By: Deborah Johnson Wood
Last week, the Michigan State University Land Policy Institute chose Avastar Park as the location to unveil a groundbreaking study that could revolutionize the growth of Michigan’s alternative energy sector by rebuilding Brownfields as energy parks.
John C. Buchanan Sr., developer of Avastar Park, 2150 Alpine, Walker, sees Avastar Park as a catalyst for generating alternative energy, a manufacturing center for energy components, and the centerpiece of a sustainable urban community.
The 41-acre Brownfield development is part of a re-use plan: a portion of the 700,000-acre former Lear manufacturing facility, once abandoned, now houses a Haviland division and Grand Rapids Spring and Stamping. The City of Walker spent millions on a new access road. Developers plan to build shops and restaurants on front property along Alpine.
“We have a very large plant with acres of roof where we can put a lot of solar collectors and wind turbines,” Buchanan says. “We can not only power the plant, but can put power back into the grid for the community.”
Avastar Park is the largest parcel in GrandWalk, a 1,200-acre sustainable development located between Grand Rapids and Walker.
“We would like to work with the state and see if we can make at least part of our plant available in the manufacturing of green products, such as, solar collectors, recycling machinery, electric batteries and electric cars,” Buchanan says.
“If we can attract some companies, it may need some subsidizing. We restored the building to better than new at half the cost of building a new one,” he adds. “We can bring businesses and people back into the urban area. We need to stop talking and get on with it.”
Source: John C. Buchanan, Sr., Alpinist Endeavors LLC; Andy Guy, Wondergem Consulting
Related Articles
Developing eco-energy parks on Michigan’s Brownfields means 17,500 jobs, $15B in investment
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.