GRAND RAPIDS | Development Thread

[deja vu]

^ Hopefully all of this planning leads to some real projects soon!

Junior Achievement of the Michigan Great Lakes Regional HQ is moving along on their building conversion and addition at 4090 Lake Drive SE (which I will always associate with Integrated Architecture's former, ultra po-mo studio).

These images are from about a month ago, and the addition is mostly shelled out now -






Source: LinkedIn | Junior Achievement of the Michigan Great Lakes

[deja vu]

Ada -

The newest piece of Ada's downtown is open. The Amy Van Andel Library was conceived as a central hub for the community during the township's "Envision Ada" planning process. At 26,000 SF across 2 stories and with a $11.5 million price tag, it's a pretty nice little facility. There's no real good exterior shots yet - they are probably waiting for the Spring -

Exterior rendering (note the not-so-subtle / intentional inclusion of the flags of the Van Andel's Amway facility in the distance) -


Source: Ada Village

Finished interior views (replete with a bunch of super-posed people) -




















Source: Progressive AE

[A Chicagoan]

Amway Grand Plaza Hotel renovation, March 2:

More Nights Downtown by Chris Colvin on 500px.com

[deja vu]

^ That's a great shot!

900 Leonard St NW could be getting new life, in the form of a $14.6 million housing ddevelopment. "Victory on Leonard" would replace the former "Geek Group" space and could contain 119 apartments and community space across 4 stories, with a small amount of ground floor retail. Interestingly, the developer has a goal of having the most electric vehicle charge stations of any place in GR, with a planned 35 charging stations at covered carports. There's also talk of a new covered bus shelter adjacent. If all goes to plan, this could break ground in April, with a grand opening in June 2022 -

Apartments and more: The vision for Victory on Leonard in Grand Rapids
Christa Ferguson | Wood TV 8
March 5, 2021

Mixed-use project planned at former YMCA on Grand Rapids’ West Side calls for 119 apartments
Kate Carlson | MiBiz
March 02, 2021

Source: Wood TV 8 | Courtesy 900 W Leonard LLC / Lott3 Metz Architecture


Source: MiBiz | Courtesy 900 W Leonard LLC / Lott3 Metz Architecture


Source: Wood TV 8 | Courtesy 900 W Leonard LLC / Lott3 Metz Architecture

Existing site -


Source: Wood TV 8 | Courtesy 900 W Leonard LLC / Lott3 Metz Architecture

[A Chicagoan]

Originally Posted by deja vu

^ That's a great shot!

Just found another one, this time from March 6 - I think it's even better!
GR Blue Bridge 1 of 3 by Dan Gaken, on Flickr

[deja vu]

^ Thanks for the new desktop background

Another project in GR that just wrapped up is the new Southwest Middle / High School, part of the Southwest Community Campus (SWCC) at 327 Rumsey St SW. It features a unique, dual immersion English / Spanish curriculum. The site was also uniquely challenging - a steep grade change with a tight buildable lot resulted in the 4-story, 75,000 SF building you see here. I like the massing and the use of bold colors throughout. IIRC, the floors are color-coded on the interior, based on the grade levels. A&E firms C2AE & TMP partnered together with Rockford Construction on this one -










Source: LinkedIn | C2AE

[deja vu]

In early February, Allegiant announced two new direct flights from Gerald R. Ford Int'l Airport. Starting June 4, the airline will offer flights to Portland Int'l (PDX), OR. On August 4, flights will begin to Rapid City (RAP), SD -

Allegiant announces two new direct flights out of Ford Airport
13 On Your Side Staff
February 9, 2021

About a month after this announcement, Allegiant announced (just last week) that they will also begin offering new routes to Boston, MA and Destin, FL -

Allegiant announces two new nonstop flights from Gerald R. Ford International Airport
Fox 17 Staff
March 5, 2021

All of this news, on top of the fact that Gerald R. Ford was named Airport of the Year on February 18. According to this article below -

...the airport was recognized for its “outstanding contribution and sustained excellence toward aviation progress in Michigan.” Richardson and staff were also praised for the ongoing “Project Elevate” airport expansion and “environmental stewardship.”

Grand Rapids airport awarded Airport of the Year by state transportation department
Michael Kransz | MLive
February 22, 2021

I'm especially excited for the affordable one-ways to Boston. It's a city I've never been to and always wanted to visit. It's encouraging to see GRR regaining the momentum that was stymied by COVID-19 last year. The airport was on-track to once again see its busiest-ever year in passenger traffic before March of 2020. Its passenger volume grew for 7 consecutive years from 2013 - 2019, with a record ~ 3.6 million passengers in 2019 (a 10% increase from 2018).. While they probably won't crack that record this year, maybe it could happen in 2022.

[A Chicagoan]

Originally Posted by deja vu

^ Thanks for the new desktop background

You're welcome! Also, since I live in Boston, it's very cool that we will be getting flights to Grand Rapids.

[deja vu]

Calvin University broke ground last week on its new Business School. The School of Business intents to expand its programs by offering a new Master of Business Administration degree. The $11.25 million construction project will create a 15,000 SF building that will be connected to the DeVos Communication Center (on the east side of E Beltline Ave SE). It is scheduled to be open in time for the Fall 2022 semester. Architect is GMB, CM is GDK Construction -

Breaking Ground, Sharing Vision for School of Business
Matt Kucinski | Calvin University
March 5, 2021

Source: Calvin University | Courtesy GMB


Source: Calvin University | Courtesy GMB

[deja vu]

Infrastructure work related to the future vision for the Market Ave SW corridor redevelopment is scheduled to start in April. Although the redevelopment plans are still very nascent, it is a known fact that a primary sewer trunk line will need to be re-routed, regardless of what ultimately gets constructed. It's a big undertaking in its own right - an $8 million, multi-phase project expected to take at least one year to complete -

GR sewer relocation project starting next month to fuel Market Avenue redevelopment
Kate Carlson | MiBiz
March 10, 2021

[deja vu]

Grand Rapids -

Potentially a lot of units could be coming to the Heartside / Roosevelt Park neighborhoods, in the form of this proposed redevelopment of the former Sligh Furniture Co. complex, at 446 Grandville Ave. SW -

Massive mixed-use redevelopment planned for Sligh Furniture Co. building in GR
Kate Carlson | MiBiz
March 16, 2021

GRAND RAPIDS — A Detroit-based real estate development firm plans to renovate the historic Sligh Furniture Co. building to create 753 housing units and 22,647 square feet of ground floor retail space. Sturgeon Bay Partners is planning to redevelop the former furniture building at 446 Grandville Ave. SW — just south of Wealthy Street SW near downtown Grand Rapids — and demolish several surrounding buildings. Multiple new structures are also planned as part of the massive project covering a city block in the Roosevelt Park Neighborhood. The project would be adjacent to U.S.-131 and the Grand Rapids Ballet...

Source: MiBiz | Courtesy Photo

[deja vu]

Grand Rapids -

The Morton Hotel officially reopened on Monday, after being remodeled to reflect the "Bauhaus-style" with mid-century theming. The small hotel at 55 Ionia Ave. NW (close to the newly-finished Residence Inn) has 25 rooms and it is (super) dog-friendly -

Dog-friendly Morton Hotel to open in downtown Grand Rapids
Danielle Nelson | GRBJ
March 10, 2021

Source: GRBJ




Source: LinkedIn | Grand Rapids Chamber

[deja vu]

Grand Rapids -

Super-exciting news - proposed changes are FINALLY (fingers crossed) coming to Lyon Square this summer after several years (or rather, decades) of planning. The design draws inspiration from the river, the city's bridges, and the context of the existing buildings that surround the square. It will feature an outdoor fireplace, canopies (both constructed & naturally created by trees), a, prominent overlook on the river, and some intriguing night lighting. One thing it does not feature, which prior iterations did, was access to the river. This is addressed in the discussion below, and it is primarily due to the challenges of constructing anything within the flood plane. The discussion is that it is still a priority and could perhaps be added in a later phase, or addressed at other riverfront sites that are more accessible, depending on when the river restoration work ramps up. Progressive AE is leading the design effort. You can watch the entire recent design presentation that Progressive AE gave to DGRI on Youtube -

• Video Link






















Source: (all screen grabs from the above Youtube posting)

[deja vu]

Grand Rapids -

Lyon St. retail progress (w/ DeVos HQ in the background) -












Source: LinkedIn | DGRI

[deja vu]

Grand Rapids updates -

Amway Grand Plaza (photo from March 11) -


Source: Cookin_peacocks

Perrigo HQ work has started (photos from March 12) -


Source: Urban Planet | GR_Urbanist

Spectrum Health parking deck (photo from Friday) -


Source: Urban Planet | grandrollerz

MSU Innovation Building, now dubbed "Ovation Building" (photo from today) -


Source: TrueLook

[deja vu]

Grand Rapids -

Yet another new dispensary will be opening on the northwest side this June. JARS Cannabis has 5 other locations open in Michigan, with more planned -

New medical cannabis dispensary under construction in Grand Rapids
Kate Carlson | MiBiz
March 09, 2021 12:42pm

The reconstruction of Rosa Parks Circle is moving forward this year. The bidding process wraps up this month, with construction scheduled to begin by May. Granger will lead the construction effort. From Rosa Parks Circle's website,

..This project touches many different parts of the property including upgrades to the current restroom and services building, band shell enhancements, site lighting improvements, replacement of the current built in seating with new granite slabs, upgraded walking paths and maintenance of the existing pools and fountains...

Ada -

A unique silo addition to American National Foods' space in Ada -


Source: LinkedIn | First Companies, Inc.

[deja vu]

Grand Rapids -

I'm digging the new lighting & the artwork in the alleyway off Sheldon Blvd. The mural was painted last year by local artist Alan Compo, and the lighting was just recently installed. Additional improvements are still in the works -












Source: LinkedIn | DGRI

[deja vu]

Ada -

(sc)Amway just announced 900 layoffs, mostly in Ada (with some others in Buena Park, CA). The layoffs will be carried out mostly through voluntary separation plans throughout 2021 and into 2022. The company has about 15,000 employees globally, with about 3,000 of them concentrated in Ada. This article also mentions though that Amway plans to bring new employees to the area as it continues to bolster its nutrition & wellness market. It sounds like there will not be a big net change in the total number of manufacturing roles, just the kind of manufacturing they are doing there (so maybe it's mostly administrative layoffs?). I doubt there will be any visible implications to the ongoing build-out of the new Ada Village center, but it will be interesting to see if there's any adverse effects -

Amway announces 900 layoffs as part of restructuring plan
Rachel Watson | GRBJ
March 18, 2021

[deja vu]

Grand Rapids -

Many were predicting this, but it is now officially confirmed. "Wahlburgers" will open its first West Michigan location this summer inside the ground floor of the new Marriott Residence Inn. It think it is a great fit -

Wahlburgers to open downtown Grand Rapids location this summer
Rachel Watson | GRBJ
March 23, 2021

Ada -

Here are some progress photos of buildings B5 & B6 at Ada Village, from today -






Source: LinkedIn | First Companies, Inc.

[deja vu]

Grand Rapids -

In addition to projects in Kalamazoo and Middleville, the Michigan Strategic Fund just approved community revitalization funding for the 470 Market Ave. redevelopment. When complete, the repurposed industrial building will offer 173 new market-rate apartments, office space, a fitness center, and clubroom. Total capital investments are estimated at $31.2 million -

MSF approves support to strengthen Michigan’s talent pipeline, continue economic recovery with business growth, community revitalization projects
Kathleen Achtenberg | MEDC
March 23, 2021

Source: MEDC | Courtesy Hooker De Jong