PORTAGE, MI — Panda Dynasty closed its doors at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, April 30, for the final time. The Chinese restaurant is closing for good. Panda Dynasty is not relocating to a new location, co-owner Vicky Yang said. The Portage City Council approved the city’s purchase of the property at 7716 S. Westnedge Ave. during its Feb. 25 meeting. The city plans to tear the building down, clean up environmental contamination on the site and sell it for redevelopment. The sale hasn’t been finalized yet, said Portage spokesperson Mary Beth Block, so a sale price isn’t available yet. Neither has an anticipated timeline for work on the site. Panda Dynasty is located in Portage’s “City Centre,” near City Hall, the Portage District Library and the public safety headquarters. Efforts to transform the City Centre “subarea” have been ongoing since the 1980s, according to city planning documents. Portage wants to bring businesses and dense housing to the area, per the plan, and connect it to existing trails and pedestrian pathways. The city will retain an easement along Portage Creek, which runs behind the Panda Dynasty property, for a future recreational trail, Block said previously. The property was listed for $455,000 by the restaurant owners, although that’s the turnkey price including the liquor license, according to @Properties/Christie’s International Real Estate. It was on the market for an “extended period of time” with no buyers, Block said previously. A gas station stood on the property before the current building went up in the ’80s, per public records. It was home to another Chinese restaurant, Ming’s Dynasty, before becoming Panda Dynasty. Its popularity carried the restaurant through the COVID-19 pandemic, MLive previously reported. It remained open for carryout only, due to a shortage of employees. Signature dishes like the pineapple shrimp and Happy Family meal were never made with canned food, MSG or preservatives. Vegetables were delivered twice a week from an Asian food distributor in Chicago. The restaurant would have celebrated its 23rd anniversary this May. Want more Kalamazoo-area news? Bookmark the local Kalamazoo news page or sign up for the free “3@3 Kalamazoo” daily newsletter.