Quote:
Originally Posted by Sar
What are the plans if any for more taller buildings in the city? Seems like it’s space for them and it would definitely bring people downtown. Also why hasn’t more been built? Kalamazoo looks and feels different with the Exchange being built.
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Unfortunately, there's nothing else on my radar that's greater than 7 stories (The Catalyst development that recently broke ground). I agree there's certainly the space for more taller buildings, and the need for greater density downtown. I think Kalamazoo has been trying to put on its big kid pants, and I hope it is successful. A few more 15-20 story towers would be a dream. But I don't expect to see something on the scale of The Exchange for a long time. I think the apparent slow pace is the result of a variety of factors.
1. - The local market - demand for office space and housing is pretty high right now, but it's all relative. The addition of The Exchange and The Catalyst development alone will "flood" the downtown with new, class-A office space, and to a lesser extent, market-rate housing. I think developers are wary to finance much more until they see the market react to this extra real estate, and maybe wait until after the next recession.
2. - Lack of Outside Investors - Most of the development is by developers based right in Kalamazoo, or maybe Grand Rapids. They usually move very slowly and methodically, handling only 1 or two sizable projects every few years. Outside investors have not shown interest in Kalamazoo on a large scale lately. Perhaps they are not willing to take on risk in an unknown market in a smaller-sized, midwest city?
3. - Nature of Local industry - I think a lot of businesses that are economically important to the area locate further south, in Portage, where they can sprawl. There's a big manufacturing presence here, and those operations demand land that is cheap, easily developable, and business-friendly. Portage wins out over Kalamazoo in most cases on this front.
4. - Infrastructure - The city has some deficiencies when it comes to roads, public transit, parking, utilities, and downtown amenities. It's making progress on perhaps all of these (except roads, in my opinion).
5. - Poverty - Last but not least, the poverty rate for Kalamazoo is abysmal. It's around 32 - 33% (
source). More than double the rate at the state level, and almost 3 times the national rate. It's hard to attract impressive development to a city where 1/3 of it's inhabitants are considered poor. The homelessness in Kalamazoo is also a big issue. The number is between 300 and 400, depending on where you get the data. Doesn't seem like a lot, but in a city of around 75,000, that's quite a lot. I also read recently that Kalamazoo Public Schools had the highest percentage of homeless or transient students of any district in the state - I think it was 12%! So 1 in almost every 8 kids doesn't have a permanent home.
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