Plans For Downtown Grand Rapids Skyscraper Have Been Scrapped

Grand Rapids has continued to grow for the last 20 years but inflation has reared its ugly head and now a skyscraper project has been scrapped.

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City Tower

City Tower was a unique project that was going to utilize a corner of downtown Grand Rapids with a 24-story building that would have been located at 22 Ottawa Ave.

I'm very familiar with the location seeing how I park in the parking garage and exit where the City Tower was going to be built.

This was actually a brilliant use of space, taking a wedge in the city right across from Van Andel arena that was basically a small parking lot and then turning it into a building with 100 apartments, some condos, office space, retail space, and more parking.

Why is the City Tower Project Being Scrapped?

I have one word for why the City Tower project is being scrapped...inflation. This project was planned before the pandemic in 2019. The pandemic hits then supply chain issues along with rising costs of fuel leading to rising costs of products like steel, bricks, siding, and everything else that goes into a project of this magnitude. Let's not forget the rising interest rates either.

According to WOOD, Jason Wheeler of Wheeler Development group said, "It's not possible in this current economic market for us to move forward with this project at this scale."

Compared to 2019, the City Tower in 2022 would have cost $13 million or more to build. That is a big jump in price for a project that was going to cost in the multi-millions in the first place.

What Will Happen to the Lot at 22 Ottawa?

The City Tower project expired on October 1. So odds are this lot that is owned by the city of Grand Rapids will go back on the market and bidding on the project is possible in the future but for now, it will remain a parking lot and entrance to a parking garage.