Cascade Engineering has broken ground on a 300,000-square-foot warehouse in Kentwood, a facility the company says will bring its inventory, shipping, receiving and material management functions together under a single roof. The site sits at 5680 E. Paris Ave. SE, on a nearly 53-acre parcel that was previously vacant and zoned for industrial development.
According to MLive, the project is being built northeast of the intersection of 60th Street and East Paris Avenue. Cascade Engineering, a contract manufacturer founded in 1973 and based in Cascade Township, says consolidating its logistics operations under one roof will improve efficiency across the company's supply chain.
Cascade Engineering CEO Christina Keller framed the warehouse as a long-term bet on the company's future. “We are building a stronger foundation for serving our customers, supporting our employees, and maintaining the flexibility needed to grow,” Keller said, according to the same report.
Who's Building It, and Who's Leasing It
Third Coast Development is developing the warehouse project, while Pioneer Construction is serving as general contractor, the outlet's report notes. Cascade Engineering itself will not own the building but will lease the facility once it's complete, continuing the company's role making plastic products that range from trash and recycling carts to automotive and industrial parts.
The facility is expected to house about 100 employees, per the project narrative submitted to Kentwood. That narrative does not specify how many of those positions would be newly created or whether the jobs would be full-time or part-time, leaving key workforce details unresolved for now.
Traffic Flow and Site Layout
Plans for the site include employee parking along with a 10-acre paved outdoor storage area. The layout is designed to separate different kinds of traffic: employee vehicles will use an entrance off East Paris Avenue, while truck traffic will be routed through a separate entrance on 60th Street.
Notably, earlier coverage of the project described a 303,000-square-foot warehouse approved by the Kentwood Planning Commission in May 2026, situated on the northwest corner of East Paris and 60th Street, loading docks, and 300 parking spaces, figures that differ from the groundbreaking report's description of a 300,000-square-foot building northeast of that same intersection. MLive's reporting does not resolve the discrepancy between the two accounts.
Timeline for Construction and Move-In
Construction on the warehouse is expected to be largely complete by May 2027. Cascade Engineering plans to begin occupying the facility and transitioning its operations there starting in July 2027, according to the outlet. Project documents do not disclose the cost of the warehouse project.
A Tight Industrial Market in West Michigan
The groundbreaking lands amid a historically tight industrial real estate market in the region. According to a Colliers market report, West Michigan's industrial vacancy rate compressed from 3.4% to 3.2% in the second quarter of 2026, well below the national industrial vacancy rate of 7.6%.
Net industrial absorption in the region reached roughly 523,750 square feet during that same quarter, the report found. Meanwhile, about 851,800 square feet of industrial space was under construction across West Michigan as of the second quarter, even as only 35,000 square feet of new space was actually delivered, underscoring just how much demand is outpacing supply as Cascade Engineering's Kentwood project moves forward.
