Plan for 546 housing units at former Muskegon furniture plant moves forward

A plan to redevelop the former Shaw Walker Furniture Co. building near Muskegon Lake into 546 housing units, a parking garage and retail space has received initial approval from the city’s planning commission.

The planning commission on Thursday night voted unanimously in favor of Parkland Properties’ planned unit development at 930 Washington Ave., which the company acquired in late 2022. The proposal now heads to the Muskegon City Commission. 

A previous owner of the furniture manufacturing building redeveloped a portion of the site in the early 2000s into 55 condominium units known as Watermark Lofts, The Coffee Factory restaurant, and the Watermark 920 event center. Additional phases of the initial project never came to fruition, leaving more than 650,000 square feet of blighted and vacant buildings on the property.

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With the proposed 546 additional housing units and existing Watermark Lofts, the approximately 730,000 square feet of space on site will contain 601 housing units when completed, Parkland Properties President Jon Rooks said Thursday at the planning meeting. 

A Muskegon County housing study published in August 2023 found that between 2022 and 2027, the county’s housing gap is expected to grow to 9,184 residential units, including 3,043 rental units and 6,141 for-sale units. 

“(The project) is going to do two things: It’s going to fix a huge eyesore in town at your entrance to your community and your exit, and it’s going to help solve the housing crisis,” Rooks said. “There are more units in this single building that will be developed than have been developed downtown in the last 30 years combined.”

Site plans call for adding 432 apartments aimed toward workforce housing and missing middle price points, 69 condominiums with starting prices of about $275,000, and 37 townhomes.

The apartments would comprise 31 studio units, 347 one-bedroom units, 44 two-bedroom units and 10 three-bedroom units. The 69 condo units would include 64 two-bedroom units and five one-bedroom units. The 37 townhomes would all have three bedrooms and two-car garages facing Muskegon Lake.

Selling the condo units will help monetize the project and support building the other housing units and pieces of the project, Rooks said.

Parkland Properties plans eight retail units spanning a total of about 24,000 square feet that would be geared toward residents living in the development, Rooks said. Targeted tenants for the spaces include a restaurant/bar, fitness center, daycare and hair salon. An indoor parking facility also would have 112 spaces.

Tenant amenities would include a rooftop pool and hot tub, lobby areas and a library for condo residents. Part of the lobby space would serve as a tribute to the historical uses of the building when it was the Shaw Walker Furniture factory, Rooks added. 

Two Muskegon residents at Thursday’s public hearing both spoke favorably about the project and how it could turn an eyesore into needed housing. 

Planning Commissioner Lea Markowski told Rooks at the meeting that she would like to see native and evergreen plantings, as well as rain gardens added to the development wherever possible, especially because it is mostly hardscape. 

Rooks said he hopes to start demolition work in the next two months on site, which would probably take about five months to complete, he said. One structure made from wood is slated for demolition because it’s not structurally sound. That would be replaced by a courtyard in the middle of the development, Rooks said.

The first phase of the project is expected to take 24-30 months to complete, with the whole project expected to take 36 months total, Rooks said. 

Quality housing included with the project could help to attract good companies to Muskegon, Rooks said. 

“Workers don’t come to town unless they have good housing, so it’s a cycle we think is very helpful for the community,” Rooks said.

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