A new $40 million high-rise apartment building and retail shops could soon replace an ugly parking lot on the corner of Division Avenue and Fulton Street -- downtown Grand Rapids' busiest corner and gateway to the city and entertainment district.
Midland-based Brookstone Capital, the company behind the multi-million-dollar developments of
Serrano Lofts,
Division Park Avenue Apartments,
Metropolitan Park Apartments, and others, has received Downtown Development Authority approval for a Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program to develop 108 new housing units in a 14-story tower at 20 E. Fulton, across from
The Grand Rapids Children's Museum. Some 9,000 square feet of the ground floor will be available for retail.
The project will divide the units into 54 market-rate apartments and 54 affordable-rate apartments to bring a mix of incomes to the neighborhood without the social stigma of setting the affordable apartments aside in a separate building.
"Mixed-income developments and diversity are common elements in urban communities from coast to coast -- New York, to Chicago, and Los Angeles," says Brookstone Capital in an email to Rapid Growth. "The community is served by integrating building design that does not distinguish market-rate units from affordable units by either appearance or amenities. Higher density developments offer the opportunity to attract retail/service businesses to locate within close proximity to the City Center, meeting [the needs of] a fast growing downtown population and its daytime workers."
Brookstone says the location is ideally situated on several transit routes, is just one block from a Bus Rapid Transit station, and is near the new bike lanes through the city center. The proposed building is just a short walk to restaurants, theaters, the library, the entertainment district, downtown employment, colleges, museums, and art galleries.
The Grand Rapids Planning Commission and the Grand Rapids City Commission still need to approve the final plans before construction can commence. A groundbreaking date has not been set.
Architect:
Progressive AE
Source: Brookstone Capital
Writer: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor
Image courtesy of Brookstone Capital and Progressive AE
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