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Commercial & Economic Development


Over many years, Michigan LISC has witnessed significant disinvestment in many lower income neighborhoods throughout the State.  In some cases this has resulted in physical deterioration including substandard housing, vacant lots, and abandoned stores and buildings.  Lower income neighborhoods no longer have access to local retail services critical to increasing both the economic strength and the quality of life for residents.  In an effort to reverse this decline, Michigan LISC has gone well beyond the traditional housing role to enhance economic revitalization.

The North Park Street Plaza is one example of how Michigan LISC provided financial support and technical assistance to a project that become a catalyst for improvement and growth in Kalamazoo's Northside Neighborhood.

For over a decade the Northside community has been virtually without any retail services; not having any banks, gas stations, hardware stores, or pharmacies is not only a major inconvenience, but also a hardship for the 40% of area residents who are without transportation.

In 1995, the Northside Association for Community Development began pursuing the dream of developing a full service grocery store for the Northside Neighborhood.  NACD's dream became a reality in November of 2003, with the Grand Opening of the North Park Street Plaza.  The Plaza is a new 3.7 million, 29,000 square-foot retail development anchored by a 25,000 square-foot full service grocery store operated by Felpausch Food Centers.  The grocery store features a deli, bakery, produce and meat departments, postal service, a video store, and film developing.  A pharmacy is expected to open soon.  The North Park Street Plaza also has 4,000 square-feet of commercial space for other retail tenants.

In addition to providing a convenient place for residents to purchase quality, affordable groceries, the North Park Street Plaza has also:

Strong community support and an ongoing partnership among NACD, the City of Kalamazoo, LISC, local lenders and foundations, as well as local business leaders, were instrumental in bringing the North Park Street Plaza to fruition.  LISC provided $68,000 in grants, $300,000 in recoverable grants and over 1.1 million in loans for the project.  Additional funding came from the State of Michigan and funds solicited through an NACD capital campaign.

The completion of the North Park Street Plaza is the first commercial investment of any magnitude into the Northside Neighborhood in almost two decades.  It's also a strong signal to the rest of the community that the Northside Neighborhood is experiencing growth and a resurgence of vital services, economic development, housing improvement and other critical components that are fundamental to a healthy, vibrant, and sustainable community.


In the Grand Rapids community, Dwelling Place is once again serving as a catalyst for neighborhood revitalization with their “Martineau” project, a mixed-use development that encompasses the purchase of five adjoining parcels of land on Division Avenue in Grand Rapids. Four of the five parcels of land contain empty, dilapidated buildings and one parcel is a vacant lot. Dwelling Place will acquire and rehabilitate the buildings for arts-related activities; developing the second and third floors of the buildings as living and work space for artists, and recruiting art galleries and arts-friendly businesses to occupy the commercial spaces on the ground floors. The project will result in over 35,000 square feet of residential space and 12,000 square feet of commercial space.  

Given the existence of four galleries in the Heartside Neighborhood on Division Avenue, the project will assist in creating a critical mass of artists that will have a major impact on the neighborhood. Additionally, within one block of the project site, a three story mural by nationally known artist Richard Hass was unveiled in the Spring of 2004. This mural is expected to be destination art for the region and will attract people into the area which will feed the galleries and support the artists. After seven years, the apartments will be offered to the residents to be purchased as condominiums. To insure the long term affordability of both the residential and commercial space, the buildings will be placed in a land trust. As it happens so many times around the country, the development of affordable working and living space for artists results in the eventual gentrification of an area. By placing the buildings in a land trust, Dwelling Place will be ensuring the long term affordability of the properties for use by artists.

The project is critical to the overall redevelopment of Division Avenue which is historically one of Grand Rapids’ most troubled areas. The project will result in the redevelopment of the most dilapidated block on the street and will result in the development of additional properties by other developers. The project also fits into the new Cool Cities Initiative that was launched by Governor Jennifer Granholm in December 2003. According to Granholm, Cool Cities are places where people with talent and imagination can find work, along with rich cultural, social and recreational opportunities—ingredients for a quality lifestyle.

Dwelling Place has partnered with New Markets Support Corporation, a LISC affiliate, to receive a New Markets tax credit investment of $7,695,000 for the Martineau project. Additionally, the area is home to a LISC Main Street/Neighborhood Commercial Corridor program in Michigan and will serve to demonstrate the value of these types of initiatives. Dwelling Place has been a strong partner and supporter of LISC’s efforts for over a decade and has evolved into one of the most prominent CDCs in Michigan.