A site that went up in flames six years ago is coming back as housing. Local leaders in Hastings celebrated the ribbon cutting of a $40 million mixed-use development across the river from downtown, on the 10-acre site where the historic Royal Coach Company building burned in 2020, WZZM 13 reported.
WZZM calls it the largest housing complex in Hastings, by some margin, and a significant project for a county that doesn't usually see this level of investment.
From fire to housing
One early October morning in 2020, an arsonist set fire to the Royal Coach Company building. The Barry Community Foundation had recently bought the building with plans to create housing.
Bonnie Gettys, the foundation's president and CEO, said she could see the flames from her house. "I remember thinking about the old adage, that the phoenix rises from the ashes," she said. "We knew that something wonderful was going to come from it. We just didn't know what that was going to look like at the time."
"This is the biggest project I've worked on in 20 years of economic development," said Jennifer Heinzman, president and CEO of the Barry County Chamber and Economic Development Alliance.
The apartments
The centerpiece is the Hastings Riverwalk Lofts, which will add 135 apartments. One-bedroom units start at $1,245 a month, two-bedrooms at $1,770 and three-bedrooms at $2,640. Some have covered balconies overlooking the Thornapple River.
The first of the complex's apartment buildings is nearing completion. Of its 54 units, 14 have already been leased, WZZM reports.
More than housing
Next year, the Mill Street Market is set to open in the development. It will include a daycare, a cafe, a business incubator and a farm stop that will work like a consignment shop. Gettys said parents picking up their children from daycare will be able to pick up prepared food at the same time.
The project was paid for with a mix of funding, including $6 million in private donations.
A housing shortage
Heinzman said area factories have long struggled to recruit workers because there isn't enough housing.
"We did a housing study in 2023, and we were 1,600 units short then," she said. "We actually have built 1,297 homes since 2020 and we have 704 units in the pipeline right now."
"This has been a great project, and after six years, we are finally almost to the finish line," Heinzman said. "I couldn't be happier."
Why it matters for contractors
Projects like this don't come along often in smaller Michigan communities. A $40 million, 135-unit development with commercial space is a major job for Barry County, and it shows that rural and small-city markets can support real multifamily construction when local partners pull together.
The numbers Heinzman shared tell contractors a lot. A 2023 study found the area 1,600 units short. Since 2020, 1,297 homes have been built, and 704 more are in the pipeline. That's a steady stream of residential work for builders, framers, roofers, MEP subs and finish trades in and around Hastings. And it's driven by a real need: employers say they can't hire without more housing.
The Riverwalk Lofts also show what it takes to get a project like this done. The site needed recovery after a major fire, and the financing combined several sources, including $6 million in private donations. Contractors who want to work on similar projects should build relationships with community foundations and local economic development groups, which are often the ones pulling these deals together in smaller towns.
There's still work ahead here, too. Only the first of the apartment buildings is nearing completion, and the Mill Street Market, with its daycare, cafe and business incubator, is set to open next year. That means more interior build-out, commercial fit-out and site work before the project is finished.
For West Michigan contractors, Hastings is a market worth watching. With hundreds of units still in the pipeline and a documented shortage, the demand for housing construction there isn't going away soon.