A $390,000 state grant backs turning a vacant downtown Grand Haven building into shops and three apartments

GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — A vacant building at 123 Washington Ave. in downtown Grand Haven will be rebuilt with commercial space on the first floor and three two-bedroom apartments upstairs, with help from a $390,000 state grant, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation said Thursday, Oct. 8.

The grant comes from the Michigan Community Revitalization Program. It is performance-based, so the money is tied to the work getting done. The MEDC put the project’s total expected investment at $2,287,144. WGHN identified the property as the old Floto’s building.

Plans call for a shared rooftop patio for tenants. The developer, Andrew Todtz, said in the state’s announcement that the ground floor will hold a restaurant. The MEDC said the building sits on a busy pedestrian stretch two blocks from the waterfront.

Todtz is also seeking $589,800 in Housing Brownfield Tax Increment Financing through the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, according to the MEDC. Of that total, $305,293 would come from local tax increment revenue, meaning new property taxes from the improved site would help pay back eligible costs. The state described that financing as something the developer is pursuing, not money already approved.

According to the release, Todtz has run a construction company in Baltimore for more than 25 years, renovating more than 100 houses and buildings and building about 100 new homes and mixed-use buildings. Assistant City Manager Dana Kollewehr called the project the kind of investment the city wants downtown, and state Sen. Roger Victory, R-Hudsonville, said it would put a vacant building back to productive use.

The Grand Haven award was announced together with a $1.1 million state grant for two vacant buildings in the Upper Peninsula village of Calumet. The MEDC said the two projects together are expected to bring more than $5.9 million in investment. Grand Haven has been a Michigan Main Street community for more than 20 years.

Separately, the Grand Haven City Council and Board of Light and Power had a joint special meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 12, at Central Park Place, 421 Columbus Ave. The agenda called for a closed session to review a written opinion from the city attorney on environmental options for Harbor Island, with public comment before the closed session.

Updated Oct. 13, 2026: The Oct. 12 joint meeting has passed, and that paragraph has been changed to the past tense.

Sources:
Michigan Economic Development Corporation, “Redevelopment Projects Add Housing and Commercial Space in Calumet and Grand Haven,” Oct. 8, 2026, https://www.michiganbusiness.org/press-releases/2026/10/redevelopment-projects-add-housing-and-commercial-space-in-calumet-and-grand-haven/
WGHN, “State Grant Supports Downtown Grand Haven Redevelopment,” Oct. 12, 2026, https://wghn.com/2026/10/12/state-grant-supports-downtown-grand-haven-redevelopment/
WHTC, “Grand Haven Development Project to Get Financial Boost From Lansing,” Oct. 9, 2026, https://whtc.com/2026/10/09/grand-haven-development-project-to-get-financial-boost-from-lansing/
City of Grand Haven, “Agenda for Special Joint Meeting, City Council/Board of Light and Power,” Oct. 12, 2026, https://grandhaven.org/downloads/_news_/10.12.26_joint_meeting_agenda.pdf
Photo: Gpwitteveen, “Grand Theatre (1).jpg,” undated, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/), cropped, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grand_Theatre_(1).jpg

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