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Factory Yards is an ambitious Grand Rapids, Mich. mixed housing retail and event complex planned for a long disused factory site on the city’s near south side.  

It’s a classic form of adaptive reuse, repurposing a more than century old factory complex and converting it into 450 apartments and retail along with an event space with a hip urban vibe.  

The sprawling $150 million project spanning 15 acres and almost 500,000 square feet would have seven buildings – old and infill – “to bring new life to the neighborhood while maintaining a respectful tip of the cap to its important heritage,” the project’s website says. 

Attempts to reach the developers – Dennis Griffin, Scott Magaluk and Ben Smith – were unsuccessful. They first proposed Factory Yards almost two years ago. It would reportedly be among the largest and most expensive mixed-use projects in this western Michigan city of almost 200,000, home to vibrant business, academic and arts communities. Private business growth here was 33 per cent between 2013-2023, “the highest rate among major Midwest metros,” according to the local chamber of commerce. 

The factory site has a rich industrial history, making furniture and Second World War parachutes and was one of the first factories “anywhere” to hire women.  

Renderings divide the complex into 11 sections. The Hi-Lo would see five- and three-storey residential buildings, The Plaza a half-acre for gatherings and entertainment for residents and visitors, The Shops, retail for residents and the public, The Food Hall – an “eclectic mix of restaurants — from farm-fresh options to ethnic cuisine and a bar.”

There would be an “Arcade” of greenspace for lounging and The Docks, where creative studios could be located.  

“Our residents will benefit from a sense of tight knit community combined with cutting edge design and placemaking – all with a local twist.” 

 The development also hopes to dovetail with a $116 million Grand River revitalization project including a 12,000-seat amphitheater, “a short walk” from Factory Yards.  

The developers have said this will “foster more connectivity” with the scenic river and downtown proper, about a four-minute drive or 20-minute walk. 

But, according to one expert on urban design, it’s still too isolated from the core and therefore faces challenges. 

 “The problem from my perspective is that it’s disconnected,” Chad Frederick, associate professor of geography and sustainable planning at nearby Grand Valley State University, said. “It’s not even that far necessarily. Everything about this is automobile dependent. There’s no Transit Oriented Development mentioned in here in any way shape or form.”   

Frederick said because of this, “it’s going to come into problems with people wanting to live and work there and open up shops there because the (area’s roads) are already quite packed.”  

He said that the working from home population in Grand Rapids is 12 per cent – “actually pretty high” – but even if doubled “you’d still have 350 cars coming in and out of this place over the course of an hour every morning and every afternoon.”  

Another problem is that the site is in a partial industrial area with “fairly noxious” fumes, one being from a recycling center.

“I can’t imagine the sounds and or odours coming out of that place are going to be amendable to recreation.” 

The developers have received $102 million in state brownfield “transformational” remediation funding, a first for the city, to be reimbursed over 20 years. The developers had told a city planning commission meeting the project was not doable without it. Under it, almost 100 of the apartments would be “below market rents.”