Cultural and economic diversity.
Cultural and economic adversity.
The two sides of the coin known as Southtown.
Southtown is bordered by Wealthy Street on the north, Fuller on the east, Burton on the south, and US-131 on the west. Within that area are five business districts and their respective business associations:
Several of the five districts are experiencing a resurgence of commercial ventures and development. Much of this is due to the determination and innovation of businesspeople within the communities who are working together for change.
“Southtown” generally consists of the broad geographic region outlined above. But a much more targeted region also is adopting the name “Southtown” for itself. That’s the area bounded by Dickinson on the south, Eastern on the east, Wealthy on the north, and Division on the west.
This “Southtown” is using its cultural and economic diversity to overcome its cultural and economic adversities.
With the help of LaToya Staten from Neighborhood Ventures, a local non-profit whose mission is to revitalize neighborhhood business district, Southtown recently launched a collaborative campaign to market its three business districts: Franklin/Eastern, Madison Square, and Division South. (At the time of this publication, the campaign is still being rolled out in the business districts.)
“The purpose of the campaign,” Staten said, “is to make people more aware of the distinct characteristics of these neighborhood business districts: that they are highly African-American populated, that there is vitality in these neighborhoods, and that these are businesses that actually support the neighborhoods and have been in the business districts for a long time.
Colorful banners sporting the Southtown logo and the tagline ‘Live. Shop. Work. Worship.’ will advertise and dress up each of the business districts. The logo also has been laser cut into bike racks that will be available for cyclists in the summer. Joint advertising is planned in the Grand Rapids Times, La Voz, and the Grand Rapids Press.
“We want to market the neighborhoods, and give a positive image of the people who live and work here,” Staten said.
Get on the Good Foot
The Madison Square Business District, formerly bleak and blighted, is part of the Southtown marketing push. In the past ten years, Madison Square has experienced a resurgence of activity and business growth.
A community planning session early in 2006 brought together over fifty neighborhood residents, business owners, and city staffers to develop a vision for redevelopment. Key ideas that emerged from the gathering included streetscape improvements and business district signs, a community park, better public transportation, and more modern zoning rules that enable residential and commercial developers to renovate underused or vacant industrial buildings. The so-called charrette highlighted the neighborhood’s desire to redevelop the intersection of Madison and Hall as a hub of economic activity.
In July, Ray and LaDonna Jones established a new shoe store at that very intersection. The store, R & L Shoe Outlet, offers men’s and women’s casual shoes, and styles the Jones’s call ‘big city fashion’ shoes.
“We found out the neighborhood was doing a revitalization of Madison,” Ray Jones said. “So I’d go over there and sit in my car and watch the traffic, and watch the people walk up and down the street. I found out there’s a bus line that goes through here, and I noticed how busy the Chinese restaurant was.”
Since opening the store, Jones has discovered many surprising things about the neighborhood. Because the area declined economically during the thirteen years he’s lived in Grand Rapids, he didn’t have a very good opinion of it. But all that has changed.
“I’m really impressed,” he said. “It’s a tight knit neighborhood, and the people like to get out and walk. I call it an old neighborhood, the kind where everyone on the block knows each other. They like to support their neighborhood businesses and they’re looking forward to more businesses coming to the neighborhood.”
A proposed $2 million renovation of the former P.B. Gast warehouse into The HUBB, a state-of-the-art high-tech center, promises to generate business growth by drawing people to Madison Square as business tenants of the building, employees, vendors, and customers.
New brick townhouses, R&L Shoes, Turning Heads Salon, Family Fare grocery store, Urban Beanery, the new Madison Square Branch Library, a new school under construction, and the new Avenue Apartments—a $1.5 million senior housing center—are all signs of a revival.
Riding the Wave
Another region involved in the Southtown marketing blitz is the Franklin/Eastern business district. Even during the times when the district didn’t see much growth, the pillars of the business community remained. One of those businesses, Ernie’s Barbershop at 612 Eastern SE, has been in business for forty years. The barbershop won the Neighborhood Business Alliance’s 2005 award for best new storefront facade.
Brother Love’s Towing has been in business for almost fifty years.
Many business owners in the Franklin/Eastern business district feel they are in a “forgotten neighborhood,” according to LaToya Staten. There are few retailers left; the rest of the businesses are barbers, beauty shops, service organizations, and storefront churches.
“The area has been on the decline,” she said, “but it’s right on the breaking point where redevelopment is starting to happen. It’s where Madison Square was two years ago.”
One redevelopment project is the proposed Urban Family Community Center at 543 Eastern SE, the site of the former Kregel Books warehouse. Renovation is underway, headed up by Urban Family Ministries (UFM), a faith-based non-profit organization.
“We’ve been looking at different areas throughout the city where we could have a center like this,” said Scott Vogel, executive director. “There’s a lot of community around it, it’s in a neighborhood on the bus lines, and the kids we’re already involved with live here.”
The 6,000-square-foot, 2-story warehouse has been used as a storage shed for nearly a decade. Over the last year, UFM has gutted it and restored the brick facade.
When completed, the center will house an art studio, a kitchen area with a commons room, a pool table, foosball, and couches and TVs for playing video games and watching sports. Vogel says they plan to have AA meetings, parenting classes, and after school activities.
The second floor will house a small library, a conference room, and UFM’s offices, which are now located just down the street at 525 Eastern SE.
Dividing Crime from Community
Still within the Southtown marketing area is Division South. The district is poised for major change with the proposed construction of the $30 million Kroc Community Center at 1500 South Division. Long-time businesses such as Home Repair Services and the Salvation Army Store anchor the business district. A development of low-income housing will soon replace the former Campau Commons on South Division.
In 2002, Scott Koop purchased the building at 443 South Division. The lower level was boarded up, and the upstairs had six poorly maintained apartments. Koop renovated the building, updated the facade, and upgraded the apartments.
“We’re making it,” Koop said, “and now we’ve got some legitimate businesses [in the lower level] and good tenants upstairs.”
In an area that’s been well known for its drug traffic and prostitution, Koop says that since he renovated the building there’s been very little crime and very little prostitution.
Planning for, and Prompting, Change
Along Wealthy Street, the renovation of the Wealthy Theatre provided a performance venue for the area, and office space for the Community Media Center. The CMC educates organizations and non-profits in the use of media production equipment, and offers a variety of other media-related programs.
Uptown Village, a 41,000-square-foot mixed-use center located in one of the city’s tax-free Renaissance Zones, will house 7,200 square feet of retail space on Wealthy Street, and six town homes along Sigsbee Street.
The Boston Square Business District (BSBD) is culturally and economically diverse. This diversity is represented in businesses such as Seven Mares Mexican Restaurant, and Sam’s Oasis, which specializes in Middle Eastern cuisine.
Within the geographic boundaries of the BSBD is Oakdale Neighbors, a faith-based non-profit community development organization.
“We are working on a planning process for the business corridor,” said Tom Bulten, executive director. “What we’d like to do is similar to what Madison Square and MOBL NOBL did with their planning charrettes.”
Beautification of the area is a main goal. This summer, the Fuller Area Neighbors constructed flower boxes on the south end of the Boston Square Business District, and Oakdale Neighbors planted perennials along the north end.
“Next year,” Bulten said, “we’re planning to plant trees along Kalamazoo. It’s dependent on funding, but our goal is 50 trees.”
Business owners in the Southtown neighborhoods have watched the radical transformation of Grand Rapids’ downtown and are now asking“Why not us, too?” That question has prompted committed civic leaders to find creative, innovative answers. And those answers now are transforming the Southtown business districts one business at a time.
Directions to Southtown
From the North:
Take US-131 South toward Grand Rapids and take Exit 83 toward Hall St. Turn slight right onto Shamrock/Hall Conn. Turn right onto Hall St and arrive in Southtown.
From the East:
Take I-96 West toward Grand Rapids and keep left to take I-196 West toward Downtown Grand Rapids/Holland. Merge onto US-131 South via Exit 77B on the left toward Kalamazoo. Take Exit 83 toward Hall St. Turn slight right onto Shamrock/Hall Conn. Turn right onto Hall St and arrive in Southtown.
From the South:
Take US-131 North Grand Rapids and take Exit 83A toward Hall St. Turn right onto Hall St and arrive in Southtown.
From the West:
Take I-196 East toward Grand Rapids and merge onto US-131 South via Exit 77B toward Kalamazoo. Take Exit 83 toward Hall St. Turn slight right onto Shamrock/Hall Conn. Turn right onto Hall St and arrive in Southtown.
Take I-96 East and merge onto US-131 South via Exit 31A toward Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo. Take Exit 83 toward Hall St. Turn slight right onto Shamrock/Hall Conn. Turn right onto Hall St and arrive in Southtown.
Photos:
Townhouses on Madison Avenue
LaToya Staten of Neighborhood Ventures
R&L Shoe Outlet
Boston Squire signage
Home Repair Services
7 Mares Restaurant
Photographs by Brian Kelly - All Rights Reserved