The City of Grand Rapids’ redevelopment of the riverfront’s east bank along the Market Street Corridor is one step closer to clearing the needed land for an outdoor amphitheater.
Grand Rapids’ 31-acre riverfront project stretching from Fulton Street along the Market Avenue corridor to Wealthy Street will feature a 12,000-seat amphitheater, an urban housing mix with retail, greenspace and parks, pedestrian walkways and bridges spanning the Grand River.
Much of it hinges on the relocation of the City of Grand Rapids public works operation at 201 Market Avenue SW. Tuesday, the City Commission exercised an option to purchase the Kent County Road Commission’s current home at 1500 Scribner NW. The city’s public works operation will make the three mile move north after parties close on the property before September 30, 2023. Grand Rapids will pay $7.45 million for the property, $300,000 below the initial purchase price. The Road Commission will remove underground storage tanks. There’s another parcel it owns the city can purchase after January 3, 2022.
The Kent County Road Commission’s will develop 29-acres purchased in the Walker View Business Park.