A long-planned expansion of WMU's successful Business Technology and Research Park (BTR Park) in Oshtemo Township is closing in on a Spring 2018 groundbreaking, according to a recent MLive article. The site has an interesting history, having served as former orchards that were maintained by former residents of the Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital. Long-overgrown, this 50+ acre parcel is one of the largest undeveloped pieces of land in the area, and is located adjacent to the Asylum Lake Nature Preserve, itself the site of former Psych Hospital activities and structures.
I think my favorite part of the article is the name of the Oshtemo Township Planning Commission Secretary - Dusty Farmer.
Quote:
Western Michigan nears groundbreaking on business park expansion
By Malachi Barrett | MLive
October 16, 2017
KALAMAZOO, MI -- New designs reflect an attempt to reduce the environmental impact of an expansion to Western Michigan University's Business Technology and Research Park that could begin by the early spring of 2018. The BTR Park, which includes the university's College of Engineering and Applied Sciences south of Parkview along U.S. 131 in Kalamazoo, is near capacity. WMU plans to expand it onto a 53-acre property in Oshtemo Township, formerly known as the Colony Farm Orchard, on the northwest corner of Parkview and Drake Road...
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The site is the wooded portion - in the mid-ground of this image. US-131 is in the foreground, and the existing BTR Park and Asylum Lake Preserve are in the background:
Images Source:
MLive