GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Ending months of speculation, the architects and developers of a new office building for the law firm of Warner Norcross & Judd have unveiled plans for a twin-tower development that will rise 15 stories along Ottawa Avenue NW.

The $63.5 million project at 150 Ottawa Avenue NW will include ground floor retail space, 14 floors with 123 one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments in one tower and seven floors of office space on top of seven floors of parking in the second tower.

Renderings submitted to the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) show the apartment tower will be located at the northeast corner of Ottawa Avenue and Pearl Street NW, across the street from the Trust Building and the Waters Building.

The office tower and parking garage will built at the southwest corner of Ionia Avenue and Lyon Street, across the street from the Kent County Court Building and Ferris State University's Kendall College of Art and Design.

The project developers are asking the DDA to approve a 15-year reimbursement of $3.7 million for expenses related to the costs of making the property barrier free and accessible. Project manager John Wheeler said the project is expected to support 200 new jobs.



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Construction is expected to begin next spring and be complete within two years, according to DDA CEO Kris Larson. The DDA will discuss the request on Wednesday, Oct. 12.

The primary tenant will be the law firm of Warner Norcross and Judd, which announced 11 months ago it was leaving its offices in the Fifth Third Building, 111 Lyon Street NW, for a new headquarters on the vacant lot across the corner of Ottawa Avenue and Lyon Street NW.

The land has been used as a surface parking lot in the heart of downtown since 1966, when the Houseman Building was razed as part of the city's urban renewal movement.