By: Deborah Johnson Wood
For two decades, the Central Bank Building in Grand Rapids' CenterCity sat vacant and decaying. In a couple of weeks, construction is expected to begin on a $2 million renovation that will bring seven upscale living opportunities to the heart of downtown.
Virgin Soil Development, LLC, owned by Brice Bossardet, plans to turn the former Central Bank building at 65 Monroe Center into lofts, condos, and a garden level office space.
Plans include four two-story loft condominiums ranging from 750 square feet to 1,100 square feet, two condos of 1,000 square feet and 1,500 square feet, and a top floor condominium of 3,700 square feet. The 2,500-square-foot office will be the development company's new digs.
When Central Bank bought the building in 1937, the bank removed the top two stories and added the reflective glass floor-to-ceiling windows. Bossardet is adding one story back on, and keeping the reflective windows.
Bossardet, who has lived in downtown condos for five of the last seven years, has paid attention to the conversations of other condo dwellers.
"The development evolves out of what I heard people saying about what they want," he said. "I've made it work so we could get condominiums on the main level. It's a contemporary building and most people who are attracted to it have contemporary tastes."
Fifteen-foot ceilings, granite countertops, wood floors, European style cabinets, and stainless steel appliances are staples in the interior design concepts.
Bossardet has sold five of the dwellings so far. The two remaining carry price tags of $294,900 and $299,000.
Source: Brice Bossardet, Virgin Soil Development, LLC
Rendering Courtesy of Virgin Soil Development
Deborah Johnson Wood is the Development News Editor for Rapid Growth. She can be reached at [email protected].
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