Plans for a 144-unit apartment complex and three-story storage facility on Seminole Road in Norton Shores have been approved by the city.
The plans are part of the next phase of development at Eastowne Centre, located on the corner of Seaway Drive.
Jenison of the Netherlands and Fusion Properties Space Source Inc. The development team, which includes Norton Shores, plans to buy seven sites from Norton Shores and five sites from two private properties, according to a filing with Norton Shores Council. provide.
Plans for the condominium include six 24-unit apartment buildings, an 11,126-seat garage “structure” and a community building, according to the developer’s rezoning application.
It is also planned to build a three-story warehouse with 500 seats.
A total of about 400 parking spaces are planned.
The board unanimously approved the special use on August 16.
The city contracted with Space Source in November 2021 to purchase seven properties for $180,000. Under the terms of the purchase agreement, the city will build an access road on the east side of the property from Peninsula Drive.
Smaller plans were shelved when previous major real estate developments failed. Eastowne Center is developing a two-story shopping mall, restaurants, two office buildings and nine apartments.
A warehouse is planned on Seaway Drive just east of the existing Toast ‘N Jams shopping mall and restaurant.
City plans call for six apartment buildings to be located behind or south of warehouses and restaurants.
The 2,500 square meter playground and community building is located in the west of the apartment block and opposite the current townhouse.
The architectural rendering shows a three-story house with one, two and three bedroom lofts.
Requests for comment on Fusion Properties were not immediately returned.
The Seaway Drive and Seminole Road properties have Hill Department Store and Frank Arboretum, along with failed restaurants and great ideas that have come and gone for decades but never worked.
The final major development proposal to go public in 2019 includes more than 220 apartments, developed by Grand Rapids-based Redstone Commercial Investment. The plan failed after the developer failed to bid on the private property.
In 2005, developers announced ambitious plans for a $25 million mixed-use “urban village” called Eastowne Center. It envisions 17 acres of townhouses, offices, shops, restaurants, skating rinks and music halls.
The city has long studied this Seminole area for improvement and has recently begun the second and final phase of the reconstruction of the Seminole Trail, which includes “walkable” components. like new sidewalks, benches and lights.
This phase includes the Seminole section downstream of Central Easttown.
Previous properties on the site include Fables Restaurant, which opened in 1985 and closed in 1989, and Frank’s Nursery and Crafts, which opened in 1986 and existed for 16 years before being demolished. in 2004.
Construction of the Vandervelde furniture store has begun but is not yet completed. The Hills Department Store was completed and opened there in 1986.
Hills went bankrupt and closed in 1991, and Irwin’s Furniture purchased Lot 267 Seminole in 2000, but it only lasted a year.
A protracted legal battle began to demolish old buildings in the Hills, some demolished in 2008 and others seven years later.
