Members of the Grand Rapids Power Structure have created a website to promote their downtown playground funded with lots of public money

What do the City of Grand Rapids, Experience Grand Rapids, Grand Action 2.0, Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention/Arena Authority (CAA), Grand Rapids Public Museum, Grand Rapids WhiteWater, Kent County, Pioneer, Progressive Companies, RDV Corp. and  Rockford Construction have in common? They have partnered together to create a recent website called GR& Riverfront.

According to this website, it states: 

GR& Riverfront serves as a collaborative hub for aggregating stories, updates, and information about the exciting developments happening along the Grand River in downtown Grand Rapids and beyond. 

Besides the about section, there are three other areas you can search under – Impact, Developments and News. Under the Impact section it states: 

Anchored by iconic venues and bolstered by significant private sector investments, projects along the Grand River in Grand Rapids are expected to generate over $1.2 billion in net new economic impact over the next 30 years, fostering job creation and entrepreneurial opportunities.

Such claims are misleading, since we all know that most of the economic impact will go to those who run this city, meaning the people who run the groups listed above. 

Under the Developments section they list the Grand River Greenway Trail, the Acrisure Amphitheater, the Soccer Stadium, Lyon Square, the Grand Rapids Public Museum, Fulton & Market, Restoring the Rapids and Canal Park. Again, a large portion of the funding for these projects has and will come from public money, even though the public has had little say in the use of their tax dollars for these projects.

The third section is News, where the group has been celebrating and pontificating about how they primarily get what they want, since they do own most of the property along the Grand River that runs through the downtown area.

The most recent post under the News section is an interview with the head of the GR Chamber of Commerce-created group Housing Next, Brooke Oosterman. Actually, the post is not much of an interview, rather a short list of responses to the comments framed by GR& Riverfront.

The first so-called interview question has to do with housing that is being developed along the riverfront. Oosterman responds by saying, “The entire transformation along the riverfront is bringing both market-rate and middle-income housing to the market,” added Oosterman. “We’re really excited about those mixed-income opportunities.” Here the “interview” cites the nearly 700 market-rate apartments that are being created with the DeVos/Van Andel project on Fulton and Market. What is instructive is that Oosterman fails to mention that the Grand Rapids Brownfield Redevelopment Authority unanimously approved a $565 million subsidy, along with the fact that the apartments will be priced at 150% of Kent County’s Area Median Income. For a studio apartment, that would be $2,643 per month, $2,833 for a one-bedroom, and $3,401 for a two-bedroom.

Oosterman then goes on to say, “Housing Next is working with partners and developers to ensure mixed-income housing is a featured component of the riverfront transformation. By integrating both market-rate and affordable units, priority is being placed on fostering inclusivity and economic growth.” When people like Brooke Oosterman, she means housing that is also highly subsidized with public dollars, but is still out of reach by most people who rent in this city. For example, the apartment buildings that will be adjacent to the amphitheater and the soccer stadium will have an estimated monthly rental rate for the amphitheater housing show an income-restricted, one-bedroom apartment would be $1,888 per-month, according to the city. The same unit at the market rate would be a $126 more at $2,014 per-month. How many of us know people who can afford that much per month?

Towards the end of the so-called interview, Oosterman, who is talking about how Housing Next will help stabilize and grow the housing market, says: “People want to live here, stay here, and come back here. We’re seeing a great opportunity to build communities that residents are proud of, not just in Grand Rapids, but throughout West Michigan.”

Again, it is clear that the Housing Next leader is targeting an audience that is made up of professionals and those those who have aspirations to make a seven-figure salary.  Brooke Oosterman is not speaking to the 47% of Grand Rapidians that are living paycheck to paycheck, according to the recent ALICE report. There are over one hundred thousand people in this city who will not be able to afford the cost of housing along the riverfront in downtown Grand Rapids. This exclusion is intentional, since those involved in GR& Riverfront are creating a playground for those who are part of the professional and Capitalist classes.