Quiz time: What do the following pieces of Grand Rapids history have in common: a hydroelectric plant, a thriving industry corridor, and an entrepreneurial spirit?
Hint: The year was 1866.
Answer: The West Side
A hydroelectric plant on the west side? In 1866? Who’s kidding who? But it’s true.
In 1866, William Powers dredged nearly a mile of his riverfront property between Fulton Street and 7th. He also narrowed the Grand River in that same area. Then he built the West Side Power Canal to produce electricity that would run machinery for factories. The only problem was there weren’t many factories.
Not to worry. If you build it, they will come.
Powers built it, and they came. All sorts of industries: a planing mill, a casket company, a flour mill, a brush company, and a sash and door factory for the burgeoning construction business in a city that was growing by leaps and bounds.
Three years later, so many factories lined Front Street they required two railroad tracks to get the supplies and products in and out. The streets bustled with streetcars, workers, shoppers, and families.
Today, the three business districts of the West Side—Stockbridge, West Leonard, and West Fulton—are gaining new energy from another major, visionary investment: the expansion of Grand Valley State University's downtown campus. Civic leaders are building it, and a whole new wave of residents, residential opportunities, and businesses are coming.
The West Side is bounded by Leonard to the north, the Grand River to the east, Fulton to the south, and John Ball Park to the west. Grand Valley State University’s Pew Campus anchors the southeast corner.
“With the expansion of Grand Valley State University, there were plans to put dorms in nearby,” says Dave Reinert. It was 2001, and he and his twin brother, Paul, were thinking about buying a west side dance club.
“We were 24,” Reinert says, “and we felt like Bridge Street would be a perfect place to target the college market. All we knew was that the student housing was coming. The American Seating Park was being talked about, and there was some speculation about what Bob Israels was going to do on Seward Street with his business and condos. It seemed like a good place for us to be for the future.”
The brothers bought Monte’s, a dance club and bar, and opened it in November 2001. The following November, they bought O’Toole’s Public House, a traditional pub.
“We get a ton of college kids down here.” Reinert says. “At O’Toole’s, they are 30% of our business; at Monte’s, they’re 50%. The rest of the clientele consists of young professionals who want something to do after work.”
An Emerging Opportunity
The Reinert brothers anticipate an increase in business when the nearby condominium projects are completed. “We’re excited about RiverHouse at Bridgewater Place,” Reinert says. “That project is bringing a different demographic to the west side: people who will want to go out and do things nightly, and that will make the city more active and a more fun place to be. And we’re definitely excited about Union Square.”
Union Square Condominiums recently opened within the former Union High School, where 240,000 square feet of empty schoolrooms were transformed into 155 condominiums and 25 rooftop penthouses. The building also offers a sleak rooftop swimming pool and Jacuzzi, as well as a restaurant/bar/coffee shop/grocery in the former auditorium.
“This is an emerging neighborhood,” says Jon Rooks, owner of Parkland Properties, the marketing agent for Union Square and the Condominiums at Boardwalk in the Belknap-Monroe North neighborhood across the river. “North Monroe is five years ahead of the west side, but the west side has a lot going on. Within ten blocks, there’s $100 million worth of redevelopment, and most of it is the renovation of cool old buildings.”
Union Square is designated as a Renaissance Zone, a Neighborhood Enterprise Zone, and a Community Reinvestment Zone, ensuring future residents of tax breaks for decades.
A few blocks north is another Renaissance Zone at the American Seating Park, where developers transformed the old American Seating factory into 89 apartments and an attached office park have. Once a blighted warehouse, the office park now houses businesses such as PPOM, Mills Benefit Group LLC, Axios, Inc., Michigan Design Resources, Inc., ConAgra Foods, Invention Perfection, and Storytelling Pictures, all of which draw employees, vendors, and clients to the area.
Nearby is another Renaissance Zone that will help bring new life to another obsolete American Seating factory. The owner, Bob Israels, grew up on the west side and has already renovated the nearby John Widdicomb Building for his wholesale furniture outlet, offices, and apartments.
The American Seating warehouse will include a 41,000 square foot showroom for Israels Other Store, which will be moved from its 446 Grandville Avenue location, and 26 apartments and condominiums that will be sold as live/work spaces. Floor space will range from 1,980 square feet to 7,800 square feet per residential unit and will be custom designed to fit the buyer’s needs. These developments are expected to bring housing, residents, and jobs to the area, as well as vendors, suppliers, and customers for the furniture stores.
Seeing Green
The Turner Gateway Project, after some seven years of planning, is now underway. After receiving a $100,000 state Cool Cities grant in 2005, the West Grand Neighborhood Organization has access to the Cool Cities Toolbox—an invaluable resource for possible future grants—as well as a guarantee of preference when being considered for those grants. As a result, the WGNO received a MDOT Transportation Enhancement Grant of $432,000 in June 2006.
“Out of the $100,000 Cool Cities grant, we’ve given out six façade improvement grants in the local business districts,” says Andrea Bardelmeier, Turner Gateway Project coordinator. “The grants varied, ranging from $750 up to $2000, and they leveraged about $50,000 of investment in the business district.”
Other grant monies were earmarked for streetscape improvements, including:
· Sidewalks
· Curb bump-outs
· Pedestrian-friendly lighting
· Crosswalks
· Improvements to the pedestrian underpass under US-131.
· “Greenings” in the form of flower gardens in designated areas along Turner Avenue
· $30,000 for grants to homeowners for residential façade improvements
· Two rain gardens, totaling 1,600 square feet, and a rain garden mural
Both the Cool Cities grant and the MDOT grant required local matching funds. “The matching monies for the MDOT grant came from Union Square Condominiums and the Urban Cooperation Board,” Bardelmeier says.
That money is funding the development of the two rain gardens and the mural, which is taking shape on the south and east sides of Union Square Condominiums.
“The rain gardens are good for the neighborhood, good for the environs, and I have to admit they’re good for our project,” says Jon Rooks. “It’s a great way to dress up those two sides of the building.”
If you build it, they will come.
If that continues to hold true for the West Side, the “green” that grows won’t be just in the gardens.
For more information about the West Side visit the Rapid Growth:
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Moving Guide
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Visiting Guide
Directions to the West Side
From the North:
Take US-131 South toward Grand Rapids and take Exit 85B toward Pearl St/Downtown. Stay straight to go onto Mt. Vernon Ave NW and turn right onto Pearl St NW. Pearl St NW becomes Lake Michigan Dr. NW. Arrive in the West Side.
From the East:
Take I-96 West toward Grand Rapids and then take I-196 West toward Downtown Grand Rapids/Holland. Merge onto US-131 South via Exit 77B on the Left toward Kalamazoo. Continue to Exit 85B toward Pearl St/Downtown. Stay straight to go onto Mt. Vernon Ave NW and turn right onto Pearl St NW. Pearl St NW becomes Lake Michigan Dr. NW. Arrive in the West Side.
From the South:
Take US-131 North toward Grand Rapids. Take Exit 85B for Pearl St and turn left onto Pearl St NW. Pearl St NW becomes Lake Michigan Dr. NW. Arrive in the West Side.
From the West:
Take I-196 East toward Grand Rapids and merge onto US-121 South via Exit 77B toward Kalamazoo. Take Exit 85B toward Pearl St/Downtown. Stay straight to go onto Mt. Vernon Ave NW and turn right onto Pearl St NW. Pearl St NW becomes Lake Michigan Dr. NW. Arrive in the West Side.
Take I-96 East toward Grand Rapids and merge onto US-131 South via Exit 31A toward Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo. Take Exit 85B toward Pearl St/Downtown. Stay straight to go onto Mt. Vernon Ave NW and turn right onto Pearl St NW. Pearl St NW becomes Lake Michigan Dr. NW. Arrive in the West Side.
Photographs by Brian Kelly - All Rights ReservedImages:
Aerial photo of Grand Valley State University - Grand Rapids Campus
O'Tooles Public House
Monte's
Aerial photo of Riverhouse under construction (September, 2007)
American Seating Park
Aerial photo of Union Square Condominiums