The Three Towers

The Towers

Addresses: 3, 17, 21, 37, 41, 45, 47, 53, and 63 Market Avenue SW, 216 Fulton Street W

Site: 6.9 acres / 10 parcels

Total Square/Footage: 1,241,834sq/ft; 106,628sq/ft residential for-sale, 476,350sq/ft residential for-rent, 420,000sq/ft office, 137,006 hotel, 37,880sq/ft retail

Total Residential Units: 671 (595 rental, 76 condominium). This is +6.1% towards downtown's goal of 11,000 residential units.

Total Parking Spaces: 2,510

Total Estimated Cost: $738,000,000

Completion of entire project expected to be in the summer of 2029.

vv

Tower #1 (Office Tower)

• 21 story office building, tentative start Fall of 2025
• 13 stories dedicated to a single office user (maybe with first right of refusal on other floors)?

Tower #2 (Residential)

• 43 story residential building, tentative start Summer of 2026
• 6 story wrapped residential around parking structure

Tower #3 (Hotel & Condominium)

• 27 story hotel / residential condos - tentative start Summer of 2026
• 130 hotel rooms, 76 luxury condos (2 and 3 bedroom)

The Tax Incentives

• $296,000,000 TBP (Transformaiton Brown Filed)
• $247,000,000 BRA (Brownfield Redevelopment Authority)

Public hearings at CC on 2024-11-12, consideration on 2024-12-03; TBP in 2025-02

Affordable Housing Contribution

• $8,500,000 to the City's Affordable Housing Fund

Public Access

Planning is underway for public access to riverfront. The entirety of site not covered by a building will be open to the public 24/7. Design of the river and trail systems is underway, there will likely be no details until the site plan is proposed in mid-2025.

Weston will be pedestrian promenade with retail and restaurants along street all the way to river. The promenade will be an active space, lined with retail and commercial.

An at-grade crossing at Fulton St is expected as the bridge is too low to accommodate a passage below it.

Upcoming

• Brownfield incentives on December 3 by the City Commission, APPROVED
• Development partner brought on board (1st of year)
• Present to the Michigan Strategic Fund, February 2025
• Site Plan Approval, Summer 2025
  • Won’t need to go in front of Planning Commission (though planning commission has been working with them for a long period of time)(?)
  • Zoning requirements will need to be met, no zoning waivers or exceptions are being sought. Everything presented so far (Nov. 2024) conforms to the current zoning ordinance.
• Construction to begin in late 2025 (Fall)

The Math

Or, what is in it for the city? Simple: revenue.

This, seemingly enormous, tax credit scheme is paid for ~6/7th by the State of Michigan. The city will quickly recoup any cost. Municipal income tax is NOT exempted by the tax credit; all the residents and employees will pay municipal income tax from day one. This represented, pessimistically, just under a million dollars a year into the city's uncommitted general fund. This amount could easily be in excess of $1,200,0000. Every year. This general fund revenue is the money our elected leaders can make decisions about - including contributing something to the Affordable Housing Fund. Every year.

Nearly all property tax revenue comes with commitments - what it is for - and the city has very little flexibility how that revenue is spent. Additionally the State of Michigan poaches a large share of property tax and sales tax revenue; a large share of those collected taxes are meant to be returned by the state to "CVTs" (Cities, Villiages, and Townships): "Revenue Sharing". Over time the State of Michigan returns less and less revenue to local governments; the State of Michigan has created the constant fiscal crisis faced by local governments. By its own misguided tax policies, poor management, and irresponsible investments the State of Michigan now requires that revenue to prop itself up. The corruption and incompetence of our leaders in Lansing have created an vast, sprawling, and ultimately unsupportable state. The State of Michigan is broke. Or it would be if it did not have its urban residents and their industry to feed upon. Any revenue surrendered by the State of Michigan which benefits Michigan's cities is much more a long overdue payment on an incalculable debt than it is a tax credit

Michigan's cities are in the sad position that they must both set the table for Lansing and then feed on the scraps Lansing leaves behind. Even unpalatable opportunities must be exploited to their fullest.

News & Related Items

• DeVos, Van Andel families plan massive ‘skyline defining’ project in Grand Rapids, MLive 2024-09-20
• Massive $739M project with 3 towers eyed for downtown Grand Rapids riverfront , Crains 2024-09-20
• Downtown Development Authority 2024-10-09, Youtube 2024-10-09
  • DDA will pass through their capture to BRA, retaining 25% : """The project is requesting that the DDA allow 75% of the DDA’s TIF capture from the project site to flow through to the City Brownfield Redevelopment Authority for the remainder of the DDA’s TIF capture."""
  • A public access easement agreement will be established with the DA agenda
• Brownfield Commission, 2024-10-16, Youtube 2024-10-16
  • Agenda Item
• Coalition wants Fulton & Market developer to boost ‘pathetically small’ affordable housing donation , Crains 2024-11-04
• City Commission, 2024-11-12; Public Hearing, Youtube 2024-11-12, Brownfield Public Comment
  • Agenda Item
• Grand Rapids holds hearing on triple tower development project, WOODTV8 2024-11-12
• Grand Rapids City Commission wrestles with affordable housing piece of $797M riverfront development, Crains 2024-11-18
• Controversial DeVos, Van Andel project is ‘unacceptable’ as proposed, commissioner says, MLive 2024-11-20
• The Fulmar “Three Towers” Development and TSP, StrongtownsGR 2024-11-23
• GR City Commission to vote on project that would create downtown’s tallest building, WOODTV8 2024-12-03
• Controversial DeVos, Van Andel riverfront development project clears major hurdle, MLIVE 2024-12-03
• GR commission OKs project that would create downtown’s tallest building , WOODTV8 2024-12-03

Site & Existing Conditions (2024)

Notes & uncategorized:

• Green roofs for residents as well as cooling
• Intention is to build whole development at once, staged, but not likely to build office tower then stop (office tower is “most risky” part of development and will go first). So it is very likely to be "all or nothing"
• Developer will pay for riverfront, city (DGRI?) will pay for maintenance