EGLE grant will help make a site safe for redevelopment and create new jobs in Kalamazoo

A blighted industrial building in Kalamazoo will be rehabilitated with the help of a Brownfield Redevelopment Grant from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE). The project is expected to bring new jobs to an area of Kalamazoo with a significantly lower median income than the city overall.

The property is at 436 West Williard Street, 522 and 528 North Westnedge Street, and 443 and 439 West Ransom Street. It was first developed for residential use in the late 1800s. 522 North Westnedge remained residential until 2024. The rest of the site was later used for warehousing, trucking operations, machining, electroplating, and manufacturing industrial fans. The historic but dilapidated 100,000-square-foot building on the property is currently being used as a warehouse and for paper converting. The goal of the redevelopment is to make the building safe to bring in a third tenant so it can be fully utilized.

Environmental assessments done in 2022 found chlorinated solvents in soil as well as metals in soil and groundwater. EGLE awarded the project a $700,000 grant to pay for the design, installation, and commissioning of a vapor venting system for the rehabilitated building. The owner is expected to invest a total of $6 million and create nine new jobs. The new jobs and tax revenue will be especially important because the site is located in a square mile census tract where unemployment is 15%, putting it in the 96th percentile statewide. The redevelopment is expected to be finished in the fall of 2027.

More than half of EGLE’s annual budget supports local projects, protects public health and the environment, and helps create economic growth and jobs for Michigan workers. Redevelopment increases the value of brownfield sites and other nearby properties. In 2025, the EGLE Brownfield program provided more than $23 million in brownfield incentives to 76 projects in 52 Michigan communities. These projects are projected to create more than 440 housing units, 600 jobs, and result in more than $675 million in capital investment.

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