The nominees for Best Interior and Exterior Renovations are...

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

Twenty Grand Rapids neighborhood businesses received nominations in the Best Interior Renovation and Best Exterior Renovation categories for the 18^th annual Neighborhood Business Awards. The awards, sponsored by the Neighborhood Business Alliance and Neighborhood Ventures, honor neighborhood businesses for their successes and help market those businesses to the rest of the city.

P & S Party Store at 801 Madison received a nomination for the Best Exterior Renovation. Storeowner Sunny Singh invested $120,000 in new front windows and doors, awnings, paint, security cameras around the building and in the parking lot, as well renovations inside the shop.

"I heard a lot of good comments from the neighborhood," Singh says. "Everybody told me they like what I did. We're a community store, and I wanted to serve the community better."

The Best Exterior Renovation Nominees are:

• Brandywine Restaurant, 1345 Lake Drive
• Cornerstone Architects, 440 Bridge NW
• Hopscotch Children's Store, 963 Cherry
• Jonkhoff LLC, 906 S. Division
• Moxie's Ice Cream & Running Dogs, 332 Union
• O'Brien & O'Brien, DDS, 1503 Coit
• Atkinson Enterprises, 537 Leonard
• P & S Party Store, 801 Madison

Literary Life Bookstore & More, nominated for Best Interior Renovation, opened a few weeks ago after three years of renovations. Owner Roni Devlin, an infectious disease physician, renovated the former Old Kent Bank building into a live/work space with an apartment in back of the store.

"We removed the previous remodeling and anything that interfered with the original intent of the architecture," Devlin says. "We kept the original tile floor, the original foyer doors with the plate hardware, the original plate glass windows were cleaned and sealed, and we kept an original bank deposit counter as the cash register stand."

All told, Devlin sunk over $350,000 into the renovation.

Nominees for Best Interior Renovation are:

• Café Aromas, 880 Grandville
• Graydon's Crossing, 1223 Plainfield
• Harrison Park School, 1331 Franklin SE
• Hispanic Center, 560 Hall
• Home Store and Gallery, 919 E. Fulton
• Literary Life Bookstore & More, 758 Wealthy
• Louie's and the Rocket Lounge, 608 Bridge NW
• Meanwhile Bar, 1019 Wealthy Se
• Monarch Club, 646 Stocking
• New Yorker Men's Wear, 1551 Wealthy SE
• Red Ball Jet Café, 31 Plainfield NE
• Union Square Condominiums, 600 Broadway NW

Winners will be honored on November 8 at a gala event that is free and open the public. The event will be at the Wealthy Theatre from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Stay tuned to Rapid Growth over the coming weeks for the continuation of our Development News series on the categories and nominations, and for the opportunity to vote online for your favorites.

Source: Sunny Singh, P & S Party Store; Rebekka Kwast, Neighborhood Ventures

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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth. She can be contacted at [email protected].