Lots of news coming out of Grand Rapids in the past few days:
Arena Place
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Major tenants named for $28 million office and residential project going up next to Van Andel Arena
Jim Harger | July 23, 2013
GRAND RAPIDS, MI –Hanon McKendry, an advertising and public relations firm and Mindscape, a related web marketing firm, will be a major tenant in Arena Place, a $28 million office and apartment building being built west of the Van Andel Arena, its developers announced Tuesday, July 23.
The five-story building also is likely to house a restaurant and corporate headquarters for Meritage Hospitality Group, a Grand Rapids Township company that operates 113 restaurants in six states, according to Orion Construction, the building’s developer.
The 5,800-square foot restaurant will face the corner of Weston Street and Ottawa Avenue SW. Meritage, which operates the Twisted Rooster and Crooked Goose restaurants locally, said it plans a unique casual dining restaurant featuring “fresh seasonal American fare.”
In addition to offices for Hanon McKendry and Meritage, the office building also will include top-floor conference rooms that will be shared by tenants and available for entertainment and social functions in the evening.
At the south end of the building, the ground floor space will be available for retail while the top four levels will include 75 residential units – 63 of which will rent at market rates with 12 condominiums on the top floor.
The apartments will be split into studio, one bedroom and two-bedroom units that are likely to rent for about $2 per square foot, said John Wheeler, Orion’s director of business development. The condominiums are likely to sell in the mid-$300,000 range, he said.
The LEED-certified project will include a 75-space underground parking ramp beneath the five floors above ground. The project also will include 35 surface-level parking spaces along the west side of the building.
The land was optioned to Orion in May by the Downtown Development Authority, which operates a 110-space parking lot on the site. Orion agreed to buy the property for $2.5 million.
Groundbreaking is scheduled for December with completion scheduled for the spring of 2015, according to Orion officials. Wheeler said the private financing is in place for the project. They are still pursuing Brownfield tax credits that are available for the project.
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http://www.mlive.com/business/west-m...l#incart_river
The renderings don't make quite the same impact as the previous ones had, but the building still looks good, IMO.
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Developer wants to revive 123-year-old furniture factory for housing near Downtown Market
Jim Harger | July 23, 2013
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The former Klingman’s warehouse and furniture factory across Ionia Avenue SW from the city’s new Downtown Market may see new life as an 83-unit apartment building.
City commissioners on Tuesday gave their blessing to a developer who plans to break the 123-year-old building into two condominium units in an effort to quality for state-issued low income housing tax credits.
The city’s commitment to accept 4 percent of the project’s rent in lieu of property taxes gives developer Michael Jacobson the entry point he needs to seek the state tax credits for the $32 million project.
By creating two units and two partnerships, Jacobson’s LC Consultants LLC hopes to finance the project by obtaining $13.5 million in low income tax credits for each of the units plus state historic preservation tax credits of nearly $2.5 million for each of the units.
If he gets his financing, Jacobson will create 83 rent-restricted apartments with exposed ceilings, walk-in closets, individual air conditioning systems, dishwashers, appliances and washers and dryers in each unit.
Plans call for 78 parking spaces for residents and a community room with seating for 50 residents and guests. The project also will include 15,000 square feet of commercial space.
The Klingman’s Warehouse building had been owned by Dwelling Place, a non-profit housing developer that was given the building in 2008 after the furniture company closed its local operations.
Dwelling Place officials last year said they had no plans to redevelop the building themselves and put it on the market for $1.5 million last year.
Jacobson recently completed the Baker Lofts “affordable” housing project at 40 Logan Street SW, one block south of the Klingman’s building.
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http://www.mlive.com/business/west-m...l#incart_river
It would be create to see this property reactivated, but the area around downtown is starting to accumulate quite a substantial amount of low-income housing. Being next to the new Downtown Market, it would be nice to see these lofts be market-rate. I've also heard that the foundation has sunk some, so it will be interesting to see how that changes the plans.
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City green lights Rockford Construction’s housing project
David Czurak | July 19, 2013
Rockford Construction Co. has received approval from the city to go ahead with a new residential development on the west side of Grand Rapids, not far from downtown.
City and planning commissioners recently approved a zoning change for a $2.4 million project the building and development firm wants to construct on the southwest corner of Douglas Street and Seward Avenue NW.
The property, which is only a block south of the Bridge Street commercial district, has been vacant for about five years.
Prior to the zoning change, the city’s Brownfield Development Authority and City Commission agreed to designate the site a brownfield as a Part 201 facility, meaning its soil is contaminated. Rockford plans to spend $600,000 to remediate the property before construction begins.
The development calls for four residential buildings with a total of 18 market-rate rental units: 10 one-bedroom flats, six two-bedroom townhouses and two one-bedroom studios.
One building will offer four two-story townhouses. Another will have four one-bedroom apartments on each level of the two-story structure. A third building has three stories; there will be two one-bedroom units on the ground floor, and one townhouse each on the second and third levels. The ground floor of the fourth building will contain service areas, a community room and a covered patio that faces a common greenspace. Two studio apartments are planned for the second floor.
Jim Reminga of Rockford Construction told planners each unit will be built with similar amenities and finishes, and that the only real difference between the units is size. He said the greenspace the firm has set aside amounts to roughly 15 percent of the total site, which measures about four-tenths of an acre.
The development also will offer nine parking spaces and will add new curbs, gutters, sidewalks and landscaping to the property. Integrated Architecture designed the project.
Kurt Hassberger, president of Rockford Development Group, told planners the firm has acquired a number of properties in the area and is making an effort to transform the sector in ways that will benefit everyone. The construction company’s headquarters is going up at First Street and Seward Avenue NW, just a few blocks north of the residential development.
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http://www.grbj.com/articles/77371-c...ousing-project
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