By: Deborah Johnson Wood
Substantial changes to the site plans for a new $4 million Rylee's Ace Hardware
store could end up creating a more customer-friendly store than first
proposed. And now that the kinks are out, construction will break
ground for sometime in June.
The
previous site plan situated the hardware store at the rear of the
former Army Armory site at 1234 Michigan Street, Grand Rapids, just a
block from Rylee's current store. Plans included a separate building at
the front of the property in order to comply with zoning code requiring
new commercial construction to have a shallow setback from the
sidewalk.
But after dropping plans for a back
entrance off Fuller Avenue, designers combined the hardware and retail
spaces in one 33,000-square-foot building, moved it up to the Michigan
Street sidewalk and located the 100-space parking lot behind.
"We think this fits the new zoning requirements better than the first site plan," says owner Lori Terpstra.
The Ace Fix-It Shop,
which is across the street from the current store located at 1121
Michigan, will be part of the new store, putting all services under one
roof.
In addition, the new store will have an
outdoor garden center offering plants, flowers and patio furniture, and
an expanded specialty housewares department that includes a
demonstration kitchen.
"We plan to hold events for the
neighborhood," Terpstra says. "Kids could come for a birthday party and
make and decorate cupcakes, or we might have a canning expert
demonstrate how to can. We've talked to several chefs and we could hold
events to teach how to make a great pie."
The leasable space offers 1,200 to 3,300 of retail area and can accommodate from one to three tenants.
Source: Lori Terpstra, Rylee's Ace Hardware
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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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