Grand Action 2.0 is now pitching apartment high rises to be adjacent to the Amphitheater and Soccer Stadium, with lots of tax incentives for struggling developers

On Tuesday, both MLive and Crain’s Grand Rapids posted stories about the additional development projects associated with the downtown Amphitheater and the Soccer Stadium.

Grand Action 2.0, the development entity that is run by and serves the interests of the Grand Rapids Power Structure, will be pitching their new development projects at the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority meeting on Wednesday, March 27. I want to look at the Agenda Packet for that meeting, but first I want to look at how both MLive and Crain’s Grand Rapids reported on the Grand Action 2.0 announcement.

The MLive article is headlined, High-rise towers would bring 735 apartments to amphitheater, soccer stadium sites. The article begins by stating: 

Two residential and commercial towers, containing 735 apartments, retail and parking, would be built next to Acrisure Amphitheater and the proposed Grand Rapids soccer stadium under plans being crafted by Grand Action 2.0 and the Downtown Development Authority.

The only people sited in the MLive piece is someone from the City of Grand Rapids and the head of Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. The article is upbeat in terms of the prospects of both apartment complexes and how they can continue to promote “economic development.” However, the article never talks to residents in the area about the impact it may have during the construction time and the having 735 new apartments in that area. 

The Crain’s Grand Rapids story’s headline is, Skyline-changing mixed-use projects envisioned with Grand Rapids amphitheater, soccer stadium. Their article is shorter than the MLive piece, partly because no one is cited in the article. The Crain’s piece is also framed as positive news, with no concerns reflected in the story.

MLive kept referring to a new city memo about these new development projects, but they never source where the memo can be found. I suspect that the “memo” the article refers to is simply part of the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority meeting for March 27, linked here, beginning on page 47.

Grand Action 2.0 submitted information about these new development projects to the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority, simply because they are hoping to benefit from the Transformational Brownfield Program, which will increase the amount of tax that can be recaptured and reimbursed to developers. Remember, the developers are connected to the Grand Rapids Power Structure and will benefit financially from the tax reimbursements.

Then there is the issue of what the cost of these 735 apartments will be. The Brownfield Redevelopment Authority Agenda Packet does mention that a certain percentage of the apartments will be set aside as more “affordable”, even though Grand Action 2.0 never really defines affordable, nor does it list what these proposed apartments will actually cost. It is important to remember that the term affordable is purposely vague and it is dictated by those who are part of the Capitalist Class, not the masses of people who make up the working class.

It is important to note that this is the first time that people who live in Grand Rapids, specifically people who live near the Soccer Stadium – the near westside residents, and the people who live just south of the Amphitheater – those in the Grandville Avenue corridor and the Black Hills neighborhood – are just now hearing about these new development projects. 

Those with economic and political power will always inform people only after they have spent months, even years developing a plan before they go public. This means the public only gets to give input at certain city meetings, which are ultimately irrelevant, since those with economic and political power have already met with and discussed their plans with Grand Rapids City officials. This process is called the Capitalist Class two step, where they don’t inform the public, but they use public money for privately owned projects, thus increasing their wealth and conning us into believing they do this so we have more entertainment options. In ancient Rome they simply called this, Bread and Circuses.