Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. (DGRI) seeks proposals to complete Concept Design, Design Development, and Construction Documentation services for a comprehensive connection strategy related to Belknap Hill, Monroe North, Downtown Grand Rapids, and the Grand River.

This project is in close collaboration with the City of Grand Rapids, Neighbors of Belknap Lookout (NOBL), the Monroe North Business Association, Monroe North neighbors, Spectrum Health, Grand Valley State University, and Michigan State University.

Project Background

For more than a decade the connections between Belknap Hill, Monroe North, and Downtown have been studied through various plans and visioning projects. While these efforts illustrate community-supported goals and high-quality visioning, they lack a cohesive strategy to implement tenable connections between the various neighborhoods, institutions, businesses, employment centers, and people associated with this unique geographic area.

Today, this area of Grand Rapids is strengthened by purposeful and directed investments and planned generational river transformation projects that will reshape the environment and provide an even greater need for human-scaled infrastructure that enhances livability and vitality.

Past projects provide a sound foundation, while these planned future projects provide a critical framework.

This future opportunity comes with an urgency to deliver meaningful connections in a timely fashion to bring people to the places that are evolving adjacent to them.

This project intends to build upon the high-quality decades-long engagement and resulting plans to forge a series of “shovel-ready” network interventions that are informed by both yesterday’s voices and today’s opportunities.

Project Goals, Framework, Criteria & Submissions

For more information about the scope of this project, view the full Request for Proposals (RFP).

All interested consultants are encouraged to send an email to Mark Miller (mmiller@downtowngr. org) to register their intent to respond to this RFP. Questions should be directed to Mr. Miller as well.

All firms expressing interest will be added to an email distribution list and will be notified if additional
information related to the RFP becomes available.

Firms that fail to register in this manner may not receive all information relevant to the preparation of their proposals.

Questions must be submitted by 5 PM EST on Friday, June 18, 2021.
Responses will be sent to all registered participants no later than 5 PM on Friday, June 25, 2021.

A digital copy of the proposal in PDF format is due by 1 PM EST on Monday, July 12, 2021.
Proposals shall be emailed to mmiller@downtowngr.org. Digital files only.