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KALAMAZOO, MI — Named after the historic district it will soon be a part of, Kalamazoo’s new Haymarket Plaza is expected to offer up a new place to gather in downtown Kalamazoo by the end of the year.
Running along the north side of East Michigan Avenue, between the Main Street East buildings and the 180 Water Street project, Treystar and Catalyst Development hope to transform the 115-yard alleyway into a true downtown destination.
The plaza, according to a news release from the two companies, was initiated as a result of the construction of Catalyst Development’s 275,000-square-foot mixed-use project, which is located adjacent to the Treystar Main Street East office.
“This plaza will be more than an addition to our shared properties; it will be a destination for relaxation and community gatherings to those who live and work in the heart of downtown Kalamazoo,” said project development manger Fritz Brown, of Treystar.
Brown told MLive that his vision for the collaborative project is to bring something new and different to Kalamazoo that could be similar to The Belt alley in Detroit — a sort of “artsy cool alleyway that becomes a focal point in the city,” he said.
Related: Developer looks to replicate ‘The Belt’ in another Detroit alleyway
“There are plenty of places like this in Grand Rapids and Detroit. We need to find our own cool public places here in Kalamazoo,” Brown said.
Brown’s vision includes a pair of seven-story projection screens, decorative concrete, landscape-form furniture, specialty lighting, a snow-melt system and an open area designed for entertainment events and where food and beverages can be enjoyed.
The projection screens will be designed to display art and announcements on the northeast side of the Haymarket building during the evening hours, he said.
The space, as it is a public space owned by the city, will be a place to come together, he said.
“This is where we can really collaborate with the Kalamazoo community, with the arts council, KIA, students from Western, and really make it a community thing,” Brown said.
The project is being funded by Treystar and its partners, who are working to raise at least $50,000 in community support in order to receive matching grant funds from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
The goal, Brown said, is to raise between $125,000 and $150,000 total. The Kalamazoo Downtown Partnership and Southwest Michigan First have already made significant pledges toward the goal, he said.
Through crowd funding, he hopes community members will take ownership in the space.
“We’ve had $10 donations, $25 donations and more. We want this to be a community endeavor,” Brown said. “We want this to work and I’m going to try my damnedest to get it done and it will get done.
“But if I can bring the community in to help share in that it can become not just a Treystar thing, or a Southwest Michigan First, it will become a Kalamazoo thing.”
The project is being designed by Tower Pinkster Architects with assistance from Kingscott Associates, yet input is coming from not just Treystar and its community partners, but the other tenants of Haymarket Plaza and Main Street East, which neighbor the alley.
Heather Isch, president and CEO of LKF Marketing, which is involved in the project, said many of those tenants have been in on the brainstorming behind the ideas.
“We’ve talked through a lot of what could be in that space did a lot of big picture thinking,” Isch said. “Most tenants were very excited about the outdoor spaces for employees to be able to go outside and use a laptop or conduct a client meeting. It just makes the space so much more friendly.
“Our hope is that people are gonna say, ‘hey, meet me at the Haymarket Plaza for a coffee’ or ‘let’s grab a table at the Haymarket Plaza and meet for lunch’ and that everybody knows where that is.”
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