Grand Rapids brownfield redevelopment to transform blighted industrial property

November 12, 2026

Artist rendering of the Factory Yards brownfield redevelopment in Grand Rapids.

Take a visit to Roberto Clemente Park in Grand Rapids and you’ll find a well-used soccer field, picnic tables, and a covered eating area. You’ll also be right across the street from more than 13-acres of blighted industrial property… for now. EGLE has become a big part of plans to turn that blight into new housing, new jobs, and a cleaner community.

The property at 655 Godfrey Avenue SW was first developed as a furniture manufacturing plant in the 1890s. It was later home to a spring and wire manufacturing facility and was used as a warehouse and office space. The other three parcels in this redevelopment project all had railroad tracks on them from the 1890s until 2022. At that point the new owner bought the land and paid for an environmental assessment.

The former McInerney Spring and Wire Company building.

The results, as you can imagine with a century’s worth of industrial use, were not pretty. Soil and groundwater were both contaminated with petroleum, metals, and chlorinated solvents. The city reached out to EGLE for help with the environmental aspect of the redevelopment. EGLE awarded the project a $1 million Brownfield Redevelopment Grant to pay for a new round of assessments, removal of contaminated soil, and the installation of a vapor venting system.

The $146 million Factory Yards redevelopment will be done in multiple phases. The EGLE grant is focused on the first phase, which involves the renovation of three industrial buildings. They will become a three-story residential building, a three-story mixed-use building with housing and commercial space, and a hospitality building. Phase one also includes an outdoor plaza. The first phase is expected to create at least 200 new rental units with some set aside as affordable housing:

10% of all rental units will be for tenants making 60% of the Area Median Income or less.
10% of each specific type of rental unit will be for tenants making 80% of the Area Median Income or less.

The project will also create 31,600 square feet of commercial space, 100 new full-time jobs, and 100 new part-time jobs. The city of Grand Rapids expects the overall project to be a catalyst for more investment and redevelopment in the area, especially along the corridor of the Grand River. The city is supporting it with an Obsolete Property Rehabilitation Act tax credit worth an estimated $8.2 million over 12 years. In addition, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation has approved $103 million in Transformational Brownfield Plan funding.

Oh, and one last Factory Yards benefit: an easement will run through the southern part of the property connecting the Oxford Trail to the west with Roberto Clemente Park to the east, replacing that blighted view we mentioned at the start of the story with a connection to the rest of the city. Phase one construction is expected to be finished in the summer of 2027.