Developer Plans 250-Unit Project For Grand Rapids’ Celebration Village

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Victory Development Group is planning a 250-unit mixed use project in Grand Rapids’ Celebration Village. The developer is seeking a planned redevelopment district amendment for Celebration Apartments, a mixed-use apartment project it is proposing. The Grand Rapids City Planning Commission will hear the request on January 12. Victory Development group will ask for a change in use or character of the development, an increase in residential density, and an increase to five stories from the maximum allowable building height of four stories. The project would be located on the only remaining vacant parcel in the Celebration Village commercial development. Victory Development Group is the firm behind the 280 Ann and Victory on Leonard apartment projects on Grand Rapids’ northwest side.

 

Michigan’s Residential Real Estate Market Is Stabilizing

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The 2023 real estate market is finally starting to look like it might normalize. Seasonality is back in the resale market, and rent increases and high supply costs have mostly stabilized. However, interest rates will remain high, pricing some buyers out of home ownership. Some materials costs continue to be issues. While materials costs have rebounded for the most part, builders are now more conditioned to check on lead times and suggest alternatives if long waits are indicated. Building materials that once took eight months to arrive are now arriving after 4-6 weeks. Lumber is at pre-pandemic prices, while materials like concrete continue to be expensive. Rents are stabilizing. Fewer people are leaving apartments to buy homes, and people are doubling up. Home sale prices are dropping in some areas, like Wyandotte, Southgate and Riverview. Experts are expecting the industry market to contract, with realtors who are inexperienced in a tight market leaving the business.

 

 

Developer Pitches 57-Apartment Plan For Downtown Grand Rapids

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W&S Development LLC, a Bazzani Building Company affiliate, is pursuing tax incentives for a proposed mixed-use development in downtown Grand Rapids. The Grand Rapids City Commission set a public meeting for January 24 to hear feedback on the application for a Brownfield Plan Amendment and a Neighborhood Enterprise Zone. The developer plans to build two new five-story buildings on the vacant lot at 415 Sheldon Ave. SE. The buildings will include retail space and 57 market-rate apartments. The project is called Wealthy & Sheldon Lofts, with one of the buildings facing Wealthy Street SE, and the other facing Sheldon Avenue SE. The Wealthy Street building will also host 1,800 square feet of commercial space. The 57 new apartments will be divided between the two buildings.

 

Builders Reuse, Recycle and Repurpose

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Bazzani Building Company completed the 730 Leonard Project last year in Grand Rapids. The project is a prime example of adaptive reuse. Renovating existing buildings into new housing is a growing trend. Over the last two years in the U.S., adaptive reuse apartments increased by 25%. Empty office buildings, dilapidated factories, vacant healthcare buildings and old churches have been revamped and repurposed in a sort of nationwide recycling project. In 2020 and 2021, recycling old buildings added 28,000 rentals onto the market. RentCafe predicts that over 77,000 apartments are currently being reprocessed.  The building recycling trend is outpacing new construction.

Grand Rapids Booms With New Projects

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Grand Rapids is close to a achieving a record number of new developments. Despite supply chain issues, inflated costs and interest rates, and labor shortages, the city reported big numbers for new private investment in 2021. According the Grand Rapid’s Economic Development Director, it’s set to outpace 2021’s record again this year. Although its 2022 outcomes won’t be reported until the first quarter of 2023, the data is obvious. Although the city wants to retain the companies that have found their home in Grand Rapids and attract new ones, its biggest issue is an a housing shortage across all price points. Nine projects are in the works for 2023, promising to bolster Grand Rapids’ economy. They include business incubators, a community kitchen, co-working and retail spaces, a healthcare facility and a few affordable housing projects.

 

Grand Rapids and Grand Haven Receive State Funding For Contamination Cleanup

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The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy has awarded a $1.73 million brownfield cleanup grant to Grand Rapids and Grand Haven. The monies will be used for three residential and mixed-use projects on properties contaminated by gas and oil. Grand Rapids’ Boston Square Together is one of the projects that will benefit from the grant, enabling the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority to address the environmental contamination on the site. The monies will also be used for future commercial condominiums in Grand Haven and a planned residential development in northeast Grand Rapids.

 

Switch Expands Former Steelcase Pyramid Site

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The former Steelcase Pyramid site south of Grand Rapids is facing a major expansion. Switch, the Las Vegas-based data storage company, is excavating at the Steelcase Pyramid campus in Gaines Township.  It’s building a 312,000-square-foot building separate from the Pyramid.  The project includes a 1,000-square-foot pump house.  Work on the expansion site began in the spring, with the concrete foundations expected to be poured before the snow flies. The cost of the project, its contractor and completion date have yet to be disclosed. According to Switch’s second-quarter earnings report, it allocated $800,000 toward site preparation.

 

Grand Rapids Planning Commission Approves Plans For Multi-Use Development

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The Grand Rapids City Planning Commission approved plans for The McConnell, a 432-unit apartment, restaurant and retail building south of downtown Grand Rapids. The project plans will reuse an existing industrial building in addition to new construction. The commission unanimously approved special land use and optional  plan review requests for the project. The special land use request was for a reduction in required parking, alcohol sales and consumption, live entertainment, banquet functions and outdoor seating. The developers of the project include Chicago-based Krika Development, Boston-based Spire Investment Properties and Suitepeople, based in McLean, Virginia.

 

 

Indiana-Based Developer Plans Multifamily Townhome Development in Grand Rapids

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Thompson Thrift Residential, based in Terra Haute, Indiana, is planning a 344-unit multifamily luxury townhome rental community in Wyoming, a Grand Rapids suburb. The developer spent $5.4 million on 28.5 acres in July. The development will be comprised of one- to four-bedroom  townhome apartments, some with attached garages and private yards.  The complex will include resort-style common areas including a clubhouse, swimming pool, gym, pickle ball courts and a dog park. Thompson Thrift Residential is motivated by the shortage of multifamily development, ;last year’s double-digit employment growth and the 40% increase in home values that have outpriced many first-time home buyers.

 

Trinity Health Systems Plans Mixed-Use Development in Grand Rapids

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Livonia-based Trinity Health System has its sights set on 10 parking lots in downtown Grand Rapids, but it’s not for a new hospital site. They are seeking $19 million in federal funding to convert the lots into a mixed-used development to ease the city’s affordable housing shortage.  Trinity was one of 319 applicants to submit requests to Kent County for a share of the $127 million awarded to the county in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)  funding. The Kent County Board of Commissioners will most likely finalize its remaining ARPA allocations at a November 14 meeting. Trinity Health is exploring additional funding sources for the project, including Brownfield Redevelopment Authority tax credits, Michigan Community Revitalization Program and Michigan Missing Middle Housing Program funds and a philanthropy and capital allocation from Trinity itself.