GRAND RAPIDS | Development Thread

[deja vu]

New renderings for the proposed amphitheater. The latest development plans are set to go to the city planning commission for review on June 22 -

New renderings give most detailed look yet at Grand Rapids amphitheater
Brian McVicar | MLive
June 4, 2023

Source: MLive | Progressive AE

[Matthew]

I love the amphitheatre. This is one of those projects I wish the city I posted on would attempt.

[deja vu]

Originally Posted by Matthew

I love the amphitheatre. This is one of those projects I wish the city I posted on would attempt.

I think what I find most exciting about this project is the potential it has for catalyzing future developments adjacent to it. Downtown Grand Rapids is just begging to expand southward, and having an attraction like this could do a lot to increase foot traffic in the area. City leaders know this, and they have already been upgrading infrastructure in anticipation of future developments.

[deja vu]

Open to the public as of yesterday (and it looks really good)...

Ford International Airport Unveils Newly Expanded Concourse A
GRR Press Release
June 15, 2023

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., June 15, 2023 – The Gerald R. Ford International Airport Authority announced the completion of Phase 1 of its newly expanded Concourse A, part of a $110 million project to accommodate passenger growth. Concourse A Phase I, which will open to the public June 16 and primarily serve guests flying American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, added:

• Eight new gates for a total of 14
• Expanded gate space areas to accommodate larger size aircraft
• New concession and retail concepts
• A greater variety of seating options
• A new companion care restroom which includes an adult changing table

Now on to Phase 2 of the project, which will shut down the existing portion of Concourse A for extensive renovations, as well as a new, second-floor executive lounge and more passenger amenities.










Source: GRR

[robk1982]

The new Corewell Health ambulatory care building (7/28/23):

Untitled by kratzrob, on Flickr

Untitled by kratzrob, on Flickr


Studio park (last week sometime):
Untitled by kratzrob, on Flickr

Studio Park peeking out over the south end of downtown (7/28/23)
Untitled by kratzrob, on Flickr


View of downtown from the north while I was stuck in a traffic jam. Three cranes are visible:
Far left: Corewell Ambulatory building
Center: Corewell's Center for Transformation and Innovation
Center right: Studio Park addition
Untitled by kratzrob, on Flickr

[DetroitSky]

Thanks for the update!

[Velvet_Highground]

A lot happening I like the amphitheater, expanding concourse A is a solid project for the city + region & man that’s a lot of cranes especially for a city the size of GR. The updates are very much appreciated 👍

[deja vu]

Yes thanks for the updates, robk. I need to get out there on foot again.

[DetroitMan]

$150M Factory Yards could include affordable housing

Developers of a $150 million project planned in Grand Rapids are working with the city to offer some of the housing units at below market rate.

Factory Yards is a multiuse development planned along Godfrey Avenue near Market Avenue that will include hundreds of apartments, a restaurant space and a fitness center. The project includes renovating a vacant, five-story building first built by a furniture company in the late 1800s.

Developers Ben Smith and Scott Magaluk told News 8 at the Grand Rapids Policy Conference Wednesday that they’re working with the city to offer affordable housing. “Economic diversity in a project of this size is important as any other type of diversity,” Smith said. “We’re really trying to make this an inclusive project that all different types of people can enjoy. … There’s a housing shortage and we want to make sure we create opportunities for people to be a part of this.”

Magaluk explained they’re working with the city to create an affordability agreement to designate 20% of the housing units in the development as affordable units. Half of those units would be at 80% Area Median Income and the other half would be at 60% AMI.

https://www.woodtv.com/news/grand-ra...dable-housing/

[deja vu]

Ada Village -

Ada Hotel progress. 37,000 SF, 36 hotel rooms, two restaurants, a lounge, and a fitness center. Scheduled to open in the spring of 2024 -






Source: Facebook | First Companies

[robk1982]

Apartments, commercial space planned at long-vacant Division Avenue building
Kate Carlson -July 10, 2023

GRAND RAPIDS — A long-vacant building on Division Avenue just south of the city’s downtown Heartside neighborhood is set to be redeveloped into eight apartments with ground floor commercial space.

The two-story, 10,800-square-foot building at 433 S. Division Ave. formerly housed a barber shop, bar and church but has sat vacant for years, said Kevin Bassett, the property owner and president of local electro-coating manufacturer Spectrum Industries Inc. Bassett acquired the property for $150,000 in 2006, according to property records.

......

Bassett owns several properties in the area, including across the street at 13 McConnell St. SW and 421 and 427 S. Division Ave., which was set to be redeveloped into a 10-story apartment building with 431 market-rate units, a food hall and retail. The city approved Chicago-based Interra Realty’s plan for The McConnell project, but the company recently backed out of the property sale and development, Bassett said.

......

https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/ne...enue-building/

[DetroitMan]

West Michigan Hispanic Chamber plans new $9.5M Grand Rapids headquarters

The West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce plans to use a “historic” $5 million state budget allocation to acquire a former industrial building on Grand Rapids’ southwest side, as part of a broader effort to elevate Latino business voices.

Chamber officials detailed plans today to acquire and renovate a 17,000-square-foot former manufacturing building located at 1101 Godfrey Ave. SW. The property includes a dozen buildings that Hispanic Chamber officials have been eyeing for years as a potential space to relocate and expand services, said Guillermo Cisneros, president and CEO of the chamber.

The organization is working to acquire the building, and aims to present a site plan to the city early next year for the $9.5 million project, which could also include a business incubator, Cisneros said.

The remaining funds for the project would be raised with a capital campaign, he added.

https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/ne...-headquarters/

[deja vu]

Studio Park - just a few photos of (and on) the tower. There are about 4 floors to go now -








Source: LinkedIn | Samuel Weaver

[DetroitMan]

Great photos! It's amazing how fast this tower is going up. A few updates of GR projects...

Mixed-use project at vacant Grand Rapids corner lands $3.5M in state loan, incentives

A state economic development board has approved more than $3.5 million in loan and tax incentive support for a 58-unit mixed-use project planned along the edge of downtown Grand Rapids.

The Michigan Strategic Fund board on Tuesday approved a Michigan Community Revitalization Program performance-based loan for up to $3 million and $544,048 in brownfield incentives for the project spearheaded by W&S Development Partners LLC.

As well, the city of Grand Rapids approved a Neighborhood Enterprise Zone abatement for the project valued at nearly $1.1 million, an environmental site assessment grant for $52,000, and local brownfield incentives valued at $272,225.The $16.4 million development will be on vacant property at the corner of Wealthy Street SW and Sheldon Avenue SE. The two-building project is set to include studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments, along with 2,400 square feet of retail space. Onsite parking and bicycle storage will also be available for tenants.

Preliminary site work has started on the project, which Grand Rapids-based Maxam Architecture PLLC is designing.

W&S Development Partners purchased the property at the corner of Wealthy and Sheldon from ICCF Community Homes on March 24 for $1.8 million, according to property records. The half-acre property has been vacant for more than a decade, and is located on the same block as the Tapestry Square project that ICCF Community Homes recently completed.

“Grand Rapids has had a shortage of housing since before the pandemic, so the location provides good access to downtown and it’s walkable for people at Mary Free Bed or (Trinity Health Grand Rapids Hospital), and it’s a wonderful location for market-rate housing for the city,” said Heather Coyne, director of marketing at Grand Rapids-based Cella Building Co., one of the development partners for the project.

https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/ne...an-incentives/

Grand Rapids advances $103M incentives plan for Factory Yards project

A Grand Rapids board has approved a developer’s request for $103 million in “transformational” tax capture incentives, advancing plans for what would be the first project in Grand Rapids to use the state funding tool.

The city’s Brownfield Redevelopment Authority board approved a Transformational Brownfield Plan for the proposed $147 million Factory Yards mixed-use project on Grand Rapids’ southwest side. Metro Detroit-based developers Ben Smith, Scott Magaluk and Dennis Griffin are behind the massive redevelopment of the former industrial properties.

The project calls for the redevelopment of four vacant buildings at and around 655 Godfrey Ave. SW, as well as the construction of three new buildings. The project will span 15.5 acres currently hosting obsolete, vacant manufacturing buildings in Grand Rapids’ Roosevelt Park neighborhood.

“We’re just really excited about what we’ve been hearing and what (the developers) have been doing,” Reggie Smith, president of the Roosevelt Park Neighborhood Association, said during today’s Grand Rapids Brownfield Redevelopment Authority meeting. “We’re excited that they’re willing to invest in our neighborhood.”

https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/ne...yards-project/

[deja vu]

Some closer views of Corewell Health's Ambulatory Tower -







Source: LinkedIn | Vince Roberti, P.E. (JDH Engineering)

[DetroitMan]

Grand Rapids board approves $21.6M brownfield plan for Creston mixed-use project

The city of Grand Rapids has advanced a nearly $21.6 million brownfield plan for the first phase of a large mixed-use project planned at the former Display Pack building in the city’s Creston neighborhood.

The Grand Rapids Brownfield Redevelopment Authority approved the brownfield plan for the first phase of the RiverNorth project, which is being developed by Oak Brook, Ill.-based commercial real estate firm Franklin Partners. The development team announced plans for the 307,000-square-foot former manufacturing site in May at a Creston Neighborhood Association meeting.

The proposed site plan calls for demolishing the three existing buildings at 1340 Monroe Ave. NW and constructing two separate, four-story structures on the north and south end of the site. Plans also call for a parking deck in the middle of the property between the two apartment buildings.

“We bought this with the intent of office redevelopment back in 2015, and obviously there has been a series of changes with the pandemic of all sorts of things in our world,” said Ray Warner, partner at Franklin Partners. “This seems to be the best and highest use for our site. We’ve looked at this for a number of years now.”

https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/ne...d-use-project/

[DetroitMan]

Amphitheater groundbreaking on track for spring 2024 as officials navigate moving parts

A 12,000-capacity amphitheater planned along the Grand River in downtown Grand Rapids is slated for a spring 2024 groundbreaking that would conclude by the 2026 season.

Until then, a local entertainment authority, the city of Grand Rapids and amphitheater developer Grand Action 2.0 are navigating several moving parts that include property sales and a phased relocation of city services off the project site at 201 Market Ave. SW. As that occurs, construction crews will begin preliminary work on the outdoor amphitheater that’s expected to drive additional mixed-use, riverfront development.

“I don’t see an obstacle that would keep (the amphitheater project) from happening,” Grand Rapids Deputy City Manager Kate Berens told Crain’s Grand Rapids Business. “We have all the things in place we need to map this out and execute the plan. Both (the relocation and amphitheater) projects are going through their permitting and bidding work, and we’re pushing both projects forward in parallel.” The city-owned Market Avenue property currently houses a range of city services, including public works, parks and recreation, forestry, and fleet and facilities management. Some of these services will stay on the property as amphitheater construction starts next spring, Berens said.

The first set of city services will relocate from the 201 Market site to an interim location in May 2024, and city officials expect operations to be fully off the property in November 2024, Berens said.

The city approved a $2.2 million contract at the end of March with Bergmann Associates Inc. to create a site plan for the city to move operations from Market Avenue to 1500 Scribner Ave. NW on the city’s north side. The city also is now working with Clark Construction Co., which is authorized to do pre-construction services and put early bid packages together for the relocation, Berens said.

https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/ne...-moving-parts/

[robk1982]

A couple pics from some new vantage points

Untitled by kratzrob, on Flickr

Untitled by kratzrob, on Flickr

[deja vu]

^ I appreciate the different perspective!

I know these aren't the greatest quality, but I managed some drive-by shots yesterday of Studio Tower, from 131. Caught the crane hoisting another segment up just as I rode by. First two shots are from the morning, third one is driving back home in the afternoon -

[DetroitMan]

Developer eyes mixed-use project on Grand Rapids supermarket property

A Grand Rapids developer plans to bring a four-story, mixed-use project with 76 apartment units to the city’s southeast side.

Maurice Townsend, founder of MoTown Square Development, is working with Grand Rapids-based Pure Architects to design the project at 1226 Madison Ave. SE. The proposed 79,385-square-foot building would be located on the corner of Hall Street and Madison Avenue, up to the sidewalk with existing retail behind it.

“This area was my old stomping grounds as a kid, and it’s really important to me to just see the revitalization of this neighborhood continue,” Townsend told Crain’s Grand Rapids Business.

Townsend is also working alongside the owners of the Great Giant Supermarket, which is located on the same property as the proposed mixed-use building. The grocery store owners also plan to fully renovate and expand their 32,800-square-foot store into a recently acquired adjacent storefront that formerly housed a beauty supply retailer. The rest of the existing retail storefronts on the site, which include a Dollar General and the New China restaurant, also would be fully renovated.

https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/ne...rket-property/