Forbes just named GR #1 place to invest in house (apartment, neighborhood)

[Lockdev]

Originally Posted by mjlo

Home building soars as buyers scramble to find housing | MLive.com


Home building upticking quite a bit. All of the new houses being built are within the current urban boundaries creating more density. How long before new developments pop out in the outlying suburbs? One thing GR does not have that a lot of it's growing peers do is new emerging areas. It's less sprawled and almost all growth in the past 5 years has come as infill.

Thank god.

The nice thing about GR is there is a lot of space to build.

Hopefully this will give some relief to those looking to buy a house.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by mjlo

Home building soars as buyers scramble to find housing | MLive.com


Home building upticking quite a bit. All of the new houses being built are within the current urban boundaries creating more density. How long before new developments pop out in the outlying suburbs? One thing GR does not have that a lot of it's growing peers do is new emerging areas. It's less sprawled and almost all growth in the past 5 years has come as infill.

I've noticed quite an uptick in residential developments in the burbs this Spring starting up. Projects that sat dormant for quite a while are coming back to life. It's a good time to be an excavator, tree removal company and/or road builder.

[mjlo]

Originally Posted by magellan

I've noticed quite an uptick in residential developments in the burbs this Spring starting up. Projects that sat dormant for quite a while are coming back to life. It's a good time to be an excavator, tree removal company and/or road builder.

That's what I'm saying, all of the new construction is in established areas. I think it's fairly unique to the Grand Rapids area. All of the new commercial and residential growth is happening in established corridors. There are no new emerging areas or exurban growth really. When they start updating the infrastructure in Ottawa County on it's plethora of inadequate country roads you'll know they are finally serious about the growth that is happening here.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by mjlo

That's what I'm saying, all of the new construction is in established areas. I think it's fairly unique to the Grand Rapids area. All of the new commercial and residential growth is happening in established corridors. There are no new emerging areas or exurban growth really. When they start updating the infrastructure in Ottawa County on it's plethora of inadequate country roads you'll know they are finally serious about the growth that is happening here.

Have you been out in Allendale lately? Out beyond 56th? That's quite a boom area right now.

[mjlo]

Originally Posted by magellan

Have you been out in Allendale lately? Out beyond 56th? That's quite a boom area right now.

Yeah I drive LMD out to my office almost 5 days a week. I know they are building things and people are moving there. But there is almost NO expansion in actual road infrastructure in Ottawa County. Or expansion in Commercial areas. If you have to travel east to west in Ottawa CO your option is pretty much LMD. If you're traveling South-North and you're not on the lakeshore you have to make a series of turns on small country roads. It is the fastest growing county in the state, and will likely be over 300k in population by 2020. It seems like nothing is being done to bring the infrastructure into the modern era.


Although that may be by design. If those upgrades were actually made it's growth rate would probably double, and slow the growth in Kent Co a bit. Lord knows it's core resident base is beyond change averse.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by mjlo

Yeah I drive LMD out to my office almost 5 days a week. I know they are building things and people are moving there. But there is almost NO expansion in actual road infrastructure in Ottawa County. Or expansion in Commercial areas. If you have to travel east to west in Ottawa CO your option is pretty much LMD. If you're traveling South-North and you're not on the lakeshore you have to make a series of turns on small country roads. It is the fastest growing county in the state, and will likely be over 300k in population by 2020. It seems like nothing is being done to bring the infrastructure into the modern era.


Although that may be by design. If those upgrades were actually made it's growth rate would probably double, and slow the growth in Kent Co a bit. Lord knows it's core resident base is beyond change averse.

People like to live within striking distance of a highway interchange (3 - 4 miles). Anything further than that and most people feel like it's "way out there honey." Until 231 gets put in all the way, the area between 56th and 31 will remain mostly low density development.

[mjlo]

Originally Posted by magellan

People like to live within striking distance of a highway interchange (3 - 4 miles). Anything further than that and most people feel like it's "way out there honey." Until 231 gets put in all the way, the area between 56th and 31 will remain mostly low density development.

I understand but you can't even get from 196 to Allendale direct.

[michigan83]

You guys are making me thankful to live east of GR. For some reason the sprawl seems way worse to the west and south of GR. Hudsonville/Jenison/Allendale don't seem all that appealing to me, but people keep moving there. Go figure.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by michigan83

You guys are making me thankful to live east of GR. For some reason the sprawl seems way worse to the west and south of GR. Hudsonville/Jenison/Allendale don't seem all that appealing to me, but people keep moving there. Go figure.

To the South and the West is mainly farmland, and townships love to see farmland turned into housing and commercial developments because the tax revenue is so much higher than agriculture. It's easier and cheaper out there. The whole East Side of Kent County didn't get used intensively for farming because of the terrain, until you get out toward Lowell and East of Rockford. Those rolling wooded neighborhoods are expensive to develop.

Ada Township recently instituted 2 acre minimum lots for much of their township, to impede development, because the assessed values are so high and Amway pays a lot in taxes. They don't need the money quite as much and they want to preserve the rural character of the township.

Grand Rapids Township wants development, but basically only concentrated along the East Beltline corridor, Fulton, and Forest Hills Avenue. The rest of the township is challenging at best.

My guess is the next wave of larger developments will come in Caledonia, Lowell and Dorr, and obviously Hudsonville/Allendale will continue. Property in the desirable areas is becoming too expensive, land owners have gone crazy and think they can command any price, when really, developers will just look elsewhere further out.

[michigan83]

Interesting stuff. Thanks Magellan. As someone who has spent a lot of time living on the eastern outskirts of the GR metro, I have always wondered why the development seems to happen more on the "other side of town." That makes sense.