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Developer wants to demolish Grand Rapids restaurant, replace it with apartments

Posted By: MLIVE on December 24, 2024.  For more information, please click here to read the source article.

The Adobe In & Out restaurant on West Fulton Street would be demolished and replaced with a four-story, 106-unit apartment building with ground-floor retail space under a proposal from Grand Rapids-based Construction Simplified.

The project is expected to cost $25 million and would include 89 studios and 17 one-bedroom units. Estimated monthly rental rates are $1,142 for a studio and $1,735 for a one-bedroom apartment, according to the city of Grand Rapids.

In addition, the project would include 53 parking spaces and retail space for three tenants.

Construction Simplified has developed several projects on the city’s West Side, including its new headquarters and an apartment building at an old vacuum shop on West Fulton. The proposed apartment building builds on those projects and aims to catalyze additional growth on Fulton Street west of Grand Valley State University’s downtown campus, said Brent Gibson, president of Construction Simplified.

“Our office is directly west of this location,” Gibson told the Grand Rapids Brownfield Redevelopment Authority earlier this month. “We’ve been intentional about placing our new office there with the idea of engaging West Fulton, knowing it’s really the beginning of the intersection of the neighborhood.”

In addition to the demolition of Adobe, which is moving to a new location at 527 Bridge St., a vacant building at 17 Seward Ave. NW would also be torn down to make room for Gibson’s project.

As part of the project, Gibson is seeking a $3 million reimbursement from the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority.

The Brownfield Redevelopment Authority’s goal is to help redevelop blighted, contaminated or functionally obsolete properties. Through the Brownfield program, a developer is reimbursed a portion of the property taxes generated by their development. Those dollars can be used to cover eligible expenses such as environmental site assessments, demolition, site preparation and more.

If the project isn’t completed and no new tax revenue is generated, the reimbursement doesn’t occur.

In addition to the Brownfield reimbursement, Gibson is also seeking a 15-year Neighborhood Enterprise Zone tax cut valued at $1.5 million. Gibson’s request for the incentives was approved by the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority this month. It now goes to the Grand Rapids City Commission for consideration.

Moving forward, if the project is completed, Gibson said he hopes the building sparks more growth and development along West Fulton Street.

“My first office was there eight years ago,” he said. I “just saw a lot of potential, and unfortunately that hasn’t really taken off, I think, with some of the other developments around the area. And this should help start catalyzing and moving west.”

Given the building’s proximity to Grand Valley’s downtown campus, he expects the apartments to be popular with students.

“We designed it so it’s not just one big building,” he said. “We have a mix of studios and one-beds for the expected student population that probably wants to reside here.”

Recent developments along West Fulton Street have struggled to fill vacant ground-floor retail space. One example is Fulton Place, a five-story mixed-use building affiliated with Rockford Construction that’s across the street from where Gibson wants to construct his building. A recent Michigan Economic Development Corporation memo said the 10,000-square-feet of retail space at Fulton Place is 34% vacant.

“Everyone would say why are you putting retail on West Fulton,” Gibson said. “I believe it’s my responsibility as a developer to put the space there that’s going to fill up eventually.”

Gibson’s request for incentives is scheduled for a public hearing before the Grand Rapids City Commission on Jan. 14. The request is then expected to go before the commission for a vote on Feb. 26, said Sarah Rainero, the city’s economic development director. She said city staff support Gibson’s request.

“They’re adding density, and, I think, just a better utilization of the site,” she said. “From an activation standpoint, for a pedestrian on that corridor, it fits exactly what we’re looking for.”

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