It’s just a big pile of dirt and a flurry of excavating equipment now, but soon downtown Grand Rapids’ newest residential project will be rising from behind the construction fences and the old Junior Achievement building near Fulton and Division. Bordered by Sheldon Avenue on the east, Fulton on the north and the JA building on the west, the new building called Twenty Fulton East will rise just over 120 feet on the site of a former parking lot.
The 12-story tower is another project by Midland-based Brookstone Capital, owned by developer Karl Chew, which has created
a slew of residential projects in the downtown Grand Rapids area in the last 10 years. Many of these project have taken advantage of the state’s Low Income Housing Tax Credits program, which provides affordable housing at a certain percentage level below the median income. But Twenty Fulton East will provide a mixed-income approach, with 45 affordable LIHTC units and 45 market rate units: one of the first of its kind in downtown Grand Rapids. "Mixed-income developments and diversity are common elements in urban communities from coast to coast — New York, to Chicago, and Los Angeles," said representatives of Brookstone Capital back in 2013.
The new Diamond Place project at Diamond Avenue and Michigan Street also plans a similar approach to mixed housing. Much of the diversity in housing prices is being pushed by the recent city of Grand Rapids’
Great Housing Strategies.
“It’s exciting to see this project finally start to take shape,” Mayor Rosalynn Bliss said. “This development is important to the continued revitalization of the Heartside Neighborhood – and, when completed, will help to serve the critical housing needs in our core city."
“The balance of affordable workforce housing and market-rate housing in this project is among the recommendations set forth in our community’s Great Housing Strategies,” Bliss said. "This commitment to providing housing that is affordable for all income levels in our downtown is commendable and needs to be replicated by other developers.”
Twenty Fulton East will contain about 10,000 square feet of ground floor retail, which city leaders hope will provide another link in the downtown retail chain that extends along Monroe Center, Fulton Street and South Division Avenue. Already the corner has experienced a resurgence in new life in previously underutilized spaces recently, including Villa Footwear, Brother’s Leather Supply Co, Bold Socks, Tower Pinkster Titus, Osteria Rossa, Kendall College’s Architecture program, the remake of Monument Park, 616 Development’s Kendall building makeover, and Reynold’ Sports renovation project.
The $42 million project seemed to stall after it was first announced back in 2013. Shortly after the first renderings were released, the project was postponed after it failed to get the tax credits from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority. It was revived in the fall of 2014 after MSHDA approved the LIHTC request. Other hiccups along the way included the need to
vacate the old “Hastings Road” right-of-way that cut across the property, and a switch of architecture firms from locally-owned ProgressiveAE to Pappageorge Haymes out of Chicago. Pappageorge Haymes remains the architecture firm, and the general contractor is Pioneer Construction.
Twenty Fulton East is expected to take 18 to 20 months to complete.
Jeff Hill is the former Publisher of Rapid Growth Media, and now works in the residential construction and development industry.
Photos by Jeff Hill; renderings courtesy of the City of Grand Rapids.
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