Leonard St Developments (2024)
UPDATE 2024-07-17: A demolition permit has been filed for 851 Leonard St NW, and the City Commission has approved the PRD for 385 (301) Leonard St NE. These projects may be in Construction status soon. Also a trailer of fencing has been parked at the site of 1340 Monroe Ave NW. UPDATE 2024-09-25: 851 Leonard St NW changed from status defunct to construction; fencing has gone up around the site.
Is 2024 the year of Leonard St? As the [re]development of Wealthy St and Bridge St corridors have continued at a steady pace the [re]development of other corridors has been more uneven. But now the Leonard St corridor seems to be rolling; if all the projects come to fruition the corridor will have between 700 and 850 new residential units within five (5) years. Having between eight hundred and a thousand new neighbors would have a significant impact on the vitality of the corridor which is already seeing a growing number of open store front businesses; including Furn On Leonard to Nature's ReLeaf. These new shops have joined legacy businesses like The Shade Shop, Ralph's Food Market, Wengers Bowling Center, and Northwestern Home Furnishings which have endured all the economic twists and turns of the last century, as well as the long slow catastrophe that is American Urban Planning. While a significant amount of vacancy remains - meanwhile the Wealthy St corridor flirts with zero vacancy - the direction of the Leonard St corridor is heavy with promise.
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This corridor provides the city of Grand Rapids another chance at excellence. So far the city has tucked its tail regarding bicycle infrastructure west of Alpine due to a cabal of business owner's concern for street parking, yet has also continued to fund the Dash and is proceeding with a north-south connection from Leonard to Ann (see below). Hopefully some learning has occurred and the city can do a better job of getting in line with development rather than the dithering we've seen on Bridge St - where the city has invested nothing for pedestrians, cyclists, or public transit. Density is an environmental, economic, and cultural good; but it can be done with excellence, or it can be done ... "American". Mark Washington, Grand Rapids' City Manager, has remarked several times on his frustration at the continued lack of high density development in the city. However, the city has not demonstrated its commitment to doing even mid-rise density all that well. As these corridors grow and re-fill there is no better time to make the investments in mobility infrastructure which supports the best experience of a dense urban environment.
805 & 825 Leonard St NE
Status: Approved
Type: Residential Rehabilitation Facility
Year: 2025 ?
Transit: Rapid#15
Previous Use: Office Space, Medical (Blodgett St. John's)
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385 Leonard St NE
Status: Proposed / Approved
Type: Residential (118 units), mixed-use with a very small potential commercial space. Includes both micro-units and four-bedroom units.
Year: 2025 ?
Transit: Rapid#11, Rapid#15
Current Use: vacant
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~50 Leonard St NE
This project is actually 1340 Monroe Ave NW, but being a significant [potential] development only a block off of Leonard this seems like it should be included.
Status: Proposed / Unknown
Type: Mixed-Use Residential (260 - 526 units)
Year: 2025 ?
Transit: Rapid#11, DASH
Current Status: abandoned industrial
Brownfield tax credits to support the first phase of the development have been approved, however there has been no activity on the site. The plan is for the entirety of the existing site to be demolished and cleared.
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- Mixed-Use Residential (260 units in phase one, more units in a potential second phase), MLive 2023-05-10
- Developers seek tax credits to transform Grand Rapids industrial building , Crains 2019-04-08
- Grand Rapids board approves $21.6M brownfield plan for Creston mixed-use project, Crains 2023-08-24
Trail Project
Type: Path / Greenway
Year: 2024 (?) - 2025
Transit: Rapid#11, DASH
Current: Abandoned railroad right-of-way; the tracks have been absent for at least a decade.
While the city has made no progress on creating an east-west right-of-way for cyclists and pedestrians the progression of the north-south connectivity is more promising. It is possible that some construction could begin yet this year. The Grand River Edge East path will close the gap between Monroe North / Canal Park and the White Pine Trail.
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- Grand River Edge East Trail, Segment 4 Easement, UrbanGR 2024-04-23
260 Leonard St NW
Status: Discussed / Defunct?
Type: Residential, Mixed-Use
Year: ?
Transit: Rapid#7, DASH
This project was discussed prior to the rezoning of this area from Transitional City Center to City Center by the City Commission in January of 2024. This rezoning was performed at the request of unnamed developers regarding an unknown number of inquiries. The rezoning allows for greater height and eliminates parking requirements.
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- Proposed 10-story apartment, commercial building would replace ‘eyesore’ along the Grand River, MLive 2023-02-17
- Planning Agenda: 2023-12-14, UrbanGR 2023-12-14 (Front & Scriber Rezoning)
401 Leonard St NW
Status: Discussed / Unknown?
Type: Residential, Mixed-Use, ~100 apartments
Year: ?
Transit: Rapid#7, DASH
This is the corner of Leonard & Turner, the former Brann's restaurant. A ~100 unit development has been discussed with no specificity as to the scale or timeline. The Brann's owners were also the owner of the 415 Leonard St NW property discussed next.
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- After 50 years, landmark Grand Rapids restaurant to be demolished, MLive 2024-06-06
- Owners to raze Johnny Brann’s Steakhouse for new $30M mixed-use development , Crains, 2024-06-06
415 Leonard St NW
Status: Operational
Type: Office
Year: 2020
Transit: Rapid#7, DASH
Previous Use: vacant, three structures were demolished
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- Developers plan new west side Grand Rapids office building, Crains 2019-12-03
433 Leonard St NW
Status: Construction
Type: Retail & Venue
Previous Use: Restaurant (Lanning's)
Transit: Rapid#7, DASH
Year: 2024 -
Site of the former Lanning's restaurant, which has been demolished. The new building is the future home of Devries Jewelers who will vacate their current retail space. The new facility will include a second floor venue area.
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450 Leonard St NW
Status: Operational
Type: Restaurant
Transit: Rapid#7, DASH
Website: https://www.bagelkitchengr.com/
Year: 2024
The newly renovated home of Bagel Kitchen's second location; the first location is in Gaslight Village (East Grand Rapids). Bagel Kitchen joins this revitalized retail block which is also the home of Furn On Leonard, Captain Bizzaro's Treasure World, and the More Or Less NA bottle shop.
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- Bagel shop plans second location on Grand Rapids’ west side, Crains 2023-09-20
510 Leonard St NW
Status: Approved
Type: Residential (3 units)
Transit: Rapid#7, DASH
Year: 2024
Image is from Google Maps streetview and thus may not be current.
This is a renovation of an existing structure into three (3) residential units.
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555 Leonard St NW
Status: Discussed / Unknown?
Type: Residential, Mixed-Used (four stories, 28 units)
Year: 2025 - 2026 ?
Transit: Rapid#7, DASH
Current Use: vacant lot
This lot is current used as a [gravel] parking lot, located next to Long Road Distillery. There is a transit shelter for the south / in-bound Rapid #7 located across Leonard next to Two Scott's BBQ.
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662 Leonard St NW
Status: Construction
Type: Recreational, Venue
Year: 2024 - 2025
Transit: Rapid#7, Rapid#9, DASH
Previous Use: vacant, formerly a grocery market.
The Pickle 'N Pin recreational venue, with indoor pickle ball courts and golf simulator.
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- Planning Commission Agenda 2024-02-22, UrbanGR
- Indoor pickleball, golf simulator venue planned for Grand Rapids’ west side, Crains
730 Leonard St NW
Status: Operational
Type: Residential Mixed-user (18 units)
Website: https://www.730leonard.com/
Year: 2020 - 2022
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- Warehouses, hotels, offices: Empty buildings become housing in Michigan, MLive 2022-12-17
754 Leonard St NW
Status: Operational
Type: Residential (36 units), Mixed-Use
Year: 2016 - 2018
Transit: Rapid#7, Rapid#9
Name: Leo & Al
Website: https://www.leoandal.com/
This is the grand daddy of all modern Leonard St developments; it - way back in 2016 - was the first multi-story mixed-use development on the Leonard St corridor. It sat alone for four long years, until the redevelopment of its near neighbor at 730 Leonard St NW in 2020.
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851 Leonard St NW
Status: Construction
Type: Residential (55 senior living units)
Transit: Rapid#7, Rapid#9
Year: 2025 ?
Transit: Rapid#7, Rapid#9
Previous Use: Funeral Home (Van't Hof Chapel)
LIHTC affordable housing credits were approved in August of 2023. After a long period of no apparent activity construction fencing went up around the site in September (2024).
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- Planning Commission Agenda 2023-02-23, UrbanGR
- Developers win $1.4M in tax credits for 55-unit senior housing project in Grand Rapids, Crains 2023-08-11
- Affordable housing development planned for Grand Rapids' Northwest Side, MLive 2020-09-25
- 38-unit affordable housing apartment complex planned on GR’s West Side, Crains 2020-09-09
900 Leonard St NW
Status: Operational
Type: Residential Mixed-Use (120 units)
Year: 2023 - 2024
Transit: Rapid#7, Rapid#9
Name: Victory On Leonard
Previous Use: The site of The Geek Group, which had taken over the defunct West Side YMCA facility.
Website: https://www.victoryonleonard.com/
A transit shelter has been installed for Rapid#7 users.
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