New $53 million Brix at Midtown opens leasing for 287-unit Medical Mile apartments

Although it may be managed by Georgia-based real estate company RISE, The Brix at Midtown wants to try and keep things as local as possible to create a community in its new 287-unit apartment complex, located at 414 Benson Ave. NE on the corner of Michigan Street and Benson Avenue.

General Manager Angela Brookins says at The Brix’s new 627 Michigan St. leasing office, even the snacks and coffee are purchased from Grand Rapids retailers, like Ferris Nut Coffee & Nut.

“We really, really want to be a neighborhood — that’s a huge priority to us, being that we’re (based) out of Georgia,” says Brookings, who herself from the Grand Rapids area worked with RISE to bring in Grand Rapids-based Wolverine Building Group as project leads for construction and made a conscious effort to pay homage to Midtown’s history in the naming of the complex.

“It’s really important to us to be Grand Rapids based and use Grand Rapids products,” she says. “It ties back to the naming of The Brix and paying homage to Midtown’s history in the early 1900s.”

Taken from the word “brickyatt,” meaning brickyard in Dutch, The Brix is a nod to some of the Medical Mile’s residents at the turn of the 20th century — members of the Polish and Dutch communities who worked together to build up industry in what was then a still budding downtown center, which relied heavily upon the community’s brickyards to support growing demand for clay in the early 1900s.

With more floor plans to choose from than you even knew could exist in one place (28, to be exact) across a total of 287 one-, two-, and three-bedroom units, Brookings says apartments at The Brix afford individual tenants a little bit of customization, using smart design to utilize every inch of square footage in a way that makes sense from a practical standpoint.

“We have a one bedroom that actually has it where you come in and you have your living room, which flows into kitchen — it’s very open concept — and has a half-bath downstairs, but then at the back of the space, there’s a spiral staircase which leads to an upstairs loft with a full-size closet and a full bathroom,” she says.

However, regardless of floor plan, each unit at The Brix features private balcony access, grant counter tops, stainless steel appliances, a full size washer and dyer, and luxury designer cabinets and vinyl plank flooring.

Outside of each unit, list goes on with a roster of community amenities that include things like a gated off-street parking deck, a two-story fitness area and yoga studio, an indoor golf simulator, pet park and wash area, heated outdoor pool, bike storage and repair area, community fire pit, and a centrally located outdoor courtyard with a 6,000 square-feet of green space among them.

“Our amenities are going to be a big deal,” says Brookings, who thinks the emphasis on shared space is fitting for The Brix at Midtown’s larger mission of creating a real feeling of community in the downtown Grand Rapids neighborhood.

“We really want to be a part of Midtown…when you talk about Grand Rapids, you know where Eastown is, you know where Heritage Hill is, where the West Side is, downtown — I think Midtown is just an undiscovered neighborhood with a lot of potential,” she says.

To check out available floor plans or find more information on leasing, email [email protected] or visit The Brix at Midtown online.

Written by Anya Zentmeyer, Development News Editor
Images courtesy of The Brix at Midtown/RISE