13-05-2025
Housing developers eye project on former Plainwell mill site
PLAINWELL, Mich. (WOOD) — Two housing developers pitched their proposals Monday night for a project that would take up part of the former Plainwell paper mill site.
The mill has been closed since 2000. The city of Plainwell purchased the plant in 2006 from Allegan County. In 2022, demolition and environmental remediation were completed. City officials sent out a request the following year for proposals of what to put on the site.
In that request, city officials offered 15 acres along the Kalamazoo River and M-89. It expressed a desire for residential attached options like townhomes and lofts with a central gathering place and amenities.
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Representatives from Allen Edwin Homes and Watts Home and Construction shared different proposals during Monday's city council meeting.
Ben Diehl with Allen Edwin Homes said homes designed for the project would be 3- to 4-bedroom homes. Diehl said while his company's draft has one section planned out, there are options to work on what the riverfront would look like.
The proposal does not exactly match the city's desire for apartments and townhomes in the initial request, Deihl said. But the Allen Edwin Homes team looks to draw in a dense neighborhood.
'We aim for trying to bring in a very tight community, a lot of front porches that fronts the road. and then interior space with a common element like playground, something on the inside,' he said.
The idea is to draw residents toward downtown and the riverfront. Diehl said the proposal looks to address the 'missing middle,' or the lack of housing options between single-family homes and major apartment complexes. He said the development could offer a mix of both rental houses and retail space.
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'This is aimed at your firefighters, your teachers, the people who make the community what it is. The people you want to keep here, retain them over the long term,' he said.
Matt Watts with Watts Home and Construction said his company's proposal would bring around 40 single-family homes with 45 to 50 condos. Their focus would be on owner-occupied homes. Their plan drafts a neighborhood along the Kalamazoo River and a condo area closer to the downtown area.
'What Plainwell needs is smaller, affordable, attainable housing that the firefighters, police officers, schoolteachers and the general community can afford,' said Watts.
Houses in the draft range from 728-square-foot, one-bedroom, one-bath homes to 1,677-square-foot, 3-bedroom, 2.5-bath houses. Condos in the draft could be a combination of two- or four-unit homes.
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'I want to get the community input because if we're talking about doing condos, it's most likely young people, people who live here now. So we want to know what they want or how big they want it. Two car, one car garage. But we have all the flexibility in the world,' said Watts.
Both developers and city officials said a tax increment financing would be part of both proposals. That means eligible costs of constructing infrastructure, like roads, would later be reimbursed to the developer through tax generated by the development. Once that is paid off, the tax revenue would go to the city.
City manager Justin Lakamper said construction is not happening any time soon. Any approval will be carefully decided.
'We are going to be judging proposals on dollar value but also on value brought to the community as a whole. So this is the first step in a long process, and we will be seeking community input and community support along the way. But hopefully, we will have a new housing development by the river,' he said.
City officials say a developer will be picked at a future meeting.
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