Deborah Johnson WoodSeventeen years ago Grand Rapids-based Dwelling Place, Inc. purchased and renovated The Goodrich Apartments – 14 affordable apartments on S. Division Ave. just south of the Avenue for the Arts. A $3.1 million project to update the units and buildings broke ground this week. The apartments are in two circa 1890 structures constructed side by side at 333 and 339 South Division Ave. – the DelaMater Building and the Schuchardt Building, respectively. "This is not a gut rehab, but the apartments will have new appliances, new cupboards and hardwood floors throughout," says Jarrett DeWyse, director of housing development for Dwelling Place. "The buildings are long and narrow and some of the apartments are kind of dark. We're reconfiguring those apartments to have lower interior walls so natural light from the windows can travel deeper into those apartments." The apartments will get complete overhauls, including new bathrooms and some skylights. The shared spaces, such as hallways and stairwells, will be repainted and carpeted. The residents in the five occupied apartments at 339 S. Division agreed to a temporary "apartment swap" to the building next door. Once their apartments are renovated, the residents will move back in and work will begin on 333 S. Division. Dwelling Place waited for months for approval of historic preservation tax credits from the state of Michigan and the federal government. DeWyse says the approvals came through recently for nearly $2 million in tax credits. Dwelling Place has to prove that it fulfilled its promise to keep certain renovations historically accurate once the project is completed at the end of the year. "We can't remove the wood staircases, we have to replace windows with windows of similar construction, and we'll restore all the exterior cornices and window ledges," DeWyse says. The project also received $700,000 from the city of Grand Rapids, which Dwelling Place will repay after a 15-year compliance period, provided there is enough cash flow. Source: Jarrett DeWyse, Dwelling Place, Inc.Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Development News tips can be sent to [email protected].

Deborah Johnson WoodGrand Rapids artist Nathan Goddard says the daylight streaming through the east windows of his new studio space casts is just right for working with the earth-friendly materials he creates for his paintings. The studio and gallery space, nrg studio, occupies some 1,300 square feet of a former furniture factory at 445 Century Ave. SW. Goddard moved his work there in January because his home studio was no longer big enough to accommodate the larger pieces he wanted to create. "This is a space where I could work large and could have (art) workshops," Goddard says. He also needed more room for mixing his own materials for what he calls his Earth Paintings. "I make my own clay slips using clay earth I gather from places like the Grand River, West Virginia and Utah," he says. "I create my own pigment using soy resin as my binder, not using anything oil based. West Virginia and Utah clays have unique colors I haven't found elsewhere."Those colors include a particular red from Utah and a bright yellow-gold from West Virginia. The Grand River yields "dark brown, almost black, clay that fires to orange," Goddard says. Goddard's focus is on painting and landscapes, but he also does graphics design and 3-D work, such as the trophy design selected by ArtServe Michigan for the Guvvy Award, the Governor's Awards for Arts and Culture. In 2009, the Creston Public Art Project selected Goddard's mural Should Be Culture as one of two new public art murals in the Creston business district. nrg studio's grand opening is Friday, May 21 at 6 p.m. Goddard will showcase his work and work by his wife, Elizabeth Goddard. Source: Nathan Goddard, nrg studio Related Articles New murals mark Creston Neighborhood's commitment to public artDeborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Development News tips can be sent to [email protected].

As reported by Examiner.com, Grand Rapids has some 45 community gardens sprouting up around the city, and the longest-running of those has a record number of gardeners on a waiting list this year. That trend coincides with a national greening movement taking root in urban areas across the country. According to excerpts from the story:It was 9:00 p.m. before Norma Jansma, the volunteer coordinator for Hillcrest Community Gardens, had a moment to sit down and talk about the gardens this week. She and a handful of others from the garden committee had just finished the tedious job of marking 100+ garden plots with stakes and string. And, did I mention, she has a full-time day job too? Jansma, has played a key role in the year-to-year operations of the volunteer-based community garden for the past 8+ years. "It has become a lot more popular, says Jansma, "and Grand Rapids has taken an interest in organics and the environment. We have fifty people on the waiting list this year. Last year it was thirty. Three or four years ago you could have called me now and still gotten a plot."Read the complete story here.

A sustainability initiative from Grand Valley State University is taking applications until Friday for speakers for an upcoming event in October in Allendale that is a self-organized conference patterned after the TED conferences in California.

Deborah Johnson WoodByrne Electrical Specialists, Inc. enters the energy efficiency market in a big way with its recent acquisition of XUS Corporation, an innovator in municipal LED lighting solutions. Byrne has moved all manufacturing from XUS' Holland facility to Rockford and will create some 10 new jobs ranging from production team leaders to thermodynamics and optical assemblies engineers. Byrne Electrical Specialists provides power and data technology primarily to the furniture industry. Furniture makers embed the technology in desk tops, conference tables and other furniture items for the office market, says Mike Lomonaco, communications manager. The company's 200 employees operate two manufacturing facilities in Rockford. The company also has operations in Mexico and China, and owns Byrne Tool & Die, also in Rockford. "Our initial focus is tooling and manufacturing of municipal luminaires for roadways," says Rusty McBride, director of business development. "The city of Grand Rapids and city of Traverse City are already onboard with prototypes of XUS Roadway installed by XUS in both cities. What makes the product so unique is that it has passive and active cooling systems." McBride says the key to the success of LED, or solid state, lighting is the ability to keep the product from overheating; the cooler it operates, the longer it lasts. McBride says one XUS Roadway LED operates at 155 watts and lasts a minimum of 50,000 hours, whereas normal street lights operate at 250 watts and last about 30,000 hours. Byrne Electronics has prototyped and tested another four LED products and is nearly ready to begin production, McBride says. Those products are aimed at the parking garage, industrial low bay, farming and flood lighting markets. "This is the direction lighting is going," Lomonaco says. "We're looking to partner with municipalities and some of the universities to light downtowns and outdoor walkways. We're not just looking in North America for opportunities, we're looking globally."Source: Michael Lomonaco and Rusty McBride, Byrne Electrical Specialists, Inc.Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Development News tips can be sent to [email protected].

Grand Rapids will boast a new home for individuals with developmental disabilities this August, thanks primarily to the efforts of a Marne woman who saw a need in the community for special homes to house adults with special needs.

Deborah Johnson WoodThe rollers and berms on the pump track are in place, ready for the inaugural ride of Mayor George Heartwell during the Grand Rapids Bike Park grand opening Saturday, May 15. The mayor will lead his annual family-fun Mayor's Bike Ride after a morning of park cleanup by Friends of Grand Rapids Parks volunteers. The pump track, designed with mogul-like rollers, keeps a rider's momentum going without pedaling. But more than that, the track teaches balance and turning skills mountain bikers need to know, says Nate Phelps, president of the Michigan Mountain Biking Association. Phelps approached the city of Grand Rapids four years ago with the idea to create the urban bike park. The park, 580 Kirtland SW, is the only urban mountain bike park in the Midwest, Phelps says. Its design focuses on tracks and trails that help beginning mountain bikers learn basic skills and challenge experienced riders who want to build up speed and agility.Two additional tracks, The Bob Loop named after bike park volunteer Bob Zeilman and a beginner loop, are under construction but will have sections done for the grand opening for visitors to experience. "The Bob Loop is in the Plaster Creek riparian corridor, so we're making use of the unique terrain next to the creek," says Phelps. "The Bob Loop undulates with small climbs, but it's mostly about flow with big wide turns and a great line of sight with nothing hidden." Future plans include adding challenges like a mock log pile and stair steps, re"cycling" the concrete from the park's former baseball dugouts into raised tracks, and more riding loops. The grand opening celebration begins at 9 a.m. with a two-hour park cleanup open to anyone who wants to help (bring gloves), followed by a ribbon cutting at 11 a.m., the Mayor's Bike Ride and a ride down the Plaster Creek Trail. Source: Nate Phelps, Grand Rapids Bike Park and Michigan Mountain Biking Association Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Development News tips can be sent to [email protected].