Condos coming for McKay Tower

September 8, 2006 – Grand Rapids, MIchigan –Mark Roller tipped off the folks at Urban Planet about his plans to convert the upper floors of McKay Tower into residential condominium units.

Roller, of Spring Lake, bought the building, the granddaddy of Grand Rapids "skyscrapers," earlier this year for $7.6 million, according to city records.

Roller said he's planning 11 units ranging in price from $230,000 to around $600,000.

Plans call for an owners' lounge on the 16th floor plus a rooftop deck and garden. Unlike other downtown-area residential projects, parking will not be included. Spaces are available for lease in neighboring lots.

Roller said he's also interested in talking with the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel about utilizing its valet service.

The condo units will be able to be customized to the purchasers' specifications.

"One of the things that's nice about this project is we have the flexibility to allow buyers to do whatever they want," he said.

Roller compared the project to the City View (People's/Select Bank Building) project Jon Rooks completed two blocks up Monroe Center in terms of who he's trying to attract.

"We're really going for more the sort of mix that's at City View, young urban professionals," he said. "But we're going to have a finish level that's closer to The Fitzgerald (former YMCA) than City View, so we'll end up with a fairly high-end build out."

Part of the plan calls for exterior lighting of the building's facade.

I asked him about whether he's interested in the surface lot next door owned by Ellis Parking. Roller said he's "just scratched the surface on that," studying what might be able to be built there.

The premium price he'd probably need to pay for the lot (which isn't listed for sale), plus the mix of neighboring property owners likely would make such a move cost prohibitive.

Roller said he's considering following LEED green building guidelines, but needs to study the issue further.