Crain's Grand Rapids Business

01/21/2025

The drive-thru burger chain is making a comeback.

Michigan fast-food burger chain Hot ‘n Now that rose to prominence in the 1990s but has nearly entirely disappeared is being revived under a deal led by a tribal economic development firm and an Up North developer.

01/17/2025

Cottage Inn Gourmet Pizza is expanding into downtown with plans to open its second Grand Rapids location at the former Daisies Place restaurant.

Work will start next month on 15 Ionia Ave. SW as local Cottage Inn franchisees JD Witherell and James Comiskey turn the 2,500-square-foot space into a pizza restaurant.

When it opens in early May, the Cottage Inn restaurant will sell pizza, subs, calzones, wings and more to around 40 guests for dine-in service and delivery. Cottage Inn’s downtown location also will offer pizza by the slice and stay open until 3 a.m. for late-night diners.

Witherell, director of franchise sales and new store development for Cottage Inn, said he and business partner Comiskey have signed a 10-year lease for the space. The downtown expansion comes less than a year after they opened their first Grand Rapids location in Eastown, pictured above.

Read more: https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/restaurants-1/cottage-inn-plans-late-night-pizza-restaurant-in-downtown-grand-rapids/

01/11/2025

A husband and wife have “big hopes and dreams” to scale up Schnitz Bakery, as an immediate relative acquires retail properties surrounding the business.

A husband and wife have “big hopes and dreams” to scale up a recently acquired bakery on Grand Rapids’ east side, as an immediate relative acquires retail properties surrounding the business.

01/09/2025

A local developer has acquired the seven-story hotel immediately north of a separate housing development he plans along the river.

The Radisson Hotel Grand Rapids Riverfront along the Grand River sold for $8.6 million at the end of 2024, Crain’s Grand Rapids Business has learned.

01/06/2025

The Bridge Street corridor could be getting another new bar and restaurant concept under newly proposed plans for the long-vacant Kale's Korner building.

Ramon 1088 LLC, registered to Dawn Helou, is proposing to breathe new life into the former Kale’s Korner Bar location at 511 Bridge St. NW.

01/06/2025

Findings are starting to emerge from those QR codes on downtown Grand Rapids buildings.

Grand Rapids residents and visitors want to see a mix of soft goods retailers and immersive, entertainment-based restaurants in the downtown.

01/03/2025

Pickle and Pin, the latest addition to the Leonard Street corridor, is set to open on Saturday with pickleball courts, golf simulators and a bar.

An indoor pickleball and golf simulator space opening on Grand Rapids’s west side aims to create a “refined and elegant” destination for guests, venue leaders say.

12/24/2024

Michigan ski resorts are holding out hope for a real winter.

Up North ski resorts say the early snowfall and colder temperatures have them hopeful for a strong season ahead.

12/23/2024

Scott's latest round of awards marks one of the largest investments in Native community development financial institutions in history.

Two Native CDFIs in Michigan were among nearly 200 recipients nationwide to receive grants from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.

12/22/2024

"There’s a lot of eyes on Muskegon these days."

A new downtown Muskegon food hall is a local developer’s latest step forward in the redevelopment of a former bank building.

12/22/2024

The West Michigan cancer-treatment startup is making a bet on downtown Detroit.

Grand Rapids-based BAMF Health and Big Rapids-based Ferris State University will be among the key tenants of a large new life sciences building that will rise at the site of […]

12/20/2024

Tulip City is reopening as a restaurant after nearly $850,000 in renovations.

Holland brewery Tulip City Brewstillery plans to reopen in spring as Tulip City Bar and Grill after nearly a year and $850,000 in renovations.

12/17/2024

The Grand Rapids soccer team that will play home matches at Amway Stadium will compete in the Major League Soccer (MLS) Next Pro men’s league, the team’s owners announced this morning.

Owned by members of the Van Andel and DeVos families, the Grand Rapids-based soccer club is poised to be the league’s sixth independent team at the time it launches in the spring of 2027. MLS NEXT Pro, which is sanctioned as a Division III professional league, completed its third season in 2024. It currently includes 27 MLS-affiliated teams and two independent teams that play across the U.S. and Canada.

Partners expect to announce branding and a name next year for the team, which they’re temporarily calling “West Michigan Soccer.” The team will play at least 14 home matches at Amway Stadium, potentially drawing up to 119,000 fans to the west side Grand Rapids facility in the club’s first season, which will run from March through November.

MLS NEXT Pro President Charles Altchek told Crain’s Grand Rapids Business that fans can expect to see “the stars of today and tomorrow” competing on the field at Amway Stadium.

“These are players who are fueling the national teams,” he said.

Read more: https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/sports-recreation/new-grand-rapids-soccer-team-to-compete-in-mls-next-pro-mens-league/

12/07/2024

The 99 Monroe building was put on the market less than a month after the owner of Bridgewater Place filed for bankruptcy.

Vision Real Estate Investment Inc. listed the 12-story building at 99 Monroe Ave. NW for sale on Dec. 2 for $32.9 million.

12/06/2024

A Traverse City attorney-turned-business owner is expanding the 30-year-old shop she bought earlier this year.

A Traverse City attorney-turned-furniture business owner is expanding her company with the addition of a second location in Grand Rapids, where she looks to build on the 30-year-old business she purchased earlier this year.

12/03/2024

The village of 2,500 is the latest in a series of tourism-reliant Michigan towns grappling with competing interests surrounding vacation rentals.

The village of Spring Lake last month voted to enact a six-month moratorium on the issuance of any new short-term rental permits while local officials mull changes to its existing policies around that land use.

12/01/2024

These 22 leaders treat nonprofit board service as the second job that it is.

These 22 leaders treat board service as the second job that it is.

11/30/2024

Ford airport could emerge from its $600 million overhaul with a new hotel.

Gerald R. Ford International Airport officials are pursuing plans to add the facility’s first on-site hotel as part of ongoing expansion plans to match the airport’s growth, Crain’s Grand Rapids Business has learned.