Construction to begin soon on $16.4M Grand Rapids apartment, commercial building
Posted By: mlive on August 23, 2023. For more information, please click here to read the source article.
Construction is expected to start within 30 days on a two-building apartment development at the corner of Wealthy Street SE and Sheldon Avenue SE containing 58 market-rate units and ground-floor commercial space. The development, being led by W&S Development Partners and Cella Building Company, is expected to cost $16.4 million and be complete, baring any weather or construction delays, by November 2024, said Heather Coyne, director of marketing at Cella Building Company.
Rents will range from $1,179 a month for a studio to $2,400 for a two-bedroom. As of now, no tenants have been selected for the commercial space, Coyne said.
The site of the apartment building was formerly a vacant lot, and is located adjacent to the Division Avenue corridor. Nearby businesses and developments include Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital, Trinity Health Saint Mary’s, and an income-restricted senior living apartment building constructed by ICCF homes.
Mike Coyne, CEO of Cella Building Company, described the location as a “very key entrance to the city of Grand Rapids and to downtown.”
“We’re very excited about this project — not just what it’s going to do be able to do for our residents but … what it’s going to be able to do for the city of Grand Rapids,” he said Tuesday, speaking to the Michigan Strategic Fund board.
On Tuesday, the board approved a $3 million Michigan Community Revitalization Program loan for the project as well as a $544,048 reimbursement, from state taxes, for brownfield eligible activities at the site. The board, affiliated with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, approves state incentives, grants, tax breaks and other investments designed to spur economic growth in the state.
The brownfield program, offered at the state and local level, is designed to encourage the redevelopment of contaminated, functionally obsolete properties. It provides reimbursement, through the capture of tax revenue, for activities such as demolition, lead and asbestos abatement, environmental assessment and remediation costs, and site preparation.
“No project is going to solve our housing issues, each project is important and moves the needle just a little bit,” Jono Klooster, assistant economic development director for the city of Grand Rapids, said Tuesday in support of the project.
In addition to the state incentives, the Grand Rapids City Commission previously approved a request for a $1.3 million reimbursement over 14 years from a city of Grand Rapids brownfield program to help offset the cost of developing contaminated, functionally obsolete properties.
It also received a 15-year Neighborhood Enterprise Zone tax cut valued at nearly $1.1 million over 15 years.
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