A Great Place To Be
Pure Muskegon, a group of local investors with a common goal of helping transform the Muskegon Lake lakefront, purchased the former Sappi Fine Paper Mill property in 2016. The 120-acre property, located on over a mile of Muskegon Lake shoreline, is now called Windward Pointe.
Since the acquisition, Pure Muskegon has completed the demolition of the existing 1,000,000+ square feet paper plant complex and is now actively leading the ongoing clean-up and remediation of the property, which is entering its final phase.
Ideas abound for redevelopment of this large and well-situated waterfront property, including residential options ranging from an elder living complex to condos, single and multi-family homes and live-work spaces. Commercial uses could feature mixed-use developments, hotel and resort, restaurants, retail, offices, and marinas with charter fishing and water taxis.
The Windward Pointe site is conveniently located about 3 hours from Chicago and Detroit and less than an hour from Grand Rapids. The area is served by two airports in Grand Rapids and Muskegon connecting to international destinations.
Pure Muskegon retained the services DPZ Partners to conduct a two stage Charrette-driven Land Use/Master Planning process for the Windward Pointe property. DPZ is one of the leading urban planning firms in the United States, having designed over 300 communities in North America and across Europe, Asia and South America. DPZ creates benevolent urban places in the form of cities, towns, and neighborhoods, which encourage walking, diversity, and complexity. DPZ’s philosophy is: “We believe great places add to the sum of human happiness. DPZ designs economically and environmentally resilient communities that foster physical and social well-being.”
The Charrette process is an organized, collaborative planning workshop that harnesses the talents and energies of DPZ, other Pure Muskegon housing, retail, hospitality and leisure and environmental consultants, state and local government entity representatives, utilities, various other state and local stakeholders and the Muskegon community to design and gather support for an Illustrative Master Plan for Windward Pointe in a concentrated period of time.
"DPZ designs economically and environmentally resilient communities that foster physical and social well-being.”
Pure Muskegon
Pure Muskegon, LLC was formed by a group of local business and community leaders who share a common goal of bringing new life and vitality to the Muskegon community through the transformation and revitalization of the former Sappi Paper Mill property. Pure Muskegon purchased the 120-acre property from Melching, Inc. after long, multi-year acquisition process. Everyone’s collective persistence paid off, and Pure Muskegon has now launched Windward Pointe, a mixed-use development featuring residential, commercial and community features on the shores of Muskegon Lake with access to Lake Michigan. Membership of Pure Muskegon, LLC includes Larry Hines, Mike Olthoff, Don Tjarksen, Trip Johnson, Steve Olsen, John Workman, Greg Olson, Don Kettler, Wes Eklund, Dan Kuznar, Gregg Slager, Chris Witham, and the Paul C. Johnson Foundation.