LINC Community Revitalization, Inc. might be busily wrapping up construction of nine affordable-rate townhomes and prepping to break ground on seven more yet this year, but that seems to be just the steam behind the momentum for the group's next aggressive project -- a $10 million residential and commercial development in the heart of the Madison Square neighborhood.
LINC landed $9 million in
Low-Income Housing Tax Credit funds from the state, and will use that money to redevelop the property at 413 Hall St. SE (formerly TJ's Appliance) into a four-story building with 24 apartments and 6,000 square feet of storefront commercial space. The property is just one building east of the intersection of Hall and Madison Avenue SE, the core of the neighborhood's business district.
In addition, 20 townhouses with attached garages are part of the plan, encompassing four obsolete properties in the 400-500 block of Gilbert St. SE and one at 443 Umatilla St. SE.
Vacant buildings on the properties will be razed, making way for energy-efficient structures for residents and business owners looking for a storefront location, says Stephanie Gingerich, LINC real estate development director.
"Having that huge new building right there at the intersection will create new energy and new vibrancy," Gingerich says. "People who work in the neighborhood will have an opportunity to rent decent housing right in the neighborhood. We've estimated that having the new retail spaces will create 30 jobs. It's about breathing new life and energy into the major corridor in the neighborhood on the southeast side of Grand Rapids."
Twenty-one of the apartments will be one and two bedrooms; the rest will offer three bedrooms. Gingerich says smaller apartments are in demand and LINC is listening to the neighborhood's needs.
Madison Square is about two miles from the core city, with new bike lanes along Hall St. connecting cyclists with Division Avenue and downtown.
Construction will begin in March 2013 with a Dec. 2013 completion.
Source: Stephanie Gingerich, LINC Community Revitalization, Inc.; Tyler Lecceadone,
SeyferthPR
Writer: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor
Related Articles
LINC to break ground on $1M apartment development in Grand Rapids' Madison Square
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.