Trustees agree to 18-month extension on Cole-Gilmore property

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—At its Aug. 14 meeting, the Western Michigan University Board of Trustees authorized the administration to negotiate and execute an 18-month extension to an existing set of development agreements covering a four-block parcel of land the University owns in downtown Kalamazoo, known as the Cole-Gilmore property.

The board's action prohibits either WMU or Downtown Tomorrow Inc., which also owns land in the area and adjacent to the WMU property, from selling their parcels without the express consent of the other. It further provides that if the University does not begin development of its property by the agreements' expiration date of March 31, 2017, DTI has the option to purchase the property for the price of $1 and assumption of a $1.52 million mortgage.

This is the third extension granted for the agreement, originally negotiated in 2001. Since 2014, DTI and other participants have formed the Arcadia Common West Task Force to seek a development partner and form a development plan for the property. Although not a member of the task force, the University remains interested in the development plans due to its property ownership.

The Aug. 14 board action allows the administration to negotiate and enter into such an extension with DTI. The latest extension would allow the task force more time to identify a final project.

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Other news from the August 2015 Board of Trustees meeting
Consumers Energy granted easement for 'solar garden' | Aug. 14, 2015
Building purchase OK'd for expansion of WMU's autism center | Aug. 17, 2015
Trustees approve new three-year contract with AFSCME | Aug. 14, 2015