Under new ownership, change comes to Holland Town Center
HOLLAND TWP. — There’s been a resurgence at the Holland Town Center, and new ownership has only served to fuel it.
In November 2017, Edwards Realty Co. purchased the Holland Town Center from SugarOak Properties, which owned the center since 2009. While few business owners have complaints about previous management, many of them agree improvements since the change in ownership have been dramatic.
“I think they have a lot of passion for building up the center,” said EcoBuns co-owner Marissa Berghorst. “There’s been some really great aesthetic changes made. And even though they live out of town, they have people here locally that check in every week.”
The center was built in the late 1980s under the name Manufacturers Marketplace. The recession that began in 2008 hit the center particularly hard, as large businesses moved out and storefronts remained empty.
“We all know what it was,” said Edwards Realty President Ramzi Hassan. “It was an outlet center and, in this day and age, those centers aren’t sustainable.”
In 2013, under the ownership of SugarOak Properties and the leadership of a new management team, the once-obsolete outlet mall underwent a seven-figure renovation project, adding the colorful, cultural design visitors enjoy today.
“We’ve gutted these buildings and given them new life,” Project Manager Mike Bocks told The Sentinel during the renovation. “It has been known as the ‘Dead Outlet Mall’ for much of the past decade. It’s going to take a while the change that.”
While SugarOak Properties took strides toward changing the town center narrative, a lack of prominent signage, rough parking lots and empty storefronts remained a problem.
After a year of management under Edwards Realty, the parking lot has been resurfaced. The roofing has been redone. Several new businesses have moved in, including downtown Holland’s Michigan Pantry and Art as a Lifestyle, the new home of Moynihan Gallery’s Candle-ology.
“Resurfacing the parking lot was a big thing,” said Maranda Shear, owner of Art as a Lifestyle. “That was one of the first things I noticed when I was looking to move in here. And now it’s amazing, and they’re also working on the signs and planning a lot of events.”
Shear appreciates that management is very hands-on.
“They’re here at least once a week, trying to accommodate everyone’s needs,” she said. “They’ve had their hands full. But they’ve been very nice.”
According to Hassan, that involvement is necessary for success.
“We manage our own properties, and we know each community is different and unique in its own way,” he said. “We’ve now owned it almost a year, but really it’s the first phase of ownership and management, and that’s learning about your tenants and the surroundings and the community.”
Hassan adds that Edwards Realty has big plans for the center — even bigger than a resurfaced parking lot.
“We’ve been in discussions to add a brewery,” he said. “The craft beer community really took off in Michigan, so we’d like to continue that trajectory and we think that would be a great addition to the center and the community. Hopefully, we’ll get something in the next year.”
Hassan would also like to hold free concerts and host events, sometimes in partnership with the nearby Dutch Village.
“There’s really the underlying theme of everything we try and do is bring people together,” he said. “It doesn’t always make a sale that day, but the exposure is invaluable. You’re keeping the residents at the forefront of what you’re doing.”
For Berghorst, the focus on small businesses has changed the feel and focus of the center.
“In the wake of all these major chains closing, the local businesses have really held down the ground floor to make this area a really vibrant, fun shopping district,” she said. “It’s been neat to watch the process grow.”
According to Hassan, that’s the whole point.
“Small businesses are the backbone of any community,” he said. “And that’s what we would like to impress upon the residents and the businesses and the workers of Holland.”