Construction on new Michigan Mile 44-unit Midtown CityZen

With pre-leasing activities expected to begin soon, work is underway for Third Coast Development’s new four-story, 44-unit housing complex located at 637 Michigan Street.

TCD recently finalized financing for the new project, called Midtown CityZen, and Independent Bank and construction crews are now excavating recently demolished land to create the 40,000-square-foot building foundation. 

While the entirety of the building's 3,500-square-foot ground floor is allocated for a new restaurant that will open in fall of 2018, the remaining three floors will offer 44 residential unites priced as “affordable to individuals and families making 80 percent of the area median income.” 

“We are very familiar with the diverse demographic that works and plays along the Michigan Street Corridor, so we are trying to be intentional in providing residential options, so those individuals can also afford to live in this corridor,” says Third Coast Development Partner David Levitt.

The project was made possible in collaboration with the non-profit Lansing-based Michigan Community Capital, a community development corporation supported in part by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation through a $10 million loan facility designed to target residential development across the state to meet the needs of individuals and families making 61 to 120 percent of AMI.

While MCC has, in the past, participated in other Grand Rapids area projects through collaboration in New Markets Tax Credit—projects like the Inner City Christian Federation’s 920 Cherry Street headquarters and the Bicycle Factory—Midtown CityZen represents what MCC President Eric Hanna calls its first “ground-up” investment, accomplished without tax credits utilizing low cost equity processes. 

“We are excited to join Third Coast Development at the onset of this project and assist in bringing quality housing to hard-working individuals and families who otherwise may not be able to afford to reside in a near-downtown setting such as CityZen,” Hanna says. 

For more information on the new Midtown CityZen, visit www.thirdcoastdevelopment.com. 

Written by Anya Zentmeyer, Development News Editor
Images courtesy of Third Coast Development