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By Chad D. Lerch | MiBiz
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WYOMING — When someone mentions 28th Street, what comes to mind are likely restaurants and shopping, but probably not easy-to-access, cohesive, urban streetscapes with modern buildings — at least not yet.

Wyoming city planners realize their downtown — 28th Street between Clyde Park and Burlingame avenues — lacks a certain pizazz, that special something that will make it a sustainable shopping destination for years to come.

Their answer is the “Turn on 28th Street Plan,” which is close to wrapping up the master plan development stage. The Wyoming City Council could vote on the plan as early as next year. If approved, the city would start creating ordinances, policies and procedures to make the redevelopment a reality.

The plan calls for creating a new central business district south of 28th Street between Clyde Park and Burlingame. The proposed city center would call for new retail and office space and more walkable areas, making it much easier to access than dodging traffic on 28th Street, supporters said.

Tim Cochran, city planner for the city of Wyoming, said some businesses are fleeing the existing stretch of 28th Street because the district is out-of-date with consumer expectations for a shopping district.

“We’ve been working on this very intensely since June of last year,” Cochran said. “We have been focusing in on what is it going to take to re-energize and re-invent 28th Street.”

The city has held public workshops for input from residents and conducted stakeholder interviews and “extensive outreach” to come up with the plan, he added.

Part of that process is learning from communities that are also redeveloping their downtowns.

More than 20 officials from Wyoming — a mix of business and government leaders — recently visited Muskegon to learn how that community is working to transform its downtown into a more vibrant destination for shopping, dining and entertainment.

Muskegon officials, lead by Mayor Steve Warmington, City Manager Bryon Mazade, and Muskegon Now (formerly Muskegon Main Street) Director Andrew Haan, provided guided tours.

They showed off the new Baker College Culinary Institute of Michigan campus, a centerpiece of Muskegon’s downtown at the corner of Clay and Third Street. Muskegon’s redevelopment, for the most part, is slowly occurring at the former Muskegon Mall site, which had been abandoned.

The new Muskegon downtown includes townhouses, office and retail space, restaurants and a modern streetscape. Muskegon has seen new retail and restaurants opening adjacent to the city center, mainly in the Third Street corridor.

Haan said Wyoming was already at an advanced planning stage when they took a tour of Muskegon. He said his advice to Wyoming officials was simple: “Get as much public input as you can, and make sure it’s supported by the community.”

“It seems like they have that,” Haan told MiBiz.

Haan also advised Wyoming to stand out from the crowd.

“One of the key things for them is to do something that differentiates them from the dozen or more commercial corridors in the metro Grand Rapids area. What are they going to do that’s different from Alpine or 44th Street?” Haan said. “That’s going to be the big challenge for them.”

Cochran said he wanted to give stakeholders in his town a firsthand look at how Muskegon went from a dying downtown to a destination with a distinct identity.

After decades having a thriving central business district, Muskegon’s downtown declined sharply in 1980s and ’90s. Cochran said he wanted Wyoming officials to be inspired by Muskegon’s rebirth.

“The 28th Street corridor, the heart of Wyoming, has a lot in common with downtown Muskegon,” Cochran said.

In Grand Haven, city planners have wrapped up a multi-year, multi-million dollar streetscape and infrastructure improvement project for the central business district. The city’s downtown has new sewer and waterlines, lighting and snowmelt under the street and sidewalks, among other improvements.

The project, which focused on the first three blocks of Washington Avenue, was done in stages to minimize disruptions during the summer tourism season — the bread-and-butter months for many merchants.

While some in town complained that the project took too long, city planners developed the construction schedule based largely on input from downtown merchants, those who were most directly affected.

Dana Kollewehr, director of Grand Haven’s Main Street Downtown Development Authority, said her advice for Wyoming and other downtown redevelopments in the region comes from experience.

“Develop a positive, well-thought-out communication plan for stakeholders, and keep the end goal in mind at all times,” Kollewehr said, “as it is inevitable that construction changes will occur.”

The two most political debates Grand Haven city planners faced were adding time and expense to install the snowmelt system and removing mature trees that likely would not have survived the construction.

Kollewehr said it all turned out for the best. She said merchants are seeing increased foot traffic, and sales are on the rise in the central business district.

This winter will be the first true test for the completed snowmelt system and whether increased foot traffic continues during the off-season.

“The combination of streetscape improvements and a new snowmelt system will add tremendous value to the downtown customers’ experience, which will cause them to be more likely to visit time and time again,” Kollewehr said.

Wyoming officials hope that becomes their reality.