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BATTLE CREEK — Rather than give up on some of the city’s more challenging pieces of real estate, Battle Creek Unlimited is hoping an innovative incentive program will get developers to take notice.

As building development chugged along following the investment of $85 million in the Downtown Transformation Project announced in 2008, Battle Creek Unlimited has helped the city fill 415,000 square feet of commercial and office building space, 250,000 of which was redeveloped and occupied over the last two years.

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The consummate entrepreneur, Jon Rooks bought his first property at age 15. In 1988, he founded Parkland Properties and went on to develop a $35 million condo and marina project in Montague. In 1993, the U.S. Small Business Administration named Rooks the Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

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GRAND RAPIDS — Chicago real estate investor Donald J. Shoemaker knows two things about Michigan many of his peers in the Windy City don’t:

1. Reports of the state’s industrial demise have been greatly exaggerated, and
2. Don’t paint the entire state with one brush.

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KALAMAZOO — Who says the residential real estate market has hit the skids?

A recent study on the availability and demand for residential real estate in and around downtown Kalamazoo shows that the area is ripe with opportunity for developers. Recent development projects announced by Phoenix Properties, Catalyst Development Company, Thomas Huff’s Peregrine Realty and Mavcon are all indicators that demand for downtown living options outstrips the supply downtown, say two of the city of Kalamazoo’s economic developers.

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A quick glance on a drive down Westnedge Avenue or along Centre Avenue leaves no doubt that the city of Portage is growing. City administrators intend to update the comprehensive development plan in 2012, but construction is already underway in several areas.

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WEST MICHIGAN — When lawmakers enacted the Next Michigan Development Act in December of 2010, their goal was to create new collaborative regional groups that would be able to offer their own incentives to businesses reliant on multimodal forms of transportation.

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CityFlats Hotel Grand Rapids, the newest hotel from Holland-based Charter House Innovations, is brining new life to a long-forgotten space along Monroe Center in downtown Grand Rapids. The 28-room boutique hotel is opening amid a push to be one of the greenest hotels in West Michigan.

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KALAMAZOO — Commercial real estate, long a safe bet for investors, was among the bogeymen of the financial crisis and recession.

There is a sense that the industry has reached bottom and things may be starting to look up. Investors are starting to take interest in bank-owned and distressed properties and credit is starting to loosen, but the industry is climbing out of a deep hole.

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WEST MICHIGAN — WANTED: Clean manufacturing facility wired for high-voltage power with high ceilings, thick floors and wide-open spaces.

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KALAMAZOO — Greg Taylor and Alan Sylvester pitch their plans for downtown Kalamazoo as transformative for the region.