GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Grand Rapids may soon reach new heights.
On Thursday, city leaders validated a zoning amendment that would allow buildings in certain areas of downtown Grand Rapids to build up to 20 stories, potentially varying the city's skyline.
As zoning restrictions currently stand, only developments in the main district of downtown Grand Rapids, along Monroe Avenue and Division Avenue, can pile up stories without limitation. Other areas are restricted to a maximum of 5-16 stories. That could change.
Kristen Torkelson, the city's planning director, confirmed the Grand Rapids Planning Commission had given the greenlight to a developer's proposal for a building exceeding story limits.
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"I think it's time for a change," she said, "and part of that is to allow, make it easier to build downtown Grand Rapids where the infrastructure already exists, to be able to build more massing, more scale, more housing units, we hope."
Those changes would be noticeable in the outskirts of downtown and into the city's west side. Based on a provided map of the Grand Rapids skyline, three shaded areas would see zoning amendments.
Areas shaded dark pink represent places without height limits. Light pink areas would up from 10 stories to 20, peach-colored areas from 7 to 10, and yellow areas from 4 to 7.
"It is a significant change, in that it makes it easier and more predictable to make that investment to get additional housing units to make projects financially feasible," said Torkelson. "I think that there's a lot of really great things or outcomes that we could, we could see, that are really important."
One important outcome is a response to the pressing need for housing as Grand Rapids grows. According to a study by Housing Next, a local organization focused on affordable housing, the city needs 14,000 new homes and units by 2027 to keep up with population increases.
"We've had so many changes, like I've mentioned, with market conditions. With COVID, the housing crisis has has only gotten worse. And so we sort of took a step back and said, 'You know,' I think it's time for a change.'"
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These changes were actually discussed seven years ago, Torkelson said, but were never approved back in 2015. At that time, she said city planners prioritized other features, such as access to the riverfront.
However, Thursday's zoning amendments could impact river accessibility, which is one issue the planning commission foresees and wants to incentivise. Turkelson says a solution is allow builders to reach the 7 story limit, if they provide access to the Grand River.
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Turkelson also said the planning commission has been talking with other community organization to figure out the details. "So it was really a collaborative process. DGI was involved. And we did meet with local architects, we ran it by a couple of development groups to see whether it worked. And everyone was generally supportive of it."
The Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. both voiced their approval by sending letters to the planning committee. Both mentioned the addition of housing opportunities in their statements.
Next, the zoning proposal heads to the City Commission, which gets final say. The next meeting is June 6.
