KALAMAZOO, MI -- A new economic growth authority expects to leverage $66 million in state and local taxes to boost business in downtown Kalamazoo during the next 30 years. Monday, the Kalamazoo City Commission approved a plan to reinvest tax revenue collected from increases in the value of downtown property. It outlines how funds will be [...]

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality is supporting the cleanup of a blighted site primed for an ambitious redevelopment project. Monday, the DEQ announced it will loan $1.25 million and grant $100,000 to mitigate contamination of a historic Vicksburg paper mill. Paper City Development, LLC. plans invest $50 million to redevelop the long-vacant mill complex into a mixed-use [...]

On a map, Edison, the most populous of the Kalamazoo’s 22 neighborhoods, is shaped like a work boot with one loose shoelace, an apt symbol for a neighborhood that is a little hardscrabble tossed with historical and urban charm. The collar of the boot (the north border), includes Mayor’s Riverfront Park and the Kalamazoo River; [...]

Local officials are hopeful that Michigan Department of Environmental Quality funds will help clean up a blighted site primed for an ambitious redevelopment project. The county Board of Commissioners authorized its Brownfield Redevelopment Authority to apply for a $1.25 million DEQ loan and $100,000 grant to mitigate contamination of a former Vicksburg paper mill. Paper City [...]