Muskegon lines up $730,200 in state money to buy waterfront land next to Hartshorn Marina

MUSKEGON, Mich. — Muskegon has accepted state money to buy a strip of Muskegon Lake shoreline next to Hartshorn Marina, with city taxpayers on the hook for a quarter of the price.

The City Commission voted Tuesday, Oct. 13, to accept a grant of up to $730,200 from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund, MLive reported. The vote also commits the city to its matching share.

A state Senate Fiscal Agency summary of the trust fund spending bill, Senate Bill 829, lists the project as a $973,600 purchase of about two acres beside the marina and Hartshorn Park, along the Muskegon Lakeshore Trail. The city’s share in that summary is $243,400. The summary says hundreds of new homes are going up within walking distance of the site and that the land would give that part of the city a larger park on the lake.

City Manager Jonathan Seyferth told commissioners the parcel runs west from the marina along the shoreline to Fricano’s Pizza, according to MLive. Staff are moving ahead with a Phase 1 environmental review, after which the land will be reappraised. Seyferth said $730,200 is the most the state will put in, and the figure could drop depending on those results. The purchase must close by July 24, 2028.

The Hartshorn request is one of 15 land purchases on the trust fund board’s 2025 recommendation list, posted by the Department of Natural Resources. The board adopted that list on Dec. 10, 2025, according to the Senate Fiscal Agency, which notes the fund is built from royalties and lease payments on state-owned land, not local property taxes.

Other park work: Hartshorn Park is already in line for upgrades. In February the city sought bids for about 600 feet of boardwalk seawall capping, an accessible ramp and parking, new concrete, dune grass restoration and benches at Hartshorn Park and its boat launch. Tuesday’s consent agenda also included a change to the construction contract for an accessible fishing platform at the park.

Sources:
MLive, “Muskegon accepts $730K DNR grant to expand Hartshorn Marina,” October 2026, https://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/2026/10/muskegon-accepts-730k-dnr-grant-to-expand-hartshorn-marina.html
Michigan Senate Fiscal Agency, “FY 2025-26 MNRTF Appropriation, S.B. 829: Summary of Introduced Bill in Committee,” April 8, 2026, https://legislature.mi.gov/documents/2025-2026/billanalysis/Senate/pdf/2026-SFA-0829-G.pdf
Michigan Department of Natural Resources, “Natural Resources Trust Fund – 2025 Board Recommendations,” accessed Oct. 15, 2026, https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/buy-and-apply/grants/rec/mnrtf/2025-mnrtf-board-recommendations
City of Muskegon, City Commission agenda, Oct. 13, 2026, via 96 Muskegon Public TV, https://channel96muskegon.com/city-of-muskegon-meetings/past/1695-10-13-26-city-of-muskegon-city-commission-meeting
City of Muskegon, “BID – Hartshorn Park and Boat Launch Improvements,” Feb. 3, 2026, https://muskegon-mi.gov/hartshorn-park-improvements/
Photo: bigmikesndtech, “Muskegon skyline and lake.jpg,” Oct. 20, 2007, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Muskegon_skyline_and_lake.jpg

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