Third Coast In The News

Rebirth on the North End First tenant moves into the former Grand Rapids Die Casting factory, Chris Knape, The Grand Rapids Press - Grand Rapids, Mich. A.13 April 9, 2003

The first tenant of a former factory that has been transformed into an urban retail-office complex opens Thursday, adding fuel to the continuing revitalization of the north end of downtown Grand Rapids.

Grand Rapids developers Kim Beyer, Joe Gill and Brad Rosely have spent two years and more than $4 million renovating the site, including demolishing portions of the hodgepodge of buildings that once housed Grand Rapids Die Casting Co. at Leonard Street and Monroe Avenue NW.

Thursday, a Subway restaurant will be the first tenant to open in the development, dubbed Old North Boundary. Leonard Street is the original north boundary of Grand Rapids.

"We like to think that it's going to be kind of an area meeting place up in the north Monroe-Creston area," said Rosely, an agent with the commercial real estate firm S.J. Wisinski & Co.

The partners' goal was to offer some of the benefits of a suburban strip mall while maintaining the neighborhood's urban character.

Negotiations are under way with other possible tenants, including a group of doctors, other restaurants, a furniture company and office users.

"In the last two months, we've had a lot of interest because you can finally walk through it and touch it and feel it," Rosely said.

The complex complements an eclectic mix in the downtown area south of Leonard and north of Int. 196 between Ottawa Avenue NW and the Grand River.

Years of grime and decay at the site have given way to an upscale urban plaza, complete with a large lot full of free parking, one mile north of the city's central business district. There's still work to be done as construction crews install new windows and complete rehabilitating southern portion of the complex. Most work should be done by summer.

"I'm constantly amazed with the developers in Grand Rapids who will take some of these huge vacant, blighted buildings and make them into beautiful developments," said Susan Shannon, business advocate for the city.

Given what they started with, "it may have been easier to demolish it and make it into a regular old strip mall, but they're renovating it and keeping the character."

In recent years, tax-incentive programs have spurred redevelopment of nearby factories and warehouses into trendy loft apartments and bars. Several factories, the city's development offices, a fire department and its water pumping station and dozens of small offices also operate in the area.

Old North Boundary was developed without tax incentives. The city declined the developers' request to make the site a low-tax Renaissance Zone. The property is in the city's brownfield plan, but the developers have not received any tax credits, Rosely said.
The mix of nearby businesses and the 24,000 cars that pass by the site every day led Subway to peg the site for a second franchise location owned by Maryanne Hoeksma and Sheryl Van Dyke.

The business partners, who also own the Subway at 4750 Cascade Road SE, were initially hesitant when they were shown the site before redevelopment work began.
"I saw it before they started on anything, and we thought they're kidding," Hoeksma said.

But once the Old North Boundary began to take shape, it was clear the location could be a good fit.

"We're counting on the factories, definitely -- all the area businesses and the traffic flow," Hoeksma said. "There's residential down the road. I think we'll kind of draw from everywhere."

North end retooling Developers plan to transform factory to commercial hotspot (3 Edition), Jim Harger, The Grand Rapids Press - Grand Rapids, Mich. A.19 Jan 4, 2001

Dining out and shopping do not come to mind during a tour of the former Grand Rapids Die Casting plant at the north end of downtown Grand Rapids.

The vacant factory, last used to cast and plate faucets and shower heads, is an industrial hodge podge of some 22 buildings, bays and offices that were added on during the past century. Gritty dirt clings to the windows that line old brick and block walls.

Nevertheless, a group of West Michigan developers say they see a bright future beyond grime and architectural mayhem at 1140 Monroe Ave. NW.

They envision a new retail, office and entertainment center that will take advantage of new condominiums and apartments being developed in the old factories and warehouses along North Monroe Avenue.

By tearing down the worst of the additions and keeping the best parts of the old foundry building, the project will become the trendy new focal point for the northern edge of downtown, according to Kim Beyer, president of Constructors Inc., one of the project's partners.
"It's sort of a northern extension of downtown," Beyer said of the project dubbed "Old North Boundary."

The developers have convinced city officials of their plan's validity. Three weeks ago, the City Commission rezoned the property surrounding the factory to allow commercial uses.

Next week, they will approach the city's Brownfield Redevelopment Authority to authorize a tax increment financing plan that could help pay to clean up and redevelop the site.

The developers will feature loft-style brick buildings with about 45,000 square feet of floor space. The razed buildings will yield about 140-170 parking spaces.

Brad Rosely, a real estate agent and one of the project's partners, says space could be ready for tenants by early fall.