AUDIO: Portage approves rezoning for housing development south of City Hall (Revised)

PORTAGE, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – The Portage city council has approved rezoning for another housing project, one they might not have considered a few years ago.

It was a request to rezone land near Westnedge and Centre avenues just south of Portage City Hall to permit a four-story structure with shops on the ground floor and apartments upstairs. The property is on undeveloped land owned by Portage Centre Plaza, LLC, and 19 Props, LLC, just across the street from residential zoning.

Council member Terry Urban wondered if that was a good idea.

Chief Development Officer Peter Dame said in this particular case it is, because there are few homes nearby.

Mayor Patricia Randall says she has been to four groundbreakings on new residential projects recently.

She says they are doing what they can to address the area’s housing shortage, and rezonings like this is part of that effort.

A developer had plans for a mixed commercial and office structure at that site, but the COVID-19 pandemic ended the demand for new office space.

Rezoning is just the first step in the development process.

This story has been updated to reflect Portage Centre Plaza, LLC, and 19 Props, LLC own the land in question, not Portage Public Schools.