Development News

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

After months of digging, drilling and earthshaking pounding, the $34 million Gallery on Fulton sprouted the beginnings of poured concrete walls this week—a sign that more above-ground construction is on its way. Until now, passersby saw only huge yellow machines digging a city-lot-sized hole in the ground at the corner of Fulton and Division in Grand Rapids.

“It’s pretty exciting to see things coming above ground now,” says Nick Koster, vice president of development for CWD Real Estate Investment. CWD and Triangle Construction, both of Grand Rapids, and Chicago-based RSC & Associates are the project developers.

“The crews are now framing and pouring the tall wall between the 200-seat film theater and the five-level parking garage,” Koster says. “This is the first construction above grade; the first thing people can see above ground when they’re driving by. The basement walls are being poured and the basement floor has been poured.”

The Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts (UICA) signed on for 40,000 square feet of the building and will relocate when construction wraps up in late 2010. Plans for the UICA space include a film theater, a performance theater, a ceramics studio, an emerging artist studio, gallery space and administrative offices.

Above, 56 market rate apartments will overlook the city. The complex includes an attached 250-space parking ramp to the south. The City of Grand Rapids plans to purchase and operate the ramp.

Main level commercial spaces will front along Fulton and Division. CWD has not announced any tenants for those spaces.

Built Form Architecture designed the building. Triangle Construction in the construction manager.

Source: Nick Koster, CWD Real Estate Investment

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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

Bear Manor Properties is wrapping up construction on its 10th development project in a four-block stretch of Wealthy Street SE in Grand Rapids. A new $500,000 mixed-use building at 1015 Wealthy is home to the Electric Cheetah restaurant on the main level and two market rate apartments above.

The property sat vacant for several decades. The development company consisting of brothers Barry and Jackson VanDyke and their sister Heather VanDyke-Titus first thought they’d build a surface parking lot for Bear Manor’s offices and Brick Road Pizza Co., both located next door. Concerned neighbors convinced them to invest in a new infill building, instead.

The two 1,000-square-foot apartments have floor-to-ceiling windows. The goal is to achieve LEED core and shell certification; tenants can choose to go for LEED status on the interiors.

“We’re going to do some pretty unique stuff up there that will take a while to finish,” says Barry VanDyke. “A farmer in Grattan Township lost a couple of cherry and hickory trees last year. He milled them himself, and I’ll make the kitchen cabinets out of that wood. The flooring will be inch-wide maple strips we salvaged them WMU’s gymnasium; they redid the gym and tore out all the flooring.”

In each apartment, the studio-style floor plan includes a sliding wall that secludes the bedroom from the rest of the apartment. Atop the building the green roof features a 10-by-6 foot observation pad.

VanDyke is enthusiastic about plans to landscape around the building and throughout the rear parking area.

“We’re planting switchgrasses, Rudbeckia, wild onions, butterfly weed and Michigan prickly pear cactus, which has bright yellow flowers,” he says. “We had to take down a couple of trees during construction so we’re planting maple trees, pin oak and redbud bushes—three trees for every one we lost.”

Source: Barry VanDyke, Bear Manor Properties

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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

Conversion of the former Union High School on Grand Rapids’ West Side into 183 condominiums began in 2005—to-date only six units are left. The original plans called for 120 condos, but developer Union Square Condos LLC decided to create 63 additional units.

“We took the old auditorium which we thought would be commercial space and turned it into condos,” says project developer Jon Rooks. “We took the empty rooftop and built 22 penthouses, and turned an internal courtyard and workshop into condos. We saved a great old building and we’re really proud of it. It’s the perfect example of how adaptive reuse and Michigan [financial] incentives can work.”

Those financial incentives include brownfield redevelopment incentives and TIFA financing. But the most important incentives to the condo owners are a federal incentive that reduces the mortgage interest rate by 1.5 percent, and the nearly-tax-free advantages of living in a Renaissance Zone and a Neighborhood Enterprise Zone (NEZ).

“The discounted interest rate continues until 2039,” Rooks adds. “The ren zone wraps up on January 1, 2012. A big portion of the ren zone is property taxes and the NEZ extends that property tax advantage to 2019.”

With the NEZ, owners of condos on the first four floors pay only a 10 percent property tax; penthouse owners pay only 50 percent.

The six units remaining include one classroom conversion, three penthouses and two condos in the former gymnasium. Prices range from $139,000 to $391,000.

“About one-third [of the residents] are in their 20s and 30s,” Rooks says. “Another third are middle-aged singles and marrieds; the rest are empty nesters in their 50s and 60s. The interesting thing is the harmony of these diverse people and the interesting lifestyle that creates.”

Source: Jon Rooks, Parkland Properties

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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

Joe DiLeonardo and Kurt Suidinski hope to score big with their new downtown Grand Rapids endeavor: the proposed 10,000-square-foot, family-friendly Peppino’s Grille, Pizzeria and Sports Lounge. The eatery received approval from the Grand Rapids Planning Commission last week to move forward with the development of 130 Ionia SW, the former EQ3 furniture store.

The owners of the Peppino’s Pizza franchise location on State Street opted to discontinue the franchise arrangement, opening the door for the much larger sports lounge in the entertainment district, just blocks from the Van Andel Arena.

“Downtown Grand Rapids is one of the fastest growing areas I can see,” DiLeonardo says. “Bad times or good times, people are always finding themselves downtown on weekends. People like the feel down here; they can have drinks and can hop from restaurant to restaurant. There are a lot more families down there on weekends than people think.”

The restaurant features a main level and a large mezzanine and the Upper Deck, where patrons can try their hand at shuffle board or pool, listen to live music or relax on couches around a fireplace.

On the main level, TV sports will be the special of the day, aired on flat screen televisions suspended from the ceiling and built into the wall of every booth.

Part of the parking lot to the south of the building will become an outdoor patio. All told, indoor and outdoor seating should accommodate between 275 and 315.

The menu includes appetizers, Mexican and Italian entrees, burgers, fish, steaks, chicken and kids’ meals.

Joe DiLeonardo, 38, says the eatery comes by its Italian recipes honestly as hiis parents were born in Sicily.  His father, Carlo, started Peppino’s Pizza in Standale in 1976 and franchised the concept in the ’90s.  His mother, Maddalena, still makes the cannoli by hand.

Source: Joe DiLeonardo, Peppino’s Grille, Pizzeria and Sports Lounge

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

Hospital officials say the $286 million Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital is is right on schedule for the spring 2011 opening, even though parts of the building now wrapped in its Arctic Blue Viracon Architectural Glass look almost ready to accept the first patient.

“The structure of the lower three levels that house the clinical spaces are complete,” says Ron Dawson, project manager for Wolverine-Turner Construction. “We’re installing the interior partitions and the overhead and in-wall mechanical and electrical services. We’re about 90 percent complete on the C level, which houses the pediatric emergency and radiology departments.”

The glass panels on the facade are constructed to shade the interior from the sun’s heat and prevent condensation build up. Even though the panels are blue on the outside, the sunlight inside the rooms has no hint of blue.

Across Michigan Street to the north, Christman Construction has broken ground on a medical building called Tower 35. The hospital parking ramp will be located under the building, and an elevator tower will act as the north anchor for an enclosed elevated pedestrian walkway across Michigan Street to the hospital. Wolverine-Turner, the hospital and Christman have collaborated on the construction of the various elements to bring the entire project together.

“We’ve also worked with the City, Christman and MDOT to coordinate with the I-196 construction in 2010 and have been able to modify our construction methods to accommodate the extra traffic that’s expected on Michigan,” says Jonathan Flyte, Spectrum Health’s vice president of facilities.

When completed, the 14-story, 440,000-square-foot hospital will have 1,013 doors, 6,800 glass panels on the tower curtain wall alone, 21 miles of plumbing pipes and 1,250 tons of structural steel spread over 11 floors above ground.

The building will be LEED certified.

Source: Ron Dawson, Wolverine-Turner Construction; Jonathan Flyte, Spectrum Health

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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

Ricky Morgan and Gordon Taylor are gaining traction with Computer Help, a computer “hospital” of sorts that recently opened in Eastown keeping hours almost like an emergency room. Over the past six months, the company has added a full-time computer technician/store manager, a part-time marketing manager and customers.

"We fix computers, build them, sell them, and do virus removal and computer cleanups,” Morgan says. “I think that we have a different mindset when it comes to computers. We’re the anti-geek squad, the regular guys who will talk to you in English so you understand the problem.”

The guys also build custom software and web sites, the recycle old computers and they make house calls for clients who can’t bring the computer to the store. For in-store work, a flat rate of $50 takes care of virus removal and hard drive cleanup, as well as the installation of anti-virus and anti-spy software.

“Every month we have growth,” Morgan says. “We got lucky with the location, and the simplicity of our name helps people know what we do. We’re open 9 to 7 Monday through Friday, but you can usually catch us in here all weekend. Our official Saturday hours are 11 to 7, but I usually get here at 7 a.m. and don’t leave until 9 p.m. If someone’s here, the open sign is on.”

Source: Ricky Morgan, Computer Help

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

Perched atop a hill on the east side of Grand Rapids, Hillmount condominiums’ rooftop deck sits just a little above the treetops, on the sixth-floor roof where residents get a bird’s eye view of the city. The conversion of the former 1950s-era apartment building at 505 Cherry SE into 101 condominiums began in 2006; to-date only 11 units are left.

CWD Real Estate Investment, then operating as Second Story Properties, invested $11 million in the purchase price and the addition of amenities including the rooftop deck and a fitness center. Other improvements included a renovation of the lobby and the addition of on-site covered parking.

“The way we did the project was a bit different than some developments,” says Nick Koster, CWD’s vice president of development. “As the leases ran out and people bought the apartments, we converted them one at a time.

“As the medical industry begins to attract people to Grand Rapids, those of us in the housing business are just starting to sell to incoming MSU medical students,” he adds. “Five of them purchased at Hillmount in 2008 because they knew they’d live here three or four years and move on in their careers. They feel confident they’ll be able to resell their condo because we won’t have any more open condos by then.”

The remaining apartments are one- and two-bedrooms, ranging in size from about 750 square feet to about 950 square feet. Prices run from $109,900 to $169,900, which includes a floor plan and a base package with standard finishes. Upgrades, including hardwood floors, are available.

Hillmount is in the Heritage Hill neighborhood, a tree-lined historic area just a mile from the heart of downtown. And that, Koster says, is much of the reason for the success of the development.

“It’s urban, but it’s in a neighborhood and has a lawn and shade trees,” Koster says. “There are people walking their dogs. It’s a very desirable place to live.”

Source: Nick Koster, CWD Real Estate Investment

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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

Nancy Ketteman’s grandfather, a native Italian, taught her how to make marinara sauce when she was 10. And even though her new eatery, Nunzia’s Café, is founded on her Italian heritage (Nunzia is Italian for Nancy) she doesn’t intend to limit the menu.

The café opened March 12 in the Calder Plaza Building, 250 Monroe. Owners Josh Broek and Andy Cole also own Taco Bob’s in the same building. Nancy and her husband, Bob, created both restaurants from their headquarters in Portage; they’ve developed a franchise for Taco Bob’s and intend to do the same with Nunzia’s Café. In the meantime, they’re helping Broek and Cole run the café.

“Grandpa always asked me why we didn’t open an Italian restaurant instead of a Mexican one,” Nancy says. “The owners of the building offered us the space. We said no, but when they asked us again we decided to open a place with Italian food.”

The marinara sauce is the same recipe Nancy made with her grandfather. The meatballs are also a family recipe. The menu also offers pasta, fresh salads and made-to-order sandwiches. The open-face egg salad sandwich, topped with cheese and toasted, is a popular choice.

“Our baked mac and cheese is made with small seashell pasta that holds the creamy, cheesy sauce,” Nancy says, “and there are some other secret ingredients I can’t tell you.”

Every menu item comes in two sizes, and customers can enjoy two items and a drink for $5.99.

The Ketteman’s daughter, Katie, is an interior design student in Florence, Italy. She brought Italian influence to the café’s interior—a Tuscan color palette and family photos of Nancy’s grandparents and trips to Italy.

When the warm weather hits, Nunzia’s Café will offer outdoor grill dining on the Ottawa Avenue side of the building.

Source: Nancy Ketteman, Nunzia’s Café

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

Brian Winkelmann designed Verne Barry Place for Grand Rapids-based Dwelling Place, and now his architecture firm occupies a spacious storefront location on the building’s main floor. The structure, a classic mixed-use building with residential, commercial and live/work spaces, received LEED Gold certification February 5.

“Verne Barry Place is the first LEED-certified mixed-use building in Grand Rapids,” Winkelmann says.

The company, DTS+Winkelmann Architects, owned by Winkelmann and David Sobota, moved from its long-time office on 62 Commerce Avenue to 64 S. Division, just one block away.

‘Even though it’s just a block difference, it’s a different world; more cars, more activity, the eclectic Avenue of the Arts thing,” Winkelmann says.

The new energy outside fits what’s going on inside: the creation of a new, edgy work space designed for artists who create new, edgy living and work spaces for others. And because members of the firm designed the building and the office’s interior, it’s also a showcase for the company’s work.

The 2,100 square feet includes a spiral staircase leading to loft offices, an open office concept below, a conference room and a kitchen. A balcony overlooking Division will soon sport a container herb garden for staff use.

Interior designer Lauren Bradley designed the interior, used the company’s colors of cardinal red, eggplant purple and lime green in painted stripes and diamonds. In keeping with the building’s sustainability focus, Bradley’s design incorporates three flooring elements: concrete floors with soy-based stain, cork and bamboo.

“We’re changing how we practice architecture; it's more technology driven and we can all see each other and interact with each other,” Winkelmann adds. “As we grow I want to enhance our flexibility and give more employees the opportunity to work from home.”

Source: Brian Winkelmann, DTS+Winkelmann

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

The developer of HighPoint Flats in downtown Muskegon signed off this week on a contract to build a condominium model featuring sixth-story views of Muskegon Lake. The view from the model represents the view that some 70 percent of the condominiums will have.

The project involves the rehabilitation of the Hackley Bank Building, 285 West Western, an eight-story structure constructed in 1916, and the construction of a new two-story addition. Seventy condos ranging from studios to 2,300 square feet will sell for $89,000 to more than $299,000.

“We have the longest Renaissance Zone in Michigan and residents will pay no city taxes, no property taxes and no 4.35 percent state income tax until 2023,” says Jon Rooks, developer. “That was a big, big part of our decision to go ahead [with the project] in today’s market. The Ren Zone helps us be more competitive as people are more concerned with living expenses.”

Rooks estimates that on a purchase of a $125,000 condo at 5 percent interest, a couple could save enough money just on the income tax and city tax (1 percent) to cover about 60 percent of the interest.

The development includes 46 units in the renovated bank and 24 new construction units in the addition. Amenities include an eighth-story roof deck for all residents, a fitness center, a clubhouse, and optional parking garages.

One unusual piece to the project is the city of Muskegon’s approval for the entire building to be residential with no retail component.

“We wanted to add customers more than we wanted to add retail space,” Rooks says. “Except for Grand Rapids’ Medical Mile, there’s more activity here than in any West Michigan city—new restaurants, the new Chamber building, Sidock’s new building, Gary Post’s projects.

“This project already has 32 reservations because of that momentum, and 34 more people are interested. We’re a tiny cog on the big wheel that will help Muskegon reach its full potential.”

Rooks expects the condominium model to be ready by early summer.

Source: Jon Rooks, Parkland Properties

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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

For 47 years, Montague’s firefighters have responded to fire and medical emergencies from a 7,500-square-foot metal pole building with inadequate heat and emergency vehicles practically stacked atop one another.

This summer, the 139-year-old fire department moves into a modern $1.8 million, 16,820-square-foot facility on 11 acres in the Montague Industrial Park.

“All 22 of our firefighters are licensed EMTs, EMT specialists or paramedics,” says Fire Chief Dennis Roesler. “We currently don’t have any full time people, but we tried to think ahead and added a shower and bunk rooms to sleep three people.”

Nearly 12,000 square feet of bays will house the pumper engines, tankers and other equipment. In addition, the station has five administrative offices, a training room and a 60-seat room armed with technology for training sessions and meetings.

Practicing rescues is crucial to keeping the firefighters up-to-date on techniques. A hatch on the 22-foot-high roof allows them to learn roof access techniques, a 14-foot-high mezzanine is ready for rappelling practice, and the 11 acres allows space for rescue reenactments. Firefighters can also hone their skills for operating the department’s thermal imaging camera in a smoke-filled room.

“We have a smoke generating machine,” Roesler says. “You can’t see two feet in front of your face, but it’s a harmless smoke so it doesn’t hurt people or the building.”

Roesler hopes the new station will improve the fire department’s ISO classification from class five to class four. That would lower the insurance rates for area homeowners.

“Out of the 1,091 fire departments in Michigan, only 86 have a better classification,” Roesler says. “We only need half a point to become a Class Four, and if we do, only 21 departments will have a better rating.”

Architect Don Hansen of Muskegon-based Dimensions in Architecture designed the building. Triangle Associates is the general contractor.

Source: Dennis Roesler, Montague Fire Department

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

It’s only been two years since Clay Avenue Cellars began in a 300-square-foot space. But already the winery’s popularity spurred owners Bob Rajewski and Garret Anguilm to construct a 1,200-square-foot basement addition last winter to serve additional clientele.

“We make semi sweet fruit wines, just above dry,” says Anguilm. “We buy fruit from local growers from Shelby to Holland to Coopersville. We buy the fruit in season, and start making wine with the capacity we have. The rest we freeze until we have space to make it into wine.”

The Cellars makes 19 different varieties, such as sweet cherry, tart cherry, plum, blueberry, cranberry and wines from grapes. They also make combos, like their Black and Blue, which is blackberry and blueberry.

“I started making wine as a hobby in 1979,” Anguilm says. “Bob started making wine about 15 years ago and we became good friends because his girlfriend, Brenda, and my wife used to work together.”

Rajewski’s girlfriend, Brenda Moore, saved the building from demolition—a 1920s gas station she moved to 611 Clay Avenue in 2004. Moore started an art gallery, Clay Avenue Station, in 2005. The gallery is part of Clay Avenue Cellars. Patrons can browse the art offerings while shopping for wine or partaking in one of the monthly wine tastings.

“We have tastings the second Saturday of the month and we have all our varieties open for tasting,” Anguilm says. “We’ve had as many as 500 to 600 people through here in six hours.”

Store hours are Tuesday through Friday, 11 to 5:30, Saturdays from noon to five, except on tasting Saturdays when the store closes at 6.

Source: Garret Anguilm, Clay Avenue Cellars

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

On March 11, the Grand Rapids Downtown Development Authority got its first look at a proposed project to renew and revitalize a critical area of the downtown riverfront. The purpose of the proposed “urban intervention,” dubbed Lyon Square, is to create an environment that helps attract and retain young professionals and creates vibrancy in the heart of the city’s convention district.

Jeff Speck, a renowned New Urbanist and city planner based in Washington, D.C., worked with Grand Rapids’ Concept Design Group to research the walkability of downtown and create a preliminary plan for the one-block section of Lyon Street between DeVos Place and the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel.

Speck noted that, instead of being an inviting gateway between the riverfront and downtown, that portion of Lyon looks more like an alley lined by loading docks.

The heart of the proposed redesign is a dancing fountain, water wall and seating at the river’s edge looking west, where an existing, and rarely used, amphitheater now sits. Visitors would step down into a circle surrounded by trees and flowing water. Five residential-sized wind turbines would provide electricity for the fountain and lighting.

Two decorative arches along the alley, brick pavers, and long awnings would divide the alley visually into two “rooms.”

Overhead, strings of lights would create a ceiling effect, and artistic perforated metal sheets could enliven the visual interest of the Skywalk.

Another key area would be an “urban forest” outside the exhibit hall and a proposed outdoor dining space for Bentham’s restaurant.

“More outdoor river walkabout could be a big selling point to attract conventions,” says Ginny Seyferth of Seyferth and Associates. Seyferth is working with Speck and Concept Design Group as part of a group of downtown business leaders looking to bring more vibrancy to the downtown.

“We will have meetings with the Lyon Street stakeholders to determine how to proceed from here,” says Jay Fowler, executive director of the DDA.

Source: Jeff Speck; Grand Rapids Downtown Development Authority

read on…

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

In 2007, the new owners of the former Berkey and Gay furniture factory building, circa 1892, began a monumental revitalization process to convert hundreds of apartments to custom-built condominiums. Of the 235 condo renovations at what’s now called Boardwalk Condominiums, only 42 units remain; they are still occupied as apartments, but available for purchase and renovation.

Since renovation began, several retail businesses moved into the building, 940 Monroe NW: Liquid Cargo Coffee Shop, Curtis Cleaners and J.D. Reardon’s Restaurant. More recently, Boardwalk welcomed Pure Salon and Endurance Fitness.

In addition, a game room, club house, 30-seat theater room, Jacuzzi, a 1,450-square-foot Forest Courtyard with walking trails, grills and picnic tables and a 9,700-square-foot lounge and pool area have been completed and opened for residents and their guests.

“Grand Rapids has really never seen an urban pool that’s well decorated and maintained and has a huge restaurant terrace right next to it,” says developer Jon Rooks of Parkland Properties. “People don’t have to go to the lakeshore if they don’t want to deal with the traffic; they can make a whole day of it and have their friends over.”

The remaining condos range from 632 square feet for $114,000 to 2,300 square feet for $439,000. Buyers who haven’t owned a home in three years qualify for an $8,000 credit as part of President Obama’s federal stimulus package. Condo prices include custom build-outs with new floor coverings, new appliances and custom finishes.

“When I look at global population growth being at an all-time high, and the move of the population to the urban centers, I think demand [for urban housing] will be on the rise and the supply will be low,” Rooks adds.

Source: Jon Rooks, Parkland Properties

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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.

By: Dan Calabrese

Proponents of The Silver Line Rapid Transit, a frequent and fast local mass-transit service proposed by The Rapid, on Tuesday secured the support of approximately 30 community organizations to support a millage that will go before voters on May 5.

Voters in the cities of Grand Rapids, Grandville, Wyoming and Walker will decide whether to approve a 1.28-mill levy to establish the Silver Line. The route runs north along Division from 60^th Street through the Medical Mile and downtown Grand Rapids to The Rapid Central Station.

Although the Silver Line uses buses in its service, it is designed to provide many of the benefits of light rail by using dedicated bus lanes, making fewer stops and utilizing advanced technology.

David Bulkowski, a representative of Friends of Transit, said about 40 individuals representing at least 30 organizations – including neighborhood groups and nonprofits – attended Tuesday’s presentation and agreed to support the millage campaign.

The 1.28-mill levy, which would take effect in 2012, includes a renewal of a 1.12-mill levy approved in 2007 and an additional 0.16 mills. The Rapid estimates the millage increase will raise $13.97 million in its first year. It will be in effect for five years. The 0.16 mill tax increase will cost the owner of a $150,000 home about $12 a year.

The Rapid is seeking approval now because a yes vote would make the region eligible for $32 million in federal funds and $8 million in state matching funds to build the line.

“It’s in [the nonprofit’s] self-interest to be helping,” Bulkowski said. “We had a couple of members of Faith in Motion here, along with a number of nonprofits like Senior Neighbors, American Red Cross, Touchstone and Hope Network to learn how this is going to help their constituencies.”

Although the line will not run throughout all of the area that votes on May 5, Bulkowski hopes voters across the region will support the opportunity to take area mass transit to the next level.

“People closer to South Division are going to say, hey, I’m going to be able to take this,” Bulkowski said. “People on the north side are going to be able to say that we’re moving forward with transit in our community. The hope is that with a positive vote we’ll be able to start planning the next line. The Rapid can’t promise that, but my hope is that we’ll be able to be planning more service.”

Source: David Bulkowski, Friends of Transit

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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.