This is one big piece of real estate. Here's a map-
What in the world could it be?
GRAND RAPIDS -- It is a downtown development deal so delicious the mayor had to sign an agreement requiring he button his lip in order to get a taste of the details.
Just what is "it?"
It is "big," "significant" and "a great thing," according to those briefed on the project.
For now, "it" is mostly a mystery.
Here's what is known:
An out-of-town developer has spent more than a year trying to option acres of properties at the southern end of downtown for a project Mayor George Heartwell said could reshape an easily overlooked portion of the city.
"I have enough information to know that, if he can pull this off, it will be a very, very significant project for Grand Rapids," said Heartwell, who last year agreed to keep mum about the project until the developer goes public.
Who is the developer? That's unclear, although commercial real estate agents Deborah Shurlow and Bill Bowling, of Grubb &Ellis Paramount, are helping tie up properties, according to those who have been approached by the agents.
The area in question is roughly bordered by Grandville Avenue SW on the east, the Grand River on the west, the U.S. 131 S-curve to the north and Wealthy Street SW to the south.
Heartwell said the confidentiality agreement prohibits him from speaking, despite the possibility the project could encompass the city-owned Public Works yard along the Grand River. The city recently issued a "request for interest" to those who may have concepts for developing its 19 acres.
Joel Langlois, who owns The Intersection nightclub at 133 Grandville Ave. SW, would not comment about the status of his property.
"All I've heard is that there is something big happening and it's going to be a great thing for Grand Rapids and a great thing for Michigan," Langlois said. "But everybody that knows anything seems to be bound by some great level of security."
Seriously, what could need that amount of land? And why the need for such secrecy?