Report: Whitmer blocks $3M for Muskegon factory project

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has vetoed $3 million in state funding for the redevelopment of the former Shaw-Walker Furniture Company building in Muskegon, according to a report from Crain’s Grand Rapids Business.

In 2022, Parkland Properties of Michigan purchased the 730,000-square-foot site, with plans to turn it into 432 apartments for the workforce housing market, 69 luxury condos, 37 townhomes, and eight retail spaces across from Muskegon Lake.

Citing Crain’s Detroit Business, the report says Whitmer, who signed the budget for fiscal year 2025 into law on Wednesday, made just five line-item vetoes for a total of $9.2 million. The governor said lawmakers added these items without her sign-off, Crain’s reports.

“When we don’t negotiate things, I don’t think anyone should be surprised that they’re taken out of the budget,” she said, according to the report. “I’m comfortable with that. If the colleagues who put those items in want to have a conversation, I’m open to it. But that was the rationale.”

In the state’s budget for fiscal year 2024, $18 million was allocated for the redevelopment of the former factory.

Developers say preliminary studies show the project would have a $15.3 million economic impact in its first year, a number that’s expected to grow over time. Parkland Properties previously told News 8 it hopes to begin construction by the end of the year.

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