February 2011 - GRM

Page 24

Design: Critic’s Choice

A sustainable Cheetah by Mark F. MiLLer aia

These retail spaces share Wealthy Street frontage with residential structures, creating a series of commercial nodes where streetcars once stopped along this bustling corridor. The buildings are an impressive mix of eras and styles, ranging from vintage Victorian storefronts to subdued mid-century modern edifices. This assortment of styles provides a backdrop that accentuates the neighborhood’s unique blend of locally owned enterprises, while also providing inspiration for infill projects. The intersection of Wealthy and Diamond has been the beneficiary of some of these projects and has become a cradle of modern translations of the urban architectural form. A pair of elegant modern rowhouses at 348350 Diamond began the trend in 2007, and the construction of the mixed-used building at 1025 Wealthy St. helped to reinforce this pattern of contextual modernism. This building, the brainchild of Bear Manor Properties, a neighborhood development company owned by siblings Barry and Jackson

PhotograPhy by MiChaeL buCk

tHE HIstorIC BloCKs of Wealthy Street — starting at Union Avenue and extending to the Wealthy Heights neighborhood just east of Diamond Avenue — represent an eclectic mix of businesses and buildings that help to form a vibrant and sustainable urban neighborhood.

22 Grand rapids February 2011

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1/3/11 8:15 AM


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