Grand Rapids carries a compact CMBS book — $651 million across 31 loans — and the weight of it is stacked at a single point on the calendar. Fully $332 million, or 51% of the book, comes due in 2029, with lighter tranches trailing into 2030, 2031 and 2034. For now the filed record is moving the right way: distress stands at 13.2% as of July 2026 and has been easing. Median DSCR of 1.64 points to a book with cushion to spare.
The on-the-ground ledger tells a quieter version of the same story. Sixteen distress events crossed the wire over the past year — ten store closures and six layoff notices — accounting for 348 jobs. That is a modest tally for a metro this size, and it sits against a labor backdrop that has firmed, with unemployment at 4.2% in August 2026, down two-tenths of a point year over year.
The read here is concentration, not deterioration. The filed distress rate is falling and the near-term maturity calendar is clear, but the 2029 bulge is the number to keep in front of you — a slug of paper that refinances or resolves in one bunched window, in a book small enough that it defines the metro's risk by itself.
In Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI, three of four signals are elevated, with 3 pairs with both legs elevated, 3 pairs where the legs disagree, and 0 pairs with both legs quiet out of 6 pairs of legs compared. Store closures read 10 closures, or 1.84 per 100k jobs, and are elevated on size rather than rate; layoff notices (WARN) read 6 notices, or 0.06%, and are not elevated. Bank CRE at lenders over the noncurrent line stands at $372.9mm, or 4.32%, and securitized loans in special servicing read 5 loan records, or 13.21%, which is a floor because it is measured over only part of the special-servicing rows. The bank CRE figure carries the caveat that much of the dollars are split by branch deposits the call report cannot confirm. No legs are blind here, so the reading is available across all four.
| Signal | Level | Rate | Rank by count | Rank by rate | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| store closures store closures per 100,000 jobs |
10 closures | 1.84 per 100k jobs | 47 of 392 | 220 of 392 | elevated trailing 365 days to today
|
| layoff notices (WARN) workers on layoff notices as a share of the metro's employment |
6 notices | 0.06% | 88 of 382 | 196 of 382 | quiet trailing 365 days to today
|
| bank CRE at lenders over the noncurrent line share of the CRE lent into this metro that sits at a lender over the blended-noncurrent line |
$372.9mm | 4.32% | 77 of 393 | 156 of 393 | elevated
allocated 2026-06-30
|
| securitized loans in special servicing share of the securitized balance read here that is in special servicing |
5 loan records | 13.21% | 36 of 335 | 38 of 335 | elevated
floor 2026-09-29
|
| Bank | Deposit share | CRE / Capital* | Room contributed | Noncurrent CRE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Macatawa Bank, National Association MI | 80.8% | 123% total 178%
|
🔒 | 0.00% |
| Mercantile Bank MI | 50.0% | 222% total 311%
|
🔒 | 0.01% |
| Independent Bank MI | 26.7% | 174% total 287%
|
🔒 | 1.65% |
| Choiceone Bank MI | 25.7% | 257% total 393%
|
🔒 | 0.80% |
| Highpoint Community Bank MI | 83.7% | 246% total 369%
|
🔒 | 0.00% |
| Isabella Bank MI | 11.0% | 201% total 290%
|
🔒 | 0.22% |
| Commercial Bank MI | 16.5% | 150% total 232%
|
🔒 | 0.26% |
| First Financial Bank OH | 0.4% | 169% total 215%
|
🔒 | 0.91% |
| First Merchants Bank IN | 0.4% | 183% total 243%
|
🔒 | 0.59% |
| Horizon Bank IN | 1.9% | 235% total 331%
|
🔒 | 0.26% |
| First Community Bank MI | 13.7% | 268% total 520%
|
🔒 | 0.00% |
| Grand River Bank MI | 100.0% | 324% total 527%
|
🔒 | 0.00% |
| West Michigan Community Bank MI | 78.7% | 303% total 571%
|
🔒 | 0.95% |
| Union Bank MI | 60.0% | 309% total 497%
|
🔒 | 1.74% |
| United Bank Of Michigan MI | 53.3% | 463% total 574%
|
🔒 | 0.00% |
| First National Bank Of Michigan MI | 15.9% | 480% total 622%
|
🔒 | 1.00% |
| Bank | Total CRE | CRE / Capital* | Noncurrent CRE | Early Warning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northpointe Bank | $122M | 17% total 17%
|
4.57% | 🔒 |
| Union Bank | $188M | 309% total 497%
|
1.74% | 🔒 |
| Independent Bank | $1.7B | 174% total 287%
|
1.65% | 🔒 |
| West Michigan Community Bank | $634M | 303% total 571%
|
0.95% | 🔒 |
| Choiceone Bank | $1.7B | 257% total 393%
|
0.80% | 🔒 |
| Mercantile Bank | $2.4B | 222% total 311%
|
0.01% | 🔒 |
| Grand River Bank | $299M | 324% total 527%
|
0.00% | 🔒 |
| Macatawa Bank, National Association | $684M | 123% total 178%
|
0.00% | 🔒 |
Over the past 365 days in Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI, the record shows 6 WARN layoff notices affecting 348 jobs on those notices, a floor since notices without a stated headcount contribute no jobs, alongside 10 store closures among approved rows. The CRE-related bankruptcies reading of 3 is a state proxy rather than a metro-native count, so it should not be read as activity located within the metro.