City Center

About

The Wyoming City Center project is a  public-private development that includes public investment in non-motorized infrastructure and private investment in a mixed-use development. The public investment will provide an ADA compliant pedestrian bridge, 4.6 miles of new trails and a public plaza. The project will include relocation of utility wires underground to reduce visual clutter along the corridor. The private development will provide new commercial and office space as well as expand on the existing mixed income HoM Flats development.

Funding

The city received $6 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds from Kent County, designated $10 million in ARPA revenue replacement funds for this project as well as received $20 million in public infrastructure grant funds from the State of Michigan. The City Center plan includes a roughly $65 million private development by Magnus Capital partners. 

Evolution of 28th Street

1950s-1960s

Roger’s Department Store opens.

Studio 28 opens. Theater expands multiple times over the next twenty years.

Roger’s Plaza opens and Montgomery Ward is an anchor store.

2000s

Vacancies rise: Montgomery Ward and Roger’s Department Store close.

Studio 28 closes. Building is demolished and site sits vacant for years.

2010-2022

City invests $34 million in public facilities, including City Hall near the future City Center.

City adopts new sub area plan and Form-Based Code.

City invests $2.2 million in new 28 West Place and approves tax exemptions for new businesses on 28th Street.

City approves PILOT for HOM Flats, new and affordable multi-family housing.

Wyoming Master Plan is adopted. City purchases former Studio 28 property for $2 million.

2023 +

New reimagined City Center: New pedestrian bridge, trail connections, housing, public plaza. 

 

History

The city has been working on delivering a defined downtown for Wyoming for more than two decades. In 2000 the city set the path for the creation of the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) which contained the project area.  Over the next decade, a new state highway and mall in Grandville changed the traffic patterns and contributed to the decline of commercial spaces along the 28th Street corridor.

In 2012, the city worked in collaboration with the DDA, local business owners, community stakeholders and residents to create the Turn on 28th Street Corridor Sub-Area Plan. This plan radically called for changes to the design and street grid of the City Center and communicated a renewed vision for the creation of a sustainable, economically vibrant, and walkable City Center. As a result of this plan, in 2014 the City invested $2.2 million to build the first phase of the new City Center crescent street, 28 West Place.

The City saw the Turn on 28th Street plan begin to come to life in 2018, when it began working with Magnus Capital Partners on a new mixed-income housing development to be built on the former Studio 28 site.

In 2021, the City’s new master plan and land use document, Wyoming [re]Imagined, was adopted. This plan reaffirmed the City’s vision for a vibrant and walkable City Center. It included a sub area plan (a specific area plan) for 28th Street which specifically called for a “Pinery Park Trail Connection” to be built with supportive pedestrian infrastructure to provide a safe crossing of 28th Street.

Location

Wyoming’s City Center is located off 28th Street between Clyde Park Avenue and Burlingame Avenue.

What to Expect

This project includes:

  • A pedestrian bridge that provides passage over 28th Street
  • 4.6 mile non-motorized trail network that links to regional destinations, including north to Grand Rapids and south to Byron Township. Trail connections will link Pinery Park to the City Center, to Porter Street businesses and Grace Christian University.
  • Utility line relocation
  • Public plaza for food trucks and other small community gatherings and opportunities for public art
  • Streetscaping enhancements

City Center project construction began Fall 2024. See the linked pages below for further information and recent updates. 

Pedestrian Bridge

Trail Network

City Center Lookbook