[JonathanGRR]

More apartments planned for Michigan Street:

New apartments and storefronts proposed near Michigan Street's Mid Towne Village
Jim Harger | June 5, 2014

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Third Coast Development is planning to demolish several buildings and build 24 new market rate apartments with ground floor restaurant space next to its Mid Towne Village project near Michigan Street and College Avenue NE.

The $5.1 million project would demolish a vacant two-story building at 555 Michigan St. NE and replace it with a new mixed-use building that would include ground-floor space for a restaurant and six market rate apartments.

On a vacant lot east of Union Avenue at 601 Michigan St. NE, Third Coast is planning to build a four-story building with 18 market rate apartments. The project will include 26-off street parking spaces.

Max Benedict, a partner with Third Coast, said they hope to break ground on the project after Sept. 1 if they can get state approval of low-interest loans or grants from the state’s Community Revitalization Program.

The project was approved for up to $475,750 in local tax breaks by the city’s Brownfield Redevelopment Authority on Thursday, June 5. The tax breaks can be used to help pay for the cleanup and demolition costs associated with the project.

“Third Coast Development is excited to bring this project before city and state officials for consideration. We are hopeful that all approvals will be met, as they have to date, and the project may proceed,” the developers said in a statement after the meeting.

The new buildings are next to the Mid Towne Village project that Third Coast began 12 years ago, when they bought up some 50 older homes north of Michigan Street and east of College Avenue. A spokesman said the new buildings are separate from the Mid Towne Village project.

After razing the homes in 2004 and building the Women’s Health Center, a condominium project and 545 Michigan St. NE, the project lay dormant until this spring, when Third Coast broke ground on a $28 million 142-room five-story hotel project.

The Hampton Inn and Suites hotel, which will include a 200-space parking deck, an indoor swimming pool and fitness center, is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2015.
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http://www.mlive.com/business/west-m...incart_m-rpt-2