Project Description
The developer, Orion Real Estate Solutions (ORES), saw a growing need for housing that is tailored towards the downtown young professional who frequents the many nightlife and entertainment venues that Grand Rapids has to offer. The program called for an 11-story tower containing 94 apartment units, a club room, fitness center, and outdoor deck, all on the same site as a new 3,000-seat concert venue, 20 Monroe Live.
Ghafari’s team attended extensive design meetings with ORES to understand their vision and detail the product they wanted to bring to market. We visited other projects and conducted exhaustive design research in order to generate a model that successfully achieves this vision.
The project contains a mix of micro studio, one- and two-bedroom apartment units. Our team provided a dynamic solution to the challenge of fitting apartment units and a concert hall into a tight urban site while preserving the adjacent “BOB” entertainment building, a Grand Rapids staple. Given the positioning of the apartments above a 3,000-seat concert hall, we provided extensive acoustical treatment. One of our solutions was to provide the apartment tower with a 35-foot tall lobby to help offset noise transfer.
The final product provides residents with close access to the BOB, Van Andel Arena, and many restaurants. Each apartment has floor to ceiling windows, providing residents with city views, in addition to amenities such as a club room, outdoor entertainment area, fitness studio, and even ticket perks at 20 Monroe Live.