Green Building

29 LEED Townhomes proposed for Grand Rapids’ Madison Square neighborhood

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April 14, 2011

Representatives from LINC Community Revitalization will go in front of the City of Grand Rapids April 14 to request approval for 29 townhomes in the city's Madison Square neighborhood.LINC, formerly Lighthouse Communities, will present its plan for the modern multi-family units, which would be located on nine parcels on four streets near the intersection of Madison Avenue SE and Hall St. SE. The city has already approved development of a tenth parcel on Prospect SE. The proposal is part of the community development organization's $10 million plan to develop 55 residential units in the area. An additional 21 units will be located at 413 Hall, in the planned Southtown Square mixed-use development. The plan for the nine Madison Square units includes replacing aging multi-family buildings with the new, modern townhomes. Some of the structures that will be torn down are already vacant, while others are occupied. LINC Co-Executive Director Jeremy DeRoo says current homeowners will not be displaced, but will have the option to move into the new units. Rent for the townhomes will retain the current rental rates of $500 to $725, and Section 8 assistance will be available to low-income tenants. "The goal is to provide high quality, affordable housing in the neighborhood," says DeRoo. All units will be LEED certified, with two to four bedrooms and at least two bathrooms. DeRoo says the project has been well received in the neighborhood, with a petition for the project garnering more than 120 signatures. "The [housing] design is more modern than is typically seen in the area," says DeRoo. "There is room and a desire for improving the diversity of housing." The first phase of construction, slated to begin in June, will involve tearing down three parcels that are contaminated and boarded up.Source: Jeremy DeRoo, LINC Community RevitalizationWriter: Kelly QuintanillaRelated Articles: Grassroots Upstart Lighthouse Communities Becomes LINC with New Plans, New Tools

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Grand Rapids’ Heartside attracts another $17M in medical development

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March 3, 2011

Grand Rapids' Heartside is bursting with medical development and another new $17 million project will sprout some major structural steel soon. Directly across the street from the new $60 million Hauenstein Center at Saint Mary's, a half block from the $7 million American Cancer Society's Hope Lodge and a short walk from the soon-to-be $30 million Heart of the City Health Center, rises a 50,000-square-foot addition to the building known as 245 Cherry -- a physician-owned structure that will more than double in size. Highpoint Real Estate & Development is developing the expansion in partnership with Saint Mary's Health Care and Advantage Health Physician Network, says Brian Sikma, a partner in Highpoint. "This will bring into Grand Rapids more (healthcare) services that are now outside the city," Sikma says. "It's part of Saint Mary's commitment to Grand Rapids. They're creating a very nice walkable campus. Good health care and primary care is great for the community, and the investment in the Cherry Street district and what the Catholic diocese is doing at Cathedral Square is going to be really cool."Advantage Health's Jefferson Avenue and State St. offices will move into the new structure, as well as lab services and rehabilitation services. Some of the physicians' offices in the current building will relocate and their spaces will be remodeled for new tenants, including Advantage Health's Weigh to Wellness program, which is relocating from the East Beltline soon, says Sikma. "The building will have some of the same design elements as Advantage Health's Southwest and Caledonia offices, like the cylindrical glass lobby," Sikma says. "We'll build it using sustainable practices, but we're not going through the expense of LEED certification."Integrated Architecture designed the addition. Elzinga & Volkers are the construction managers. Sikma expects the addition to open in February 2012.Source: Brian Sikma, High Point Real Estate & DevelopmentWriter: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor

Catherine’s Health Center cuts ribbon on new $1.2M HQ in Grand Rapids’ Creston neighborhood

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February 17, 2011

When Catherine's Health Center had the opportunity to relocate from its cramped 1,200 square feet in the basement of St. Alphonsus Church to three times the space in a LEED-certified property, it was all systems go. On Feb. 14, the free health clinic celebrated its 15-year anniversary with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new digs in the former St. Alphonsus Elementary School (1211 Lafayette Ave. NE, Grand Rapids). The center offers no-cost healthcare to Creston and Belknap residents who are uninsured and underinsured. When operating at full capacity, the new 6,800-square-foot center will be able to serve 1,200 to 1,500 patients a month -- an increase of 700 to 1,100 patients per month, says Development Director Janet Zahn."We have six exam rooms, plus two treatment rooms for additional services we'll soon offer," Zahn says. "For instance, we're working on an agreement to bring in optical services for diabetic patients that need dilated-eye exams, and we'll also have room for the rotation of different providers like physical therapists, podiatry and therapeutic massage. We're still forming the relationships and the plans are in the making."A capital campaign to raise $1.275 million came in over goal at $1.4 million, instead, Zahn says. Some $200,000 of that is earmarked as "cushion" funding to cover the increase in operating expenses over the health center's first two years. "Inside, the colors are soothing, the furnishings are beautiful," Zahn says. "We're excited to be able to offer our clients the beauty of this place as well as the expanded room."Catherine's Health Center is open Mon., Tues. and Thurs. 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Weds. 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.Source: Janet Zahn, Catherine's Health CenterWriter: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News EditorRelated ArticlesCatherine's Health Center expansion to make room for more doctors, patients in Grand Rapids

Projects and passion drives success for local architecture firm, Integrated Architecture

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February 3, 2011

Integrated Architecture (IA) has been selected to design Gordon Food Service's new Wyoming, MI headquarters building. The 382,000 sq. foot facility will be the home to over 1,000 employees and will be designed to enhance productivity and inspire innovation. The GFS project is one of several that is keeping IA busy and growing according to Mike Corby, FAIA Executive VP. The increased workload has led to several recent hires, "mostly professionals, engineers, architects and designers," and the firm is still in need of a few more designers. Corby cites IA's reputation as an award-winning, sustainable design firm as one the keys to attracting talent to West Michigan. "We look for designers who are very passionate about their work and love what they do," he says. Corby elaborates, saying that IA is very finicky when recruiting talent. More specifically, he says they look for "professionals with similar passion and a strong focus on design based on user experience and what makes people more productive -- not just doing interesting architecture, but what makes the experience better for the user." To learn more about IA, you can visit their website here. Source: Mike Corby Integrated Architecture Writer: John Rumery, Innovation and Jobs editor

$30M Heart of the City Health Center on track to serve 27,000 patients in Grand Rapids’ urban core

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December 16, 2010

Construction of Grand Rapids' $30 million Heart of the City Health Center is on schedule to serve an estimated 27,000 patients annually, beginning in August 2011. A project of Cherry Street Health Services, Proaction Behavioral Health Alliance and Touchstone Innovaré, the center will provide low-income patients with one-stop access to complete medical and mental health services. After demolition of several buildings on the corner of Cherry and Sheldon streets SE, excavators removed 100,000 cubic feet of fill to make way for two levels of underground parking. Crews temporarily diverted the ground water flowing through the site using a dewatering system until they completed installation of the 22- and 32-foot-deep foundation system. The foundation concrete contains Xypex and the rebar is epoxy coated -- waterproofing features that keep the material from degrading."Every downtown project is unique because you're limited on deliveries and staging because of the surroundings," says Justin Bialik, project manager for Pioneer Construction. Bialik has worked on urban medical construction that includes Spectrum Health and Pine Rest facilities. "We saved about two months off the project by using precast for the parking structure, which is a new product in this area," he adds.Bialik says the 430-space parking structure is 80 percent complete, and the two-level healthcare facility that sits atop it will soon sport exterior walls with façade surfaces of stone, metal panels and a glass curtain wall. To qualify for the projected LEED Silver certification, the project includes a white roof system to reflect summer heat, five inches of insulation rather than the usual three, and in-floor heating in a 10-foot-wide perimeter of the building, which Bialik says will increase heating efficiency by 20 to 30 percent. Besides the three partners, the complex -- bounded by Sheldon Avenue (west), Cherry St. (north), LaGrave Avenue (east) and the Grand Rapids Catholic Diocese (south) -- will house a number of nonprofit healthcare providers, including Grand Rapids Pediatrics and the Ferguson Adult Center.Source: Justin Bialik, Pioneer Construction; Heart of the City Health Center web siteWriter: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News EditorRelated ArticlesHeartside's $30M Heart of the City Health Center breaks ground on national healthcare model

American Seating’s new innovation helps customers become LEED certified

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December 9, 2010

In the fixed-seating sector of the furniture industry, American Seating is "ahead of the curve," according to Deb McDermott, VP of marketing and business development. After a year of development, American Seating became the first North American fixed-seating manufacturer to produce chairs with curved plywood backs that are not only Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified, but also contain no added urea formaldehyde (NAUF). McDermott says that "curved plywood has been a challenge for furniture makers" because plywood backs require a strong adhesive to hold their original shape. For years, glues containing added-urea-formaldehyde resins have been used to fill the need for this strong adhesive. After new NAUF glues were developed, American Seating began testing them and quickly found them to be an effective solution to the challenges they were facing in the manufacturing process. With the addition of this new innovation, American Seating is able to help their customers in the LEED certification process. Currently, American Seating NAUF curved plywood-back products have been installed at Wyoming National Guard headquarters, Tryon Palace in New Bern, N.C. and Brocade in San Jose, CA. Source: Deb McDermott, American Seating, VP of marketing and business development Writer: John Rumery, Innovation and Jobs Editor.

$70M high-tech library on track for Grand Valley State University’s Allendale campus

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Development

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November 18, 2010

It's reported to be the most technologically advanced building on Grand Valley State University's Allendale campus and features an automated storage retrieval system (ASRS) that enables the school to house tens of thousands of books in a fraction of the space required by traditional library shelving. Construction on the $70 million Mary Idema Pew Library Learning and Information Commons begins May 5, 2011, and project leaders at Pioneer Construction are in the throes of wrapping up subcontractor vetting for the proposed LEED-NC Platinum facility. The 153,000-square-foot library features faculty suites, student collaboration areas, a café and a quiet reading room and reading hearth that will overlook the campus clock tower, ravine and central campus. Visitors enter through a multi-level atrium with a glass curtain wall and a soaring 62-foot-high ceiling. "The ASRS allows the library to store thousands of books in bin-type storage," says Scott Veine, Pioneer's project manager. "Students go to a computer and type in book they want, then the automated crane retrieves the bin and brings it to the user."Pioneer has narrowed the ASRS search down to two West Michigan manufacturers, but has yet to decide. The company will soon make final decisions on LEED-centric materials such as natural quartzite stone, low VOC paints and glues, Vision Wall systems and furniture, carpet and structural steel with recycled content. Veine was Pioneer's project manager for GVSU's John C. Kennedy Hall of Engineering (LEED certified) on its Grand Rapids Pew Campus, and has worked on other GVSU construction projects for the past six years. "I truly believe the library is going to be the premier building on the Allendale campus," Veine says. "Grand Valley builds for the next 30 and 60 and 90 years, and for my team to fall into that philosophy of campus development means this is going to be our capstone project for sure."Experience a virtual tour of the library here.SHW Group is the project architect.Source: Scott Veine and Chris Beckering, Pioneer Construction; Mary Ann Holcomb, Grand Valley State UniversityWriter: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor

$5.5M LEED housing, commercial development proposed to spur growth in Grand Rapids’ Southtown

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November 11, 2010

Five years ago a neighborhood charrette called for the creation of quality housing and commercial development in Grand Rapids' Madison Square business district, part of a greater Southtown objective that includes revitalization of business districts at Franklin and Hall streets and S. Division Avenue. Now, after tens of millions of dollars in public and private investments in infrastructure, streets and lighting, new townhomes, commercial spaces, and the Lighthouse Communities Development Center (1167 Madison Ave. SE), nonprofit Lighthouse Communities, Inc. plans to continue the vision with Southtown Square, a proposed $5.5 million LEED-certified development. Lighthouse has an option to buy the former TJ's Appliance Store (413 Hall St. SE), across from Duthler's Family Foods. The plan is to raze it and construct a four-story mixed use building with 6,600 square feet of commercial space on the main level and 21 affordable-rate apartments above. "What makes this exciting is that it's not a stand-alone project, but it's connected to the development of the entire neighborhood," says Jeremy DeRoo, Lighthouse co-director with Darel Ross. "We will have approximately 20 percent of each new commercial development devoted as incubator space for startup retail or services businesses that can function within the district long-term," Ross adds. The incubators include access to free or discounted business services such as attorneys, insurance agents and accountants, and qualify for training and business plan development through Lighthouse Communities, Ross says. "We will close on the property once the state approves our application for low-income housing tax credits, which represent over 50 percent of the funding," DeRoo says. "I'm hopeful those will be approved within the next 30 days. If we're not selected, there will be another round for applications and we'll move up the line for approval."DeRoo says Lighthouse has applied for Brownfield Redevelopment tax credits for remediation of chemical contaminants from a former dry cleaner on the property. The architect for the project is Grand Rapids-based Isaac V. Norris & Associates.Source: Jeremy DeRoo and Darel Ross, Lighthouse Communities, Inc.Writer: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News EditorRelated ArticlesLighthouse Communities' $1.7M development center brings co-working to Grand Rapids' Madison SquareMadison Square lands CID, stakeholders aim to attract new businesses to continue revitalizationMadison Square plans for parks, walking, and new business

The Rapid transit continues down the road to ‘green’ with $32M LEED expansion in Grand Rapids

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October 28, 2010

After opening the nation's first LEED-certified public transit station in 2004 and introducing Grand Rapids' first hybrid electric bus in 2004, The Rapid continues on its route to creating a greener city with its plan for LEED certification of a $32 million expansion of its Wealthy Operations Center.The operations center (333 Wealthy St. SW) is the hub for all maintenance of the bus fleet as well as the operations administrative offices. Green features of the 80,000-square-foot addition include access to natural light to reduce electricity, a green roof on a portion of the building and the addition of a half-dozen wind turbines to supply some of the facility's electrical needs. "Virtually all vehicle maintenance is done here, so we're expanding the number of (service) bays so we can work on more busses at one time," says Brian Pouget, operations director. "We're doubling the size of the bus storage area, which is the main impetus for the expansion. It was built in 1977 for 100 busses, but with 125 busses now, we've run out of space and we're looking to the future when we'll house 170."The operations administrative staff recently moved into the office portion of the new building while the remainder is still under construction. Large windows allow in natural light to reduce the staff's need to turn on electric lights and the windows provide a view of a courtyard outside the reception area. The facility includes a training room for new bus drivers and an employee fitness room with adjacent lockers and showers.The Christman Company is the construction manager. The building was designed by Progressive AE, who also designed The Rapid's Rapid Central Station.Source: Brian Pouget, The RapidWriter: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor

Grand Rapids’ All City Kicks kickin’ its heels over new name, new location, new sleek look

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Development News

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October 14, 2010

All City Kicks has sold some of the coolest urban apparel and athletic shoes in Grand Rapids for the past five years, making a name as one of the visionary businesses in the redevelopment of what was once a desolate and decaying South Division Avenue. And now, owners Edwin Viceroy and Jason Stewart are kickin' it up a notch with a chic new brand and name – ACK – and a move to Eastown. ACK opens October 18 in the LEED-certified Phoenix Building, 1500 Wealthy SE. The Phoenix replaced a building leveled by a gas explosion in 2008. "This being a brand new building, we felt like the feel needed to be different, to be more chic," says Stewart. "We drew a lot of inspiration from airports – moving forward, traveling, being fast-forward. I think it will be a real shocker for customers who came into the old store because the look is going to be vastly different."Stewart hired interior designer Julie Jensen and says she was an integral part of creating the store's signature design piece – the visual work Stewart calls "the number one secret in the store," the…the…thing that is still a secret. Stewart says folks will need to stop by to see how ACK used the airport motif and different time zones to "make note of Grand Rapids as being an important place within this world."The store will still carry its high-end, eye-catching shoes and streetwear by Nike, Adidas, Creative Recreation, Crooks & Castles and 10Deep plus some new lines – Converse, Pro/Keds and Generic Surplus. "When I think about our store, I like to think of it as a lifestyle and a culture," Stewart says. "It's more than a customer coming in and looking for a particular product. We look at it as camaraderie; people come in and watch a game and talk music or art or sports. It's a place to be a part of, within the culture of all those things."Source: Jason Stewart, ACKWriter: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News EditorRelated ArticlesGrand Rapids mixed-use development brings new life to Eastown lot left vacant after explosion