Sixty Years Later, We Cut the Ribbon Again
On June 1, 2026, we gathered at 111 Lyon Street NW and cut the ribbon for the second time.
The first was May 31, 1966. Old Kent Bank had just completed a 10-story tower in the heart of downtown Grand Rapids, built at the exact moment businesses were heading for the suburbs. Downtown was losing ground. Old Kent Bank went the other direction. They built a headquarters tower here and anchored what became a half-century of public-private investment that shaped modern Grand Rapids.
Sixty years and one day later, we opened the building again.
The Residences at One Eleven, Michigan's first major office-to-residential conversion, is officially open. The first residents move in this June. The building that has stood at this address since 1966 is about to become home to 140 households.
"In 1966, at a time when all others were fleeing to the suburbs, Old Kent Bank made a massive commitment to staying downtown and anchored this redevelopment with this building. This commitment was the birthplace of the public-private culture of our city — a culture that is alive and well today."
— Sam Cummings, Managing Partner, CWD Real Estate Investment
A Building Worth Saving
We acquired the building from Fifth Third Bank in 2016, fifty years after the original ribbon cutting. For several years, we worked through design iterations and conversations with potential anchor tenants. None of them fit.
The question shifted. We stopped asking who might occupy the office space and started asking what downtown Grand Rapids needed. The answer was housing.
"Our vision is to take what we have the most of and convert it to what is most in demand. We have a housing and affordable housing shortage, and people's work habits have changed over the past five or six years — how do we combine all those factors and convert what we have the most of into what is most needed, which helps everything."
— Sam Cummings, Managing Partner, CWD Real Estate Investment
We converted floors four through ten into 140 apartments: 105 one-bedroom and 35 two-bedroom residences. Twenty-eight units are income-qualified. Construction broke ground in March 2025. Sixteen months later, the building is ready.
The floor plate at 111 Lyon lays out almost perfectly for residential. We were able to double-load each floor into 20 livable units, 15 one-bedrooms and 5 two-bedrooms, without compromising the thing that makes this building special: the light.
"How many people told me over the past ten years that they wished this building would be torn down? From the outside it almost looks monolithic. But from the inside, the transparency is really incredible. You don't feel like you're in an office."
— Sam Cummings, Managing Partner, CWD Real Estate Investment
Those exterior fins look decorative from the street. They were engineered to manage heat gain and produce shade. From the outside, they give the building its distinctive midcentury silhouette. From the inside, they frame views of downtown Grand Rapids that no other building in the city can offer.
We chose to honor the architecture rather than hide it.
The University Club, Reborn
When Old Kent Bank moved into the building in 1966, they brought an athletic club and a social club, both of which eventually merged into the University Club, one of downtown Grand Rapids' most beloved gathering places. The University Club called this building home for more than fifty years.
"Old Kent Bank brought an athletic club and a social club that combined into the University Club. It lived here for more than fifty years. We're recasting those amenities and paying homage to that history."
— Sam Cummings, Managing Partner, CWD Real Estate Investment
The University Club lives again on the lower levels of One Eleven: updated, expanded, and built for how residents live today. Every amenity is included with your residency:
Indoor Swimming Pool
Indoor Basketball & Pickleball Court
Full Fitness Center
Golf Simulator
Putting Green
Real Saunas
Library & Reading Lounge
Billiards Lounge
Event Space with Catering Kitchen
Pet Washing Station
Bike Storage with Workshop
"The contemporary elements and amenities that we have added to this iconic structure really make it an incredible place to live."
— Sam Cummings, Managing Partner, CWD Real Estate Investment
Home at the Center of Everything
One Eleven sits at the most connected address in West Michigan.
"If you could drop a pin on the most convenient place to live in all of West Michigan — to have that sort of mobility around the region — it would be downtown."
— Sam Cummings, Managing Partner, CWD Real Estate Investment
Van Andel Arena is steps away. The new Acrisure Amphitheater, open this May, is down the river. More than 60 restaurants, the Grand River, Lyon Square, Calder Plaza, and a thriving local brewery scene are all walkable. For healthcare professionals, Grand Rapids' major medical employers, Corewell Health Butterworth, Trinity Health, and Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital, are minutes from the front door. An attached parking garage means the region is as accessible as the neighborhood.
What This Moment Means
This project will bring at least 210 new residents to this two-block area and remove 150,000 square feet of office space from an oversupplied market.
"How do you take what you have and convert it to what's most in demand? We have a housing crisis regionally. We can take a struggling asset class and recapitalize it into something that is one of the most needed."
— Sam Cummings, Managing Partner, CWD Real Estate Investment
Downtown Grand Rapids has a goal: 10,000 residents. That number is the threshold, the density at which restaurants, retail, and daily street life sustain themselves. The Residences at One Eleven moves that goal forward.
"We have a goal in downtown Grand Rapids to get to this tipping point of having 10,000 people living downtown and calling downtown home. We know that with that number we spur additional vibrancy downtown — and this project is going to help us get there."
— Former Mayor Rosalynn Bliss, City of Grand Rapids
"I think we're going to see the housing market in Grand Rapids, in terms of how many units available, it's sort of a snowball rolling down a hill and it's just going to get bigger and bigger — so lots on the horizon."
— Mayor David LaGrand, City of Grand Rapids
"I hope that this is an example for other conversions we can do downtown at other empty spaces."
— Mayor David LaGrand, City of Grand Rapids
"What makes this project so meaningful is that it honors the history of this building while positioning it for the future of downtown Grand Rapids."
— Sam Cummings, Managing Partner, CWD Real Estate Investment
Sixty years ago, Old Kent Bank bet on downtown when everyone else was leaving. That bet became the culture this city built on. On June 1, 2026, we cut the ribbon again.
Ready to Make It Home?
More than 60 people were on the waitlist before the doors opened. Spots are limited. If you've been watching this building come to life, now is the time to move.
Schedule Your Tour at 111lyon.com →
Monday – Friday: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Saturday – Sunday: By Appointment
"Residences at One Eleven isn't just opening another apartment building — it's setting a new standard for downtown living, and people are already lining up to be part of it."
— Emilee Krish, Community Manager, Residences at One Eleven
The Residences at One Eleven is developed by CWD Real Estate Investment, a Grand Rapids-based real estate firm with a deep commitment to the revitalization of downtown Grand Rapids.
