Vision, determination and a whole lot of intestinal fortitude underpin a multi-million-dollar renovation in downtown Grand Rapids. The effort could bring apartments and more downtown dwellers to the city’s core; a bustling economy could follow.
According to excerpts from the story:
GRAND RAPIDS -- One of downtown's higher-profile eyesores could be transformed into apartments and retail space. The five-story Kendall Building, empty at 16 Monroe Center NE for much of the past three decades, is under contract to be sold to Virgin Soil Development's Kendall Renaissance, LLC. Virgin Soil's Brice Bossardet said the $3.5 million to $4 million renovation is expected to create 12 two-bedroom apartments and two ground-floor retail spaces.
The building will need an extensive overhaul. Its facade is crumbling, and the sidewalks in front of it have begun caving in, forcing the city to fence off its Monroe Center frontage late last year. The building has been owned by James Azzar, who also owns the much larger and nearly vacant Keeler Building, 56 Division Ave., around the corner from the Kendall. He had been asking $750,000 for the Kendall property, and Bossardet said the asking price was not negotiable.
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