Apartments, commercial space planned at long-vacant Division Avenue building

Apartments, commercial space planned at long-vacant Division Avenue building
A developer plans eight apartments and ground floor commercial space at the long-vacant building at 433 S. Division Ave. in Grand Rapids. Credit: Google Street View

GRAND RAPIDS — A long-vacant building on Division Avenue just south of the city’s downtown Heartside neighborhood is set to be redeveloped into eight apartments with ground floor commercial space.

The two-story, 10,800-square-foot building at 433 S. Division Ave. formerly housed a barber shop, bar and church but has sat vacant for years, said Kevin Bassett, the property owner and president of local electro-coating manufacturer Spectrum Industries Inc. Bassett acquired the property for $150,000 in 2006, according to property records.

Development plans call for eight market-rate, one-bedroom apartments and 5,000 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor, which could be split into separate storefronts or combined into one use. 

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“We’re just trying to continue to work on developing that area and continuing to improve it,” Bassett said. 

The project is allowed by right, but the development team is applying for incentives through the Obsolete Property Rehabilitation Act, said Ryan Schmidt, managing partner at Grand Rapids-based Indigo Design + Development, which is developing the project for Bassett. Destigter Architecture & Planning is the project designer and Honor Construction Inc. is the general contractor. 

Construction is expected to begin later this summer or early fall and conclude after eight months, Schmidt said. 

“This is a pretty straightforward reuse of a vacant structure,” Schmidt said. “It’s pretty small, but I don’t want to downplay it, either, because it’s really important to the Division corridor that these types of buildings see new life — it’s important incremental development.”

The property also includes surface parking, and the building has a basement that will be used for storage and mechanical operations, Schmidt added. Residents on the back portion of the building would have balcony space.

Bassett at this point is unsure what type of commercial tenants would best fit in the building, but he is looking for uses to complement nearby businesses, he said. The property is one block east of the Downtown Market and shares a block with a tattoo shop, hair salon, tropical fish store and the Happy Cat Cafe.

Bassett owns several properties in the area, including across the street at 13 McConnell St. SW and 421 and 427 S. Division Ave., which was set to be redeveloped into a 10-story apartment building with 431 market-rate units, a food hall and retail. The city approved Chicago-based Interra Realty’s plan for The McConnell project, but the company recently backed out of the property sale and development, Bassett said. 

“The building is on the market for sale, and I’m also just trying to find tenants to utilize the space until the right developer comes along,” Bassett said. 

The McConnell Street building is mostly vacant, except for a small portion where Spectrum Industries houses its technology division, Bassett said. The property, which includes an 88,585-square-foot industrial building, is listed for $8 million by Advantage Commercial Real Estate. 

overhead property view
The proposed project is a block east of the Downtown Market, just south of downtown.

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