Here’s what’s next for 7 projects and properties in and around downtown Flint in 2025 - MLive.com

[Ron Fonger | rfonger1@mlive.com]

FLINT, MI -- Several projects are taking shape in and around downtown Flint and others could move from the drawing board to construction or from development to opening in 2025.

Here’s what we know about some high-impact properties and projects in various stages of development.

YMCA of Greater Flint

Officials broke ground on a $41-million mixed-use development in downtown Flint in May 2023 that will be home to the new YMCA of Greater Flint, 50 housing units, and new retail and office space on Harrison Street.

The new facility has a target opening date in March, according to the organization’s website.

YMCA and the Uptown Reinvestment Corporation had initially announced plans to build the new facility in 2022.

The gymnasium of the new Y will be named after Flint native and Washington Wizard player Kyle Kuzma, who pledged a $1-million donation for the gym.

The facility also will include a six-lane lap pool, family splash pad and spa, locker rooms, a full-length basketball court, and a running and walking track.

A new spa for kids, massage therapy business

Two new businesses are expected to open downtown in the next several months -- a children’s spa and ice cream shop at the former Pop Rox and a massage therapy business -- both on East Second Street.

Phil Shaltz, Pop Rox owner, told MLive-The Flint Journal in December that he expects Taylor Rae Spoiled Princess Spa, which was previously located inside Genesee Valley Center in Flint Township, to open within 45 days in the storefront at 130 E. Second St., next to the Capitol Theatre.

The same property was formerly known as The Eberson before Pop Rox opened in early 2023.

Shaltz said the 2,600-square-foot building is still being remodeled. He is partnering with longtime friend Ray Tyler to make the conversion a reality.

Just down the block, another business -- 81Ohm Massage & Co. -- is planning its grand opening on Friday, Jan. 10.

The company’s Facebook page says 81Ohm will be a wellness and therapeutic massage studio, offering a variety of massage therapy, as well as couples massage, walk-in chair massage, cupping, assisted stretching, massage memberships, corporate massage bookings, and in-home massage therapy.

810hm’s grand opening is from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. at 140 E. Second St., Suite 100, in downtown Flint.

It’s unclear what the future holds for another downtown property where a business closed at the end of 2024.

The Loft, 526 Saginaw St., closed on New Year’s Eve after 22 years in business.

Rodney Ott, the bar’s owner, announced the closure several months ago, saying the Saginaw Street property had been sold but he was unsure what the new owner would do with it.

Genesee County administration building

Genesee County officials are planning to consolidate offices and employees from several buildings into a renovated office tower downtown in late spring or early summer of 2025.

The county Board of Commissioners is in the final stages of overseeing work at the former Citizens Bank property it purchased from the University of Michigan for $8.5 million in December 2021.

Employees from the existing county administration building are among the expected tenants in the new office tower on Saginaw Street.

The Flint Mass Transportation Authority is in talks with the county about purchasing the current administration building, located at 1101 Beach St., across Saginaw Street from Flint City Hall.

MTA officials have said the property could be demolished and used as its new downtown bus terminal, replacing the agency’s existing terminal on Harrison Street.

Flint Commerce Center

The Flint Commerce Center gained its first tenant in 2024 and is expected to begin construction soon on a second building within the development at the old General Motors’ Buick City site.

Located north of downtown, the center is owned by Ashley Capital.

In December, the Flint City Council agreed to sell Ashley a decommissioned and historically significant park, giving it the room needed to build a new production facility for NanoGraf Corp., which secured a $60-million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for the project in September.

Ashley has big plans for the sprawling Buick City site, which it’s redeveloping in sections as it demolishes old plant floors and foundations left behind by GM.

Victory Packaging, a company with ties to GM, agreed to lease a portion of the first spec building in the development in August.

Michigan State University College of Human Medicine

Construction is continuing on a new, three-story building for Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine in downtown Flint.

A $3.4-million grant from the Michigan Strategic Fund Board was awarded in October 2023 for the 40,000-square-foot addition being constructed by Uptown Reinvestment Corporation in the area of Second and Harrison streets.

The project has been estimated to cost $24.5 million and boosters have said the university plans to expand its current public health research in Flint to include domestic violence and suicide prevention. The campus addition will provide MSU with additional office space for research, administration and instruction.

Manhattan Place Apartments

A fire destroyed the Manhattan Place Apartments more than a year ago, leaving behind a prime piece of downtown real estate on West First Avenue near the Flint River.

Uptown Development Corporation owns the property, which was once home to a Herrlich drug store, but has yet to announce redevelopment plans.

The now-demolished Manhattan Place was being converted into 11 loft-style apartments in the early 1990s with each unit averaging 1,400 square feet in size, each with a fireplace and whirlpool tub.

The development stalled before completion and was vacant at the time of it burned in a suspected arson in December 2023.

The property is near the southwest corner of King and First avenues in the shadow of ongoing work on the Flint River that’s part of the development of Flint’s first state park.

An official with the state Department of Natural Resources has said the state will most likely announce the name of the state park during a dedication or ribbon-cutting ceremony -- mostly likely at some point in 2025.

Genesee County drop-off recycling center

Demolition and site work is well underway at the old McDonald Dairy site on Chavez Drive but there’s still work to do before the property is expected to be redeveloped as a permanent drop-off site for household hazardous and electronic waste.

Buildings on the property were demolished in August and site preparation has continued since, according to Genesee County Director of Administration Joshua Freeman.

The county acquired the site from the county Land Bank, which acquired it through the tax foreclosure process.

Proposals from architects for the redevelopment of the property are being reviewed by the county but the drop-off center still must be designed before the job of building it can begin -- likely not until after 2025, according to Freeman.

In 2023, the state Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy provided a $900,000 grant to help establish the center.

County officials said in 2024 that they were continuing to explore possible federal grants and congressional funding earmarks to support it.

In addition to using the Chavez Drive property as a drop-off recycling site, county officials have also discussed using the property for a warehouse facility for the Genesee County Community Action Resource Department and county motor pool operations.