Plan for old Charley’s Crab site would be ‘skyline-defining,’ firm says
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The architecture and design firm behind the Acrisure Amphitheater on Friday revealed its proposal for another major redevelopment project in downtown Grand Rapids, with a scope like nothing the city has ever seen.
"It's what we would refer to as a riverfront urban placemaking project," Progressive Companies CEO and President Brad Thomas told News 8. "Our firm has always been focused on the community we live in first. We have had the wonderful privilege of working on some of the great physical assets in this community and we're really excited about redefining the skyline. We believe this will be a skyline-defining project."
THE DETAILS
The 1.2-million-square-foot plan would redesign more than six acres of vacant property that was formerly home to Charley's Crab — which closed in 2020 and was demolished earlier this year — and the surface parking lot at the corner of Fulton Street and Market Avenue.
PDF: Proposal details and renderings
The proposal includes three high-rise towers sitting above retail and restaurant space.
The first 420,000-square-foot office tower would house 1,600 full-time workers. The residential and hotel tower would share a base that would provide 32,270 square feet of retail space, supporting 595 residential units, 130 new hotel rooms and six condominium units.
The podiums of the towers would also house more than 2,500 parking spaces.
The towers would be surrounded on the ground floor by a host of natural, public amenities, including a promenade extension of Weston Street to the Grand River and connecting to new trails that are part of the amphitheater project and redeveloped trails heading north along the riverbank.
Project to add trails, river access by Grand Rapids amphitheater site
THE PRICE TAG
The development will take an estimated $738 million in private investment.
The steep price is due, in part, to the quality of the soil and bedrock at the site. Progressive Companies told News 8 the site used to be part of the Grand River and was filled in more than 100 years ago. In addition, voids in the bedrock beneath the riverbed have caused problems for downtown development before. They were the main driver of a closure and reconstruction of the US-131 S-curve in the late 1990s.
$252M in incentives for stadium, amphitheater approved by state
As a result, the design group is lobbying for public assistance through a Transformational Brownfield Plan Incentive — a state-backed plan to provide incentive-based reimbursement to the largest of redevelopment projects.
"It's on a population basis, so in the city of Grand Rapids it has to be a $100-milion project or larger," Thomas from Progressive Companies said. "It's intended for projects that would not be financially viable without incentives."
If approved, the incentives would be paid out over 20 years and only if certain performance standards are met, including occupancy of residential, retail and office spaces.
The first step in getting that approval is a presentation to the Grand Rapids Brownfield Redevelopment Authority on Sept. 25.
Asked why the company wouldn't just design a smaller project that is more appropriate for the conditions of the soil and bedrock, Thomas said it's all about opportunity.
"If you look at the city of Grand Rapids Master Plan, this the core of downtown and is an unlimited height district. It's where the city envisions the highest density of development," he said. "Also, as we have been working with developers, they have shared their goal would be to go higher and maximize the level of public space on the ground floor which makes it very attractive for users."
With contributions from renting out apartments and selling the condos, the development is expected to contribute about $8.5 million to Grand Rapids' affordable housing fund over 20 years — enough to support 85 affordable units, project organizers say.
GR planners hand over master plan draft: What's next?
THE TIMELINE
Local approval is the first step. There will be a follow-up meeting with the Grand Rapids Authority on Oct. 16, followed by presentations to the City Commission on Nov. 12 and 19.
The group also plans to speak with the Heartside Business Association on Oct. 16, the Heartside Neighborhood Association on Oct. 22 and the Downtown Neighborhood Network on Nov. 7. It will also engage with The Rapid bus service in late September and the Plaza Towers in October and November.
Pending local approval, it will appeal to the Michigan Strategic Fund Board in February, eyeing a phased construction start next fall.
The goal would be to complete the project in the fall of 2028 and spring of 2029.
