A project that's been just a dream since about 2007 to bring new housing options to Grand Rapids' Belknap Lookout neighborhood is finally underway.
Artesian Group, LLC, a developer located in the Belknap Lookout area (605 Livingston Ave. NE), announced plans this week to begin pre-sales of 13 new flats and townhomes slated to replace existing outdated rental housing stock on Fairview St. NE and Hastings Avenue NE.
The $5.2 million project includes Belknap Brownstones -- nine two- and three-bedroom apartments from 538 to 548 Fairview St. -- and four townhomes at 540 Fairview St. NE and 47-49 Hastings Ave. NE.
Grand Rapids real estate firm
Griffin Properties will pre-sell a specified number of the units (six brownstones, one townhome per duplex) to enable Artesian Group to move forward on financing and then construction, says Artesian Group Owner Angel Gonzalez. Gonzalez says he hopes to begin construction on the brownstones and/or the townhomes by spring 2013.
"We think there's a new market out there for new housing in the downtown Grand Rapids urban core," Gonzalez says. "This is a good time for Belknap Lookout; we haven't had much of an identity and we want people to know we're here and we're an option."
The neighborhood is just a stone's throw from Spectrum Health Butterworth, Helen DeVos Children's Hospital, Grand Valley State University's Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences, Van Andel Institute and the Lemmen-Holton Cancer Pavilion -- which employ thousands of medical workers, clinicians, medical researchers and instructors.
Belknap Brownstones will be four buildings with a total of nine flats ranging in size from 1,100 square feet to 2,300 square feet. Upper flats will have rear balconies with the Lookout view of the city; lower flats will have large windows and doors opening to a back yard patio and common green space. The brownstones will replace three existing rental homes that have a total of six units.
The townhomes will offer higher end finishes, Gonzalez says, and the Hastings St. units will have a rooftop deck overlooking the city. "You'll have panoramic views and you'll feel like you're sitting on top of the city," Gonzalez says.
Plans for another residential project in the 600 and 700 blocks of Livingston Avenue NE are also in process, but Gonzalez says no details are set.
For more information on the residences,
click here.
Source: Angel Gonzalez, Artesian Group, LLC; Griffin Properties
Writer: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor
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