A developer of single-family condos and townhomes next month will ask the city of Grand Rapids to rezone 27 acres on the west side in support of a proposed 92-unit housing development.
Grand Rapids Township-based Redstone Homes will go before the Grand Rapid City Planning Commission on Nov. 9 to request a rezoning of 959 Bristol Ave. NW in Grand Rapids from mid-century neighborhood-low density residential to multifamily planned redevelopment district.
The rezoning would facilitate the construction of Condominiums at Bristol Valley, a community of 16 single-family homes and 76 townhomes that Redstone hopes to build on the 27-acre site, which is about a half-mile south of the intersection of Leonard Street and Walker Avenue NW.
Redstone Homes’ other single-family developments include Cobblestones at the Ravines in Kentwood, RiverTown Park in Wyoming/Grandville, and Trillium Glen in Plainfield Township.
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Planning Director Kristin Turkelson said that, per the city’s zoning ordinance, the development would be classified as multifamily even though all the units would be for-sale single-family units, because it’s more than three lots on a single parcel.
Still, she said the project appears to align with planning goals for the area.
“It’s pretty low-density, low-scale (and) I think that certainly low-density residential use generally makes sense for this area,” she said.
Dating back to at least the 1960s, the property at 959 Bristol was owned by DeVries & Sons and used for sand and gravel mining. Grand Rapids-based Dykema Excavators Inc. acquired the acreage in 1998 and still owns it. The site is currently vacant.
It was unclear from Redstone’s application whether the developer plans to acquire the property from Dykema, whose president Jim Dykema did not immediately return calls for comment.
David Stebbins, vice president of land development for Redstone Homes and the applicant for this project, also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In the project narrative filed with the city, Stebbins wrote that he believes the proposal is consistent with the city’s master plan and would be a “continuation of the single-family homes” that surround the property in all directions.
Stebbins also noted the site plan is designed with setbacks and buffers from the neighbors by putting all the density in the center of the property, with open space on the perimeter.
Redstone is working on the project with Robert Lamer, owner of Exxel Engineering. Lamer said the proposed development would “fit the neighborhood well.”
“It’s going to be a really nice asset to the neighborhood,” he said. “There’s lots of walking paths. It’s a use of single family, which is what’s all around there, (and) people are going to own the (townhomes) or own the condos, so it’s not a rental project. It should be a good development.”
Lamer said the site, which has a bowl shape in the center and tree-lined slopes on the exterior due to the past use, will require “some” regrading. He does not expect the location to require any significant environmental remediation.
The development would have additional screening from existing neighbors because all of the buildings would be set in the valley of the property.
According to the project application, the developer’s plan calls for 16 detached single-family homes and 18 townhome buildings with anywhere from four to six units each.
The single-family homes will have 2,257 square feet of living space, with living space and two bedrooms and two bathrooms on the main floor and a third bedroom and bathroom with additional living space upstairs.
The townhomes will be about 1,723 square feet, with the living space on the main level and three bedrooms and two bathrooms upstairs.
Both the single-family houses and townhomes will have two-stall garages and driveways that can fit an additional two cars. The development also will have guest parking scattered throughout the site.
The development will have all private interior streets accessed by two entrances off Bristol Avenue to the west — one at the intersection of Patton Avenue and the other between Woodrow Avenue and 10th Street NW.
Plans call for a series of walking paths and sidewalks that would connect to the Bristol Avenue sidewalks, as well as a shared pavilion. A pair of year-round stormwater detention ponds would also be located in the development.
Single-family home prices are expected to be in the $395,000 range, and the townhomes are expected to be marketed in the $340,000 range.
Pending approvals, Redstone hopes to start site work in spring 2024, with building construction beginning in the summer.
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Crain’s Grand Rapids Business launched in 2023, bringing together MiBiz, the Grand Rapids Business Journal and Crain Communications to create the top source of business news, analysis and information in West Michigan.