For the first time in over 30-years a new mixed-use development is being constructed in Muskegon Heights, as officials say--- it’s all part of a bigger plan to transform the city’s identity.
It’s called, “Shoppes on Sherman,” and it’s a new, $4.5 million development located at the corner of Peck Street and East Sherman Boulevard in the City of Muskegon Heights.
Officials say, the build starts with the removal of a crumbling building that once housed a dry-cleaning company, while several vacant and blighted storefronts currently on the site would also be demolished.
When finished, ‘Shops on Sherman’ will feature 11 brand new retail spaces on the first floor and 24 apartments and condos on the building’s upper levels.
Meanwhile, authorities say the development is just one of many to come over the next several years; while the city’s new campaign entitled, “Reaching New Muskegon Heights,” is a multi-million-dollar vision plan that aims to completely overhaul the city’s main stretch on Broadway Ave. and Sherman Blvd. with new storefront shopping, dining, and new homes.
Troy Bell is Muskegon Heights City Manager. He says the time has come to change the perception of his community from within.
“Muskegon Heights is a beautiful community, and its wonderful; but it suffers in some ways from the perception that things don’t happen in the community that are good,” Bell said. “When a community is under the pressure of these negative perceptions, they lose hope. And when they lose hope, they don’t dream.”
And Bells says, that IS at the core of the Reaching New Muskegon Heights campaign, re-imagining what the Lakeshore Community could look like in the near future, using the City of Muskegon’s transformation over the past decade through the Watch Us Go campaign as a roadmap.
