Kalamazoo commissioners approved another property purchase near downtown’s well field, prompting a familiar question: why do these lots sit vacant so long?
At Monday’s meeting, the commission approved a $605,000 buy-sell agreement with Parktown LLC for 1517 South Park Street, one of several properties the city has acquired in recent years around the Burdick Street well field. Commissioner Chris Praedel raised the question directly during discussion, pointing to other vacant, city-owned properties in the area, including the former Bright Eyes Brewery site, and said letting them sit empty for extended periods risks giving the impression that “Kalamazoo is not thriving.”
Public Services Director James Baker explained that the acquisitions support a longer-term plan to expand the city’s Central well field — Kalamazoo’s largest base-load water station — as part of the capital improvement program and ongoing coordination with the state’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. That expansion project is roughly five to six years out.
In the meantime, Baker said Public Services has been working with the Community Planning and Economic Development office through a property review team to plan interim uses, including landscaping designs meant to tie the properties back into the surrounding neighborhood as green space.
One specific example: the property at the corner of Crosstown and Burdick is scheduled for demolition in 2027, timed to coordinate with a separate Burdick Street infrastructure project that will let the city take a section of stormwater sewer offline at the same time. Baker said pairing the two projects is more efficient than demolishing separately.
The property approved for purchase Monday, along with a neighboring city-owned parcel, doesn’t yet have a demolition date. Baker said that timeline will firm up as the well field project gets closer.
