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[Sold: $248,700] Just Listed: 407 College SE – $249,900

FULL LISTING HERE

Heritage Hill, Grand Rapids MI. This beautiful piece of local history in Grand Rapids’ first neighborhood was built for the local dentist, where he practiced from his small brick office on the side of the home. Nestled among the mansions of former lumber barons and mature tree-lined streets, this Arts & Craft style home hosts a large bath with 4 nice bedrooms upstairs, allowing for an open flow on the main floor. Out back you’ll find the rare pairing of an attached garage with a large, manicured back yard. The gorgeous original oak floors have just been professionally refinished throughout, complemented nicely with original trim and built-in bookcases, fully intact. Seize the opportunity today to invest in this desirable location just outside of downtown GR while it is still affordable.

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FULL LISTING HERE

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TV’s “This Old House” names Grand Rapids’ Heritage Hill a 2011 Best Old House Neighborhood

Thanks Rapid Growth Media: ARTICLE
This Old House: FULL ARTICLE

THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 2011

Photo: Courtesy of the Heritage Hill Association

ThisOldHouse.com touts Grand Rapids’ historic Heritage Hill neighborhood as one of the top 12 “old house neighborhoods” in the country for sustaining a sense of place in a storied residential area, and the best Old-house neighborhood in Michigan.

excerpt:

Why Buy Here?
Though short sales and foreclosures haven’t hit Grand Rapids (long the center of the office-furniture industry) as they have Detroit and other automotive cities, the down market hasn’t overlooked Heritage Hill. Today, you can grab the former castle of a lumber baron or wealthy judge—and walk from home to work in the city’s center—for what amounts to pocket change in other places.

Read the complete story here.

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Community Groups Address Housing Concerns at GR City Commission Briefing

Link to full RAPIDIAN ARTICLE

A coalition of 24 community organizations will be presenting a position paper to the Grand Rapids City Commission at 10:30am tomorrow (7/27/2010) calling for cooperation to address growing housing concerns as a result of the recent changes in the real estate market.

The position paper calls for three primary issues to be addressed.

* Ensuring a minimum standard of quality among all rental units by adding single family rental units to the City’s rental inspection and certification program.

* Redesigning the City’s vacant property inspections program to mitigate the negative effects that the foreclosure crisis has had on property values, crime, and neighborhood stability.

* Creating a comprehensive, accessible, and accurate database of parcel information.

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Baxter Neighborhood Gets New Park in 2010

Check it out! My Sign is used in the story:

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Go Grand Rapids! CNN Article

Link
Full Article.

Excerpt:
(Fortune) — It is not the kind of view you expect these days in downtrodden Michigan. From this rooftop plaza on the 17th floor of Bridgewater Place, evidence of urban renewal spreads in every direction. Directly to the south is the modern campus of Grand Valley State University, home to 11,000 students. Across the Grand River lies the sprawl of the redeveloped entertainment district, with its new arena and convention center, steps away from downtown business and government office buildings. Atop a hill to the east is the city’s crown jewel: a $1 billion (and growing) medical complex that includes a cancer research center, specialized treatment facilities, and a medical school.

This is Grand Rapids, a small city (pop. 200,000) in western Michigan with a redevelopment plan that has lessons for other cities looking to engineer new growth after the decline of old-economy industries. That this plan has taken hold in, of all places, the Rustbelt of Michigan makes it all the more remarkable. Two decades ago the city could have been headed the way of Flint, Pontiac, and, yes, Detroit. But instead its fortunes have steadily improved, thanks to a remarkable combination of business leadership, public-private cooperation, and the deep pockets of local philanthropists.

Grand Rapids is much smaller than that city on Michigan’s eastern coast, Detroit (pop. 800,000). Its populace is a bit more diverse, its suburban leaders were willing to work with city government, and its issues were much less complex. But at a moment when corporate, philanthropic, and political leaders in Detroit are just beginning the process of working together to help revive the city (see “Downsizing Detroit” on time.com), the Grand Rapids reinvention is worth examining. For years Detroiters were promised that one master project after another would solve their woes. None did. But in Grand Rapids, business leaders painstakingly set goals, aligned with government officials, generated support, and empowered key players. “Every community has a culture, and you have to pick out what works in your own town,” says Birgit Klohs, the energetic head of Right Place, a local economic development group. “You have to figure out who the leaders are, get them onto a team, create the vision, and get everybody headed in the same direction.”

more at bit.ly/gogr

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What’s your “Walk Score?”

Compare your home, or a home you are considering renting or purchasing, to the rest of the city.
Get your Walk Score

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GRPS MEAP Scores: 5th Year of Improvement!

From GRAR.com:
The latest MEAP scores released on Friday, March 12, 2010 showed that GRPS students and schools are continuing a five year streak of dramatic academic gains. The MEAP results demonstrated that since 2005, MEAP scores increased across the board – at every grade level tested – in math, science and reading.
The greatest gains were in MEAP Math. In 2005, the percentage of students scoring proficient or higher was in the high 20s and low 30s. Today, students scoring proficient are in the 60s, 70s, and 80s – in some cases doubling or tripling the percent of proficient scores.
As a result of these dramatic academic gains, GRPS has seen the number of schools meeting AYP skyrocket since 2006. In 2006, only 26 of 55 schools met federal standards. Today, 45 of 55 schools are meeting AYP – just 10 schools shy of every school in the district “making the grade.”
“I want to commend the students, teachers, and school leaders for the hard work that went into preparing for the MEAP,” said Dr. Bernard Taylor, Jr. “There is still a lot of work to be done and many areas where we need to make improvements, but these results further demonstrate that the reforms and improvements we are making are taking root and GRPS is on the right track.”

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Featured Neighborhood Profile: Heritage Hill

Market Data Compiled 1/25/10 by Pete Bruinsma, GRI.

Sales in past year:

Frequently Requested Heritage Hill Info:

  • Heritage Hill is one of Grand Rapids’ oldest neighborhoods. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971
  • Downtown location borders downtown businesses, schools, US-131, I-196/96, as well as the Medical Mile and Uptown.
  • Property tax millage:  Homestead: 29.76 / Non-Homestead: 47.76
  • Price/square foot $91.23
  • Health facilities
  • Parks and recreational facilities
  • Convenient to many restaurants, cafes, shopping in all directions
  • Population: Population 4,429  Age 18-64: 86%

    • More info on Crime statistics Population Density, Owners vs Renters, School District, can be found here.
    Great Article: http://www.rapidgrowthmedia.com/Cities/HeritageHill/

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