22-04-2025
State approves $160M in incentives to redevelop Shaw-Walker factory in Muskegon
MUSKEGON, Mich. (WOOD) — The state has approved a $159.6 million in incentives for a project working to redevelop an old Muskegon factory that has sat mostly vacant and deteriorating for decades.
Shaw-Walker Furniture Company closed in 1989. Since then, the property at the intersection of Washington Avenue and Division Street has sat mostly empty, though part of it was turned into condos, with a conference and events center and a coffee shop.
Parkland Properties of Michigan bought the old Shaw-Walker Furniture Company building back in 2022, with plans of redeveloping it into a mixed-use development.
Over 500 housing units planned for Shaw-Walker factory in Muskegon
That plan includes turning it into a seven-building complex with more than 500 housing units — with rental rates ranging from 80% to 140% of the area median income — plus 37 townhomes, retail and commercial spaces and a covered parking facility. Amenities will include a rooftop pool, a restaurant and a daycare center, Parkland Properties of Michigan President Jon Rooks previously told News 8.
On Tuesday, the Michigan Strategic Fund approved a Transformational Brownfield Plan that includes a $159.6 million incentive package through tax captures and tax exemptions. The funds would be reimbursed to the developer over three decades.
That number could be brought down once the project is completed, if construction costs are less than 90% of what was expected, according to a memo from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
Muskegon manufacturer expanding, creating 70 new jobs
The city of Muskegon has already approved a local incentive package worth around $75.4 million.
The project will play a key role in the city's vision of reinventing itself, the MEDC memo says.
'Since the factory's closing in 1989, the property has experienced decades of significant deterioration and lack of upkeep that resulted in safety notices being issued against the former owner,' the memo says. 'Over the last two decades, the city has been actively working to reinvent itself into a vibrant lakeshore community and this property is a key component in realizing that vision.'
Inside Building West Michigan
Developers say preliminary studies show the redevelopment would have a $15.3 million economic impact in its first year, a number that's expected to grow over time.
'The 50-year aggregate economic impact is projected to be $1.5 billion,' Rooks previously told News 8. 'So it's a big, big impact, bigger than any project we've ever done.'
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