by the changing economy that prompted the Gilmore Dealership to move to the suburbs.
The Arcadia Creek renovation began, creating a lot of development on the east side of the project area but it sputtered out when it got to Park Street. Local officials have been trying to find a developer or a project ambitious enough for the large tract of land ever since.
Plaza Corp will retain the two blocks in the interior of the area. Western Michigan University will hold on to a block and the county will take over the two adjacent to their current Administration Building.
There are plans for Plaza Corp to build a Boutique Hotel on the parcel where the county’s small parking ramp used to stand. The new Parking Ramp would offer about a thousand spaces, and would be built on the next parcel to the west, and then on the other side of that would be the County’s $100 million consolidated courthouse and administration complex.
Getting everyone to approve of the plan, finding the financing and then if it gets that far, the actual design and construction are all still in the future for this project.
