Grand Rapids planning commission approves housing plan for shuttered Stocking school

Overview

Updated 1 hour ago

The shuttered Stocking school on the northwest side of Grand Rapids cleared its biggest hurdle yet on September 10, when the city's planning commission approved a special land use request for a 48-unit affordable housing development on the site. The project is part of the Grand Rapids school district's effort to sell off buildings it no longer needs. Stocking closed as a school in 2024 after enrollment in the surrounding neighborhoods shrank.

Developer Commonwealth Development Corporation bought the property from the district for $1 million and plans affordable apartments, community space, and a health center. The planning commission's green light is a regulatory step, not the final one — the developer still needs building permits and construction financing before ground breaks. If it closes, the project turns a shuttered public building into housing in a city where rents have climbed faster than incomes.

Why it matters

If the project closes, 48 affordable units land in a Grand Rapids market where rent growth has outpaced wages for years.

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Key Indicators

Planned affordable housing units

Affordable multifamily units planned on the Stocking school site.

$1M

School site purchase price

Commonwealth Development Corporation's agreed purchase price for the former Stocking school.

2024

Year Stocking school closed

The school closed amid declining neighborhood enrollment.

Proposals received for school sites

Total proposals GRPS received across the Alexander and Stocking properties.

Voices

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People Involved

Dr. Leadriane Roby

Superintendent, Grand Rapids Public Schools

Active — leading the district's surplus property sales

José Rodriguez

President, Grand Rapids Board of Education

Active — board president during the sales approval

Organizations Involved

Commonwealth Development Corporation

Real Estate Developer

Developer — buyer of the Stocking school site

Developer purchasing the former Stocking school for affordable housing, community space, and a health center.

Grand Rapids Public Schools

Public School District

Seller — offloading surplus school properties

School district selling closed school buildings under its Reimagine GRPS with Us! initiative.

Grand Rapids Planning Commission

City Agency

Regulator — approved the project's special land use request

City body that approves special land use requests for developments that need added review.

Timeline

January 2024 September 2026

4 events Latest: Today

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September 2026
Planning commission approves 48-unit housing project
Today Regulatory Approval

Grand Rapids Planning Commission approved the special land use request for the Stocking school affordable housing development.
Today
January 2025
Neighborhood meetings shape school reuse plans
Community Engagement

GRPS held neighborhood meetings to shape requests for proposals and evaluation criteria for surplus school properties.
January 1st, 2025
GRPS board approves Stocking site sale
Decision

Board voted to sell Stocking to Commonwealth Development Corporation for $1 million for affordable housing, community space, and a health center.
January 1st, 2025
January 2024
Stocking school closes
Closure

The school shut down amid declining neighborhood enrollment.
January 1st, 2024

Historical Context

2 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

May–June 2013

Chicago's mass school closures (2013)

Chicago Public Schools voted to close 50 elementary schools in one year, most in Black and Latino neighborhoods, after enrollment fell districtwide. The closures sparked intense community opposition and years of debate over what would replace the empty buildings.

Then

Many closed buildings were mothballed while the district sought reuse plans; some became community-run spaces and housing, others remained shuttered for years.

Now

The closures embedded deep distrust of school district decisions in affected neighborhoods and shaped how other districts approached surplus property sales.

Why this matters now

Like Chicago, Grand Rapids closed Stocking with limited public input at first, then tried to rebuild trust by holding neighborhood meetings before selling. The outcome depends on whether the housing actually gets built.

2010s–2020s

Detroit's $1 school sales (2010s–2020s)

Detroit Public Schools sold dozens of closed school buildings, some for as little as $1, to developers and nonprofits betting on neighborhood revival. The city's enrollment collapse left more than 100 buildings empty.

Then

Some buildings became housing, community centers, and commercial space. Others sat vacant for years, turned into blight magnets that the district struggled to maintain.

Now

The mixed record showed that cheap sales alone don't guarantee redevelopment, and that financing and neighborhood demand decide which projects actually get built.

Why this matters now

Grand Rapids is following the same playbook — selling surplus schools cheaply to spur affordable housing — and faces the same risk that a low sale price doesn't ensure the project closes.