News Life Sciences Kalamazoo County growing, makes investment in life sciences
Kalamazoo County growing, makes investment in life sciences
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By Nathan Peck | MiBiz
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The last year has been a flurry of activity in Kalamazoo County, with major initiatives moving forward among many of the region’s organizations.
From the announcement of a $100 million gift to found Western Michigan University’s Medical School to Bronson’s partnership with Battle Creek Health System, the area is looking to capitalize on its life sciences legacy as it looks to drive the healthcare industry forward.
Bronson partners with BCHS
In December, Bronson Health announced its plans to purchase a 51-percent stake in Battle Creek Health System, adding BCHS to the Bronson Health System. The two signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to develop a new regional healthcare system. The LOI provides a framework for the partnership and begins the formal process of creating the operating model for merging the two organizations. In June, the boards of directors of the organizations approved a definitive agreement and on July 1 BCHS officially became Bronson Battle Creek.
The vision for the partnership is to create a healthcare system that delivers better coordination of care for patients throughout Southwest Michigan. Bronson will become the “operating partner” of the new regional system by purchasing 51 percent of BCHS. The deal included Bronson purchasing the 50 percent share held by Trinity Health — and 1 percent of the BCHS Community Partners holdings. Community Partners will join the Bronson board of directors resulting in a more regionally focused board.
“For the past 18 months, BCHS trustees, including Trinity Health, physician and executive leaders have been engaged in a thoughtful, strategic review of our marketplace and the future of healthcare services,” said Neil Nyberg, chair of the BCHS Community Partners board of trustees. “Throughout this process, the goal was to assure that the very best healthcare is available in our community, a commitment Bronson also shares.”
WMU Medical School receives $100 million “founding gift”
Western Michigan University announced in March that an anonymous donor had made a $100 million cash gift, the largest ever made to a Michigan college or university, to be used to give birth to a private medical school at a public institution.
WMU President John M. Dunn stated the anonymous gift was among the 10 largest cash gifts ever made to an American public university and the 15th largest in the history of American higher education. The gift will serve as the foundational funding for a school of medicine that WMU is developing in partnership with Kalamazoo’s two major hospitals, Borgess Health and Bronson Healthcare.
“This is a historic gift and a historic moment. With their gift, these generous donors are endorsing the vision we’ve developed with our partners,” Dunn said. “It’s a vision that will transform this community by leveraging its legacy and unique resources.”
WMU’s Sangren Hall project gets underway
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Sangren Hall is set to be completed in Fall 2011, with the remainder of site work to be completed early in 2012. COURTESY RENDERING |
While the lame duck state legislature threw the funding for the $68 million Sangren Hall construction project into question in late 2010, the Western Michigan University project went vertical throughout 2011.
Demolition of the southern side of the building was completed in summer 2010, with the north side housing offices and some classrooms until the new building will be completed in fall 2012. The university is seeking the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED accreditation for the project and expects to obtain gold status. The contractor base in the region, while feeling the effects of the economic downturn, remains strong, said Michele Wreggelsworth, project manager for Miller-Davis Co., the construction manager for the project.
Mavcon moving up
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James Dally, left, and Joe Agostinelli are balancing the requirements of historical renovation and green building standards as they begin work on the Metropolitan Center, a redevelopment project along Michigan Avenue in Kalamazoo. PHOTO: NATHAN PECK |
What started as a feasibility study for the city of Kalamazoo and the surrounding community is now an $11.3 million project turning a long-neglected piece of property along Michigan Avenue in downtown Kalamazoo into loft apartments and main floor retail space. The Metropolitan Center, a redevelopment project headed by Mavcon, draws on a mix of owner equity, as well as federal, state, historical and community funding sources.
The four buildings in the 100 block of Michigan Avenue date to the 1860s and had largely sat vacant for the last four decades. Just one tenant, a Subway franchise, remains in the first-floor retail space, while the upper floors of the building have been in rough shape. Mavcon is drawing on 14 different sources of funding for the project, ranging from the Kalamazoo Community Foundation to state and federal historical tax credits.
The development will house 28 rental units and 10,000 square feet of commercial retail space. Mavcon President James Dally said that while the commercial real estate market remains soft — the center represents Class A retail space and has received strong interest among regional and national retailers.
Dally expects to have the project LEED certified — which sometimes butts up against historical preservation requirements that elements such as solar panels not be visible from street level.
KVCC goes green with campus expansion
Kalamazoo Valley Community College decided to green its facilities as it educates students and workers around Southwest Michigan with the addition of its new Student Success Center.
The $6 million project involved the addition of 33,000 square feet of office space to house the Student Success Center, a move to consolidate student service offices that had been spread around the Texas Township campus into a single location. As offices were being shifted around campus, KVCC undertook the renovation of an additional 40,000 square feet of offices.
KVCC is seeking LEED Silver accreditation for the project, and has incorporated novel approaches to reduce the building’s energy consumption. The project uses Solartubes, cylindrical light harvesting devices that use a lensed dome on the roof to collect daylight and then reflect it up to two stories to a diffuser below, to reduce the need for electric lighting. Even on a rainy day, when this reporter visited, the collectors were able to reduce the need for about two-thirds of the lights in the main hallway. The addition has a green LiveRoof system, planted with native species that will reduce the heating and cooling loads in summer and winter.
Ace’s Cycles first grad of downtown retail incubator program
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Mike Applegate and Doug Knudsen, owners of Ace’s Cycles, say scooters are one segment of the powersports market that grew in 2009. PHOTO: NATHAN PECK |
Ace’s Cycles is the first business to graduate out of the Downtown Kalamazoo Incorporated Retail Incubation Program. Two years after the Downtown Development Authority first approved the program as its newest business recruitment tool, Ace’s Cycles completed an 18 month supervised business development period, which has included close mentoring, business training and rental assistance.
Ace’s Cycles, located at 346 S. Kalamazoo Mall, is a scooter retailer and service provider. Owned by business partners Mike Applegate and Doug Knudsen, Ace’s Cycles entered the scooter market selling Genuine Scooter, Sachs and TGB scooters and providing service to all brands of scooters, mopeds and motorcycles.
The DKI Retail Incubation Program has been available since May 18, 2009. State legislation passed in 2008 allows a DDA to fund such a program, providing that the business offers new or under-served products to downtown communities.
The Retail Incubation Program was one of the first retail focused initiatives to come out of the 2009 Downtown Kalamazoo Comprehensive Plan, which identifies the building of downtown retail as a strategic priority.
Phoenix Properties proposes $24M investment in downtown
Where most people saw a parking lot, developers Greg Taylor and Alan Sylvester saw opportunity.
The duo, partners in property development and management firm Phoenix Properties, envision a mixed-use development on the corner of Kalamazoo Avenue and Rose Street. The 8-story, $24 million project they announced in June that plans to bring retail, commercial office and residential apartments to downtown Kalamazoo also signifies the first major development project principals Sylvester and Taylor are undertaking after buying out their other partners in the firm in late 2010.
“This is certainly going to be a transformational project for us. It is the first major project where we are actively playing the role of developer in this post-reorganization phase of our business. For that reason, it is an important project,” Taylor said. “It is an important project because it is here in our town, where we would prefer to do most of our work in the near term because we know the players here.”
