The Slate
Four residences. One per floor.
The Slate
Four levels · one full-floor residence per level · Grand Rapids, Michigan
Named for the material — grey stone, hard surfaces, no ornament.
Schematic study for architect review. Not for construction, pricing or permit.
01The five decisions this is built on
Each was chosen for a reason. Change any one and the plans change with it — so confirm them before an architect starts drawing.
Concrete would buy slightly better bass isolation for roughly $250K. Spent on the assembly instead.
Topping slab on resilient mat, ceilings on isolation hangers. Field-tested, written into the contract.
No pool. A spa room whose glass wall slides fully open — sealed and heated in winter, open air in summer.
No colour to hide behind, so every material has to be genuinely good. That is where finish money goes.
No guest bedrooms carving it up. The whole plate goes to the rooms you actually use.
02Stacking, and how it reads from the street
One residence per level means no shared party walls — the only sound path between neighbours is vertical. That is why the entire acoustic budget sits in the floor and ceiling assemblies.
One gesture carries the whole facade: a continuous screen of black fins running unbroken across levels two, three and four. It is the privacy device from section 04 and the solar array from section 05, and because it is a single move rather than three applied treatments, the building reads as designed rather than assembled. Below it the ground floor is glazed like the residences above, on a low stone plinth that grounds the building and takes the winter salt splash — Level 1 is a family home with its own door, and it should look like one rather than like a podium. Grey, black and white, with nothing decorative anywhere — every element on this face is doing structural, environmental or privacy work.
03Materials and colour
Grey, black and white, with the colour doing structural work rather than decoration. Four materials only — a short list is what makes a simple building read as expensive instead of plain, because every surface is either the wall, the frame, the glass or the base.
| Where | Material | Colour | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main walls — all four faces | Fibre-cement or through-coloured render panel | Off-white — warm grey-white, not brilliant white | Brilliant white greys off badly and shows every streak below a window. A warm off-white ages evenly and reads softer against a Michigan sky. |
| Solar fin screen — south face | Powder-coated steel with PV | Near-black, matt | Matt, not gloss — gloss black shows dust, pollen and rain-tracking within a season. |
| Window frames, canopy, balcony guards | Powder-coated aluminium / steel | The same near-black | One black, used everywhere. Two slightly different blacks is the most common way a good scheme goes wrong. |
| Base at grade | Charcoal stone or dark board | Charcoal | Low plinth only. It grounds the building and takes the winter salt splash, which is what destroys a pale wall at ankle height. |
| Slab edges, parapet cap | Exposed concrete / metal cap | Mid grey | The horizontal lines that separate the floors — the only place mid grey appears. |
| Glazing | Low-E double or triple | Cool grey-blue | Reads as sky. Avoid bronze or green tints; they fight everything else here. |
The screen now turns the corner — two faces treated, two plain
The fin screen wraps from the south face onto the west, so the building reads as designed from both public approaches rather than presenting one good elevation and a blank wall. That is the difference between architecture and a rendering. Only the south fins are photovoltaic — west-facing panels yield too little in Michigan to justify the building-integrated glass, so the wrap is plain powder-coated steel doing privacy and shading only. Cost of the wrap: about $52,000. The two remaining faces stay flat off-white, which is correct if they front neighbours rather than street. If the lot is a true corner with both those faces exposed, say so early — that is a different and more expensive decision again.
Buy the panel, not the paint
Painted render on a four-storey wall is a repainting bill every 8–12 years, on scaffolding, forever. Through-coloured fibre-cement panel costs more up front and never needs painting — the colour goes through the material, so a chip is the same colour as the surface. On a building you intend to hold, that is the single best-value upgrade in the whole finishes package, and it is invisible in a photograph, which is exactly why people cut it.
See the actual colours outdoors before you sign anything
Order physical samples — not a chart, not a screen — and look at them outside, on an overcast Grand Rapids day, which is what the building will live under most of the year. Off-whites that look crisp in a showroom go yellow or pink under grey sky, and blacks that look rich indoors flatten to charcoal. Stand the sample vertically against the sky, not flat on a table; a wall and a tabletop catch completely different light.
04Level 4 and the roof terrace
Level 4 is planned around one large living space rather than a fourth and fifth bedroom. The living room is the largest room on the level at 450 SF; the bedroom is 300 SF — comfortably a king with nightstands, a reading chair and circulation around all of it. The closet is a tight, fully fitted 80 SF rather than a room of its own — a dedicated hat wall and shoe columns, not a rod and a wire shelf. The area a four-bedroom plan would spend on unused bedrooms goes into living space, the office and a proper guest bath instead — so no visitor crosses the primary bedroom to reach a toilet.
05Glass, and the thing everyone gets wrong about it
You asked for a lot of window, seeing out, and nobody seeing in. The first two are easy. The third is where money gets wasted, because the product most people buy for it only works for half the day.
Nobody at street level can see into a fourth floor. Your entire residence is private from the ground the day it is finished, at zero cost. Verify no taller building overlooks the site before you buy it.
The only thing that works around the clock without you operating it. Vertical or horizontal blades set at an angle block the sightline from across and below while leaving your view straight out completely open. Works at 2am with every light on.
Total daytime privacy, included in glazing you are buying anyway. Contributes nothing after dark — treat it as a free bonus, never as the plan.
Sheer during the day to see out while blocking the view in; blackout closes it entirely. The $250 version does the same job as the $1,800 one — the difference is a motor, and a motor is not privacy. This is what actually handles evenings.
The short answer: no single product does it, and the two layers that work at night are geometry, not glass. Height and angled fins are permanent, silent and need no switch. Everything else is daylight-only or has to be operated. Anyone selling you one magic window for this is selling you layer 03 and calling it all four.
There is no such thing as one-way glass. A mirror coating reflects whichever side is brighter. All day the sun wins and you are invisible; the moment you switch a lamp on after dark the relationship reverses and the coating does nothing. Every real solution below is about the second panel, not the first.
| Method | What it actually does | Rough cost | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Height and orientation | Nobody at street level can see into a fourth floor at all. Free privacy for your entire residence. | — | Free — check for taller neighbours before you buy the site |
| Reflective low-E coating | Mirrors by day. Does nothing at night. You are buying low-E anyway for the energy code. | included | Buy — but never as your privacy answer |
| Manual roller blinds | Full control day and night, by hand. Dual roller — sheer plus blackout — on a plain cassette head. | $200–300 per window | Buy — this is the real answer |
| Switchable glass (PDLC) | Goes opaque at a switch. Genuinely magic, genuinely expensive, and it fails to clear rather than fails to private. | $100–150/SF vs $40/SF | CUT — nowhere in the building |
| Motorised shades | Same fabric, same privacy, plus a motor, a controller and something else to fail. | $1,500–2,500 per window | CUT — $76,000 across ~50 openings |
| Exterior fins, louvres or screens | Blocks the specific angle a neighbour looks from while leaving your view open. Also does most of the work of making the facade look designed. | varies | Buy where one sightline is the problem |
Six-person, $14,000 — and it is the better tub, not just the cheaper one
The spa is $8,000–12,000 for a quality six-person unit, plus $1,500–3,000 to crane it onto a four-storey roof, $1,500–2,500 for the dedicated 50A GFCI circuit and its in-sight disconnect, and about $800 for water, drain and a cover lifter. Call it $14,000 installed — roughly $8,000 saved against the large version.
It is also the better choice on its own merits. 400 gallons costs about a third less to hold at 102° through a Michigan winter, reheats far faster after use, and six seats is more than a rooftop actually fills on a normal evening. Below about $8,000 you are buying thinner insulation, which you pay for again every month, so that is the floor.
The scheduling trap is unchanged: it has to be lifted in before the pavilion is glazed, and the crane booked with the roof trades rather than after them. Get that wrong and you are dismantling a glass wall or paying for a second crane day.
Switchable glass is now nowhere in the building
It only ever made sense in the glass spa pavilion — a wet room where a fabric shade would grow mildew. The pavilion is gone, so the argument is gone with it. Everywhere else it was always the wrong buy: $100–150 a square foot against $40, to solve a problem a $250 blind solves.
Glass walls inside Level 4 — different problem, easy yes
Interior glass partitions are the opposite situation: you live alone, so there is nobody to be private from, and a glass wall between the office and the living room pushes daylight from one side of the plate to the other. Black steel-framed glazed partitions are the version that suits this building — the grid reads as deliberate against grey and white, and it costs a fraction of frameless. Budget roughly $150–300 per SF of partition. The one real cost is acoustic: glass carries sound, so keep it between rooms where that does not matter and use solid walls around the bedroom.
Light the room indirectly and the mirror lasts longer
How you light the interior changes how visible you are at night more than the glass spec does. Bright downlights near the glass turn a window into a lit stage. Cove lighting, lamps set back from the perimeter, and warm low levels keep the reflection working well after dark, and cost nothing to specify now. Lighting a terrace outside the glass helps too: it restores the brightness difference the coating needs.
Where does the glass go, before how much of it
Glass on the side facing a parking lot or a taller building is a liability whatever you spend on it; glass facing a view, or facing your own roof terrace, is free privacy forever. This is decided by the site and the orientation of the plate — which is why the site choice, not the window budget, is the real privacy decision.
06The cut list — one test, applied to everything
The test is now: does this raise the rent, or fill the unit faster? If it does neither, it is architecture you are paying for out of pocket. Some of that is fine — it is your building — but it should be a decision, not a drift. Every line below has been scored against that one question.
Roof programme, solar, the battery, switchable glass, motorised shades, and the oak in the rental floors.
Down from $3,267,000 this morning. Nothing a tenant can see or feel has been touched.
The fin screen. It is the one remaining big number that earns nothing in rent — and the one thing that makes the building look like this. Your call, not mine.
| Item | Cost | Does it raise rent? | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solar package | $18,000 | No — zero. With separate meters the tenant pays their own power, so the panels cut their bill, not yours. You cannot charge for it and they will not notice it. | CUT |
| Motorised shades | $76,000 | No. About $1,800 a window against $250 for a good manual roller blind. No tenant has ever paid more for a motor. | CUT — blinds throughout |
| Switchable glass | — | No. Went with the pavilion. | CUT |
| Engineered oak in the rentals | $38,000 | No. Good rigid-core LVP is about $5/SF installed against $12 for oak. In photographs they are indistinguishable, and LVP survives tenants, pets and a burst washer hose in a way oak does not. | CUT — oak stays on Level 4 |
| Concealed-carrier toilets in the rentals | $2,800 | No. About $400 a fixture to hide a cistern in a wall nobody will look at, plus a service headache in ten years. | CUT — wall-hung stays on Level 4 |
| Roof programme | $135,000 | Barely. A shared roof deck across four units is maybe $50 a month each — $2,400 a year on $135,000, about 1.8%. Worst return in the building on pure numbers. | KEEP — already cut from $388,000, and it is the reason anyone remembers this building |
| Fin screen, full height, two faces | $130,000 | No. Nobody pays more to live behind steel fins. It helps the photographs and the planning application, and that is genuinely worth something at lease-up — but not $130,000 of something. | DECIDE — see below |
| Attached garage, 4 stalls | $140,000 | Yes. A stall is $100–150 a month in Grand Rapids — about $6,000 a year across four — and in a Michigan January it is the thing that makes someone sign. Weakest of the keeps at roughly 4%, but it also fills units. | KEEP |
| Private outdoor space, every unit | $71,000 | Yes. Patio, garage terrace, two balconies — $50–75 a month each, and it is the first thing in every listing photo. Around 8% return, the best of any amenity here. | KEEP |
| Acoustic floor assembly | ~$45,000 | Yes, and it is the marketing. Noise is the single most common reason tenants leave a multifamily building. “You will never hear the floor above you” is a line no competitor in this market can print. | KEEP — do not touch this one |
| Kitchens and bathrooms | ~$260,000 | Yes — the biggest driver there is. Renters decide on the kitchen. This is where money converts to rent most directly. | KEEP — spend here before anywhere else |
| In-unit laundry × 4 | ~$28,000 | Yes. Effectively mandatory at this rent. Its absence costs more than its presence earns. | KEEP |
| Lift | ~$110,000 | Not a premium — a requirement. Four storeys without one narrows your tenant pool to people who will carry furniture up three flights. | KEEP — no choice |
The fin screen is the last big number, and it is the one I cannot decide for you
Full height on two faces, it is about $130,000 of black steel. It earns nothing in rent. It is also the entire reason this reads as a designed building rather than a nice four-unit, and you asked for the wrap onto the west face this morning.
The middle option is the good one. Run the screen on Level 4 only, both faces — a deep black band capping the building, with the three floors below plainly glazed. That is where the privacy problem actually exists, it is the strongest part of the composition anyway, and it costs about $33,000 instead of $130,000. Saves $97,000.
Full screen, top-floor band, or none — say which and the model and the budget update together. I have left it at full height for now because you designed it that way today and I am not going to quietly undo it.
Where cutting starts costing you money
There is a floor to this. Cut the kitchens, the acoustic assembly, the in-unit laundry or the garage and you do not save money — you move it, from capital cost to a lower rent and a longer vacancy, forever. A unit that sits empty two extra months a year costs more than every line on the cut list above.
The things worth cutting are the ones a tenant cannot perceive: what is behind the wall, on the roof, or in a motor. The things never worth cutting are the ones they touch every day. Everything above is sorted on exactly that line.
The cheapest rent increase available to you costs nothing
One residence per floor. No shared walls with anyone, your own landing off the lift, nobody above you on Level 4 and nobody below you on Level 1. That is worth more per month than the roof, the fins and the solar combined, and it is already free — it falls out of the plate size you chose.
It should be the headline of every listing: the whole floor is yours. Almost nothing else in this market can say it.
07The garage
Four private stalls, one per residence, attached to the building so a resident parks and reaches the lift without going outside. In a Michigan winter that is not a luxury — it is the difference between a building people tolerate and one they renew a lease in. It also changes two things you have already decided, so both are flagged below.
Four stalls side by side at the rear, roughly 960 SF, each with its own door. No tandem parking — every resident reaches their own car without moving anyone else’s.
The garage top is set at the second-floor level so it becomes a private terrace opened straight off that residence, with a glass guard. It nearly doubles that unit’s appeal at almost no extra cost — the structure was being built anyway.
A short rated lobby links the garage to the core, so the route is car → door → lift → your floor. No stairs, no weather, and it satisfies the accessible route at the same time.
With rear or alley access, frontage stays 60–66′. Without one, a 13′ driveway has to run down the side to reach the garage, pushing frontage to about 70′. Ask this before you offer on a lot.
About 970 SF at $125–160/SF, including four insulated doors with openers, the rated separation and the connecting lobby.
Its own front door is what stops Level 1 being the cheap flat
In almost every small apartment building the ground floor is the one that lets last and lets cheapest — least light, least privacy, people walking past the windows. A private entrance straight to the street plus a walled 470 SF patio flips that completely: the unit stops reading as the bottom flat and starts reading as a small house, which is a different tenant and a different rent. It is $21,000 for paving, a privacy wall and a door, and it is worth roughly $300 a month — it pays for itself inside six years and lets faster the whole time. Build the wall high enough for real privacy from the sidewalk; a knee-high edge does none of this work.
The garage roof terrace belongs to Level 2, not Level 1
A ground-floor residence sits at grade, so it cannot step out onto a roof that is ten feet above it — the terrace naturally belongs to the floor whose level it matches, which is Level 2. That is a real gain: it hands the second residence a private 960 SF outdoor room, which is the single strongest thing you can give a family unit in a building with no yard. If you specifically want Level 1 to have it, the building has to be raised so the ground floor sits about ten feet above grade — which means exterior steps or a ramp to the front door, an accessible route that gets considerably more expensive, and a very different street presence. Worth deciding deliberately rather than by accident.
An attached garage is a fire-separation problem before it is a parking one
Code treats a garage attached to dwellings as a hazard to be sealed off, and the details are not optional. The wall and ceiling between garage and residence need a rated assembly; the door into the building must be rated, self-closing and self-latching — a normal door held shut by a spring will fail inspection; and there can be no direct opening into a sleeping room. Carbon monoxide detection is required on the residence side. None of this is expensive when drawn from the start; all of it is disruptive to add once the wall is up.
The driveway is why you must ask about alley access before you offer
Alongside the building the garage needed another 22′ of frontage and forced two cars into tandem. At the rear, four doors sit side by side and every stall is independent — but the cars still have to get there. If the lot backs onto an alley, they arrive from behind and your frontage requirement stays at 60–66′. If it does not, a 13′ driveway runs the full length of the side yard, which needs roughly 70′ of frontage, costs about $28,000 in concrete and kerb cut, and gives up the side yard entirely. Same building, materially different lot. It is the single most useful question to ask about any parcel you look at.
08The three rental floors
Identical plate, identical core, stacked plumbing. Repetition is what makes a small building affordable to build and quiet to live in — and it is why the rentals are drawn as one plan with variations rather than three bespoke layouts.
| Level | Residence | Layout | Interior | Outdoor | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Family of four | 3 bed · 2 bath | 1,424 | 470 | Own front door to the street, private walled patio, mudroom, study nook, largest storage |
| 02 | Family of five or six | 4 bed · 3 bath | 1,424 | 960 | Walk-in pantry, in-unit laundry · private roof terrace over the garage |
| 03 | Couple | 2 bed · 2 bath | 1,424 | 90 | Third bedroom traded for a larger primary suite and balcony · in-unit laundry |
| 04 | Single occupant | 1 bed · office · 1.75 bath | 1,480 | 1,740 | 450 SF living, 300 SF bedroom · guest bath off the living side · entertaining roof above |
| Total interior | 5,752 | 1,740 | 7,780 SF gross | ||
Notice what does not move between the three: the core, the wet wall running down the middle of the plate, and the laundry position. Kitchens sit over kitchens, bathrooms over bathrooms, washers over washers. That single discipline is what makes a small building affordable to plumb and quiet to live in — and it is why the rental floors are variations on one plan rather than three designs. Level 1 spends its area on a fourth bedroom and a mudroom; Level 2 trades that bedroom for a study nook and larger rooms throughout; Level 3 gives up the third bedroom entirely to buy a genuinely large primary suite, an office and a private balcony.
Every residence is a complete home, not an apartment with things missing. In-unit laundry on all four floors, and the full standard kit below in each one.
Stack the laundries, and never put one over a bedroom
A washer at 1,200 rpm on spin is the loudest thing in a residential building after footsteps, and it transmits as vibration through the structure rather than as airborne noise — which means the acoustic floor you are paying for does not stop it. Two rules fix it for free at the drawing stage: put all four laundry rooms in the same position on every floor so each one sits above another laundry, and make sure that position is not above anyone’s bed. On a concrete pad with resilient mounts, nobody hears it at all.
Ventless heat-pump dryers — skip four holes in the building
A vented dryer needs a duct to the outside, and code caps the run length once you count elbows. Four floors of that means four penetrations through your envelope, four lint traps you can never inspect, and long runs that dry clothes slowly. Heat-pump dryers need no vent at all: they cost roughly $1,200–1,800 against $700 for a basic vented unit, and they delete the ductwork, the envelope penetrations and the single most common cause of building fires. Slower per load, and worth it four times over.
A drain pan and an auto shutoff under every washer
Burst washing-machine supply hoses are one of the largest sources of residential insurance claims, and in a stacked building a failure on Level 3 becomes a Level 2 and Level 1 problem within minutes. A pan plumbed to a drain plus a leak-sensing automatic shutoff valve runs a few hundred dollars per unit at rough-in. The building owner carries this cost when it is skipped.
Separate meters are the difference between a good and a bad rental
If heat, power and water are on one meter, you pay every tenant’s utilities and have no way to influence use. Separately metered units move that cost to the resident, remove your worst variable expense, and materially raise what the building is worth when valued on income. It costs more at the panel and the service entry, and it has to be designed in from the first drawing — retrofitting separate services into a finished building is close to impossible.
09Budget
Construction cost broken into the packages a general contractor actually bids, so you can compare a real quote against a real line instead of one number against another. Percentages are typical for a small mid-rise; the dollars follow from the $260/SF placeholder and move the moment a Grand Rapids builder gives you a rate.
| Package | Share | Budget | What is in it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Site work, excavation, utilities | 12% | $243,000 | Demolition if any, excavation, footings drainage, water/sewer/gas connections, grading |
| Foundation and structure | 20% | $405,000 | Slab, ICF or framed walls, floor assemblies incl. the acoustic build-up, roof structure |
| Envelope | 18% | $364,000 | Windows and the glazed facade, cladding, roofing, waterproofing, insulation, air sealing |
| Plumbing | 8% | $162,000 | 10 WC, 1 urinal, 14 lavatories, 9 showers, 3 tubs, 4 kitchens, 4 laundries, roof bar and spa |
| HVAC and ventilation | 8% | $162,000 | 4 cold-climate heat pumps, 4 ERVs, 11 bath fans, kitchen make-up air, spa dehumidification |
| Electrical | 7% | $142,000 | Service, 5 panels, separate meters, ~245 receptacles, lighting, detection, EV conduit |
| Fire sprinklers | 3% | $61,000 | Assume NFPA 13R until the city says otherwise — riser, piping, FDC, alarm |
| Elevator | 5% | $101,000 | 4 stops, machine-room-less traction — the least negotiable line in the building |
| Interior finishes | 15% | $303,000 | Drywall, floors, tile, millwork incl. the fitted closet, paint, doors, hardware |
| Appliances and fixtures | 4% | $81,000 | 4 kitchen packages, 4 washer/dryer sets, plumbing fixtures, light fittings |
| Hard costs — construction | 100% | $2,023,000 | 7,780 SF at $260/SF |
| Beyond construction | Budget | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Soft costs — 15% | $303,000 | Architect, structural, MEP and civil engineering, survey, geotech, permits, legal, financing fees |
| Contingency — 10% | $202,000 | Not spare money. On a first-time ground-up build this gets used. |
| Total, excluding land | $2,925,000 | Land settled separately |
Three columns, not one — budget, committed, spent
The single number above is what you plan to spend. It tells you nothing on its own once work starts. A real build tracks each package three ways: budget (what you allowed), committed (what you have signed contracts for) and spent (what has actually been paid). The gap between budget and committed is your remaining exposure, and it is the only figure that tells you early whether you are heading over. Set this up before the first contract, not after the fifth.
Contingency is spent by decisions, not surprises
On most builds the contingency does not go on hidden rock or bad soil — it goes on the design changing after the trade is priced. A change during design costs a redrawn sheet; the same change after framing costs the framing twice. Every change you make after a package is bid comes out of this $202,000, and when it is gone the money comes from you. Knowing that is what keeps it intact.
Get three bids per package, and never take the lowest on price alone
A number well below the others usually means the bidder misread the scope, and you will meet the difference again as change orders. Compare what is included line by line before comparing totals. The elevator, the glazing and the acoustic floor assembly are the three most likely to be quoted on different assumptions here — make each bidder state exactly what they have allowed for them.
What the roof costs, after the cut. The roof was $388,000 and doing seven things. It now does three — hot tub, fire pit, play lawn — and costs $135,000. Gone: the glass spa pavilion, the solar canopy, the bar and grill, the dining terrace, the changing room and powder room, and the raised planting beds.
| Roof item | Cost | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Occupied-roof structure | $22,000 | Down from $60,000. This one cannot go to zero. Any roof people stand on must be designed for 100 psf live load against about 20 for an unused one — that is code, not a preference. What went away is the extra framing under the old 700-gallon tub. |
| Guardrail | $25,000 | 172 LF of 42″ glass, non-climbable. Also code, also unavoidable once anyone goes up there. Now the largest single roof line. |
| Terrace waterproofing | $20,000 | Protected-membrane assembly under the occupied zones only, not the whole roof. |
| Fire pit lounge | $18,000 | Gas line and shutoff, burner and pan, two built-in benches, bench and step lighting. |
| Pavers on pedestals | $15,000 | About 700 SF — tub deck, fire pit lounge and the paths between. Down from 1,200 SF. |
| Tub canopy | $11,000 | Black steel frame, standing-seam roof, open on two sides with wind screens on the two exposed ones. This is the affordable cover. A glass pavilion was $120,000; this is the same shelter for 9% of it. |
| Roof services | $9,000 | Drains and overflow scuppers, hose bib, gas run, lighting, GFCI circuits, 110V tub outlet. |
| Play lawn | $8,000 | 259 SF pet-grade turf, drainage mat, relief patch piped to sanitary. |
| Hot tub | $6,500 | Plug-and-play 110V, two to three person, about 5′×6′6″ and 160 gallons. No crane, no 50A circuit, no reinforcement. |
| Insulated cover + lifter | $900 | The everyday cover. In Michigan it is what keeps the running cost sane, not a luxury. |
| Roof programme total | $135,000 | Was $388,000 — saves $253,000 |
How the tub avoids reinforcement — it is position as much as size
A full hot tub is dead load, not live load. It sits there permanently, so it adds to the 100 psf the occupied roof already needs rather than counting inside it. The old 9′×9′ / 700-gallon tub put about 97 psf of permanent weight on one square of roof — effectively doubling the design load right there, which is what the $38,000 of extra framing was for.
The small tub is roughly 2,000 lb full with two people in it, about 64 psf over its footprint. That alone still would not be free. So it goes directly over the core wall — the stair and lift shaft that runs the full height of the building — and the load drops straight down structure that already exists. Small tub plus right position is what takes the reinforcement line to zero; either one on its own would not.
$47,000 of the remaining $135,000 buys nothing you can see
Structure and guardrail. Neither is optional the moment a person can walk on the roof, and together they are more than a third of what is left. Worth knowing because it sets the floor: a usable roof of any kind starts at about $47,000 before the first amenity. The three things you actually want — tub, fire, lawn — come to $44,400 on top of that. The rest is membrane, paving and services.
If the roof ever had to go entirely, you would save $135,000 and lose the single feature that separates this building from every other four-unit in Grand Rapids. I would not cut it further.
10What to charge
Grand Rapids market data, then adjusted for what this building actually is. City-wide the average apartment rents at $1,595; a 2-bed runs about $1,657–1,802 and a 3-bed about $1,995–2,126. Heritage Hill one-beds average $1,425. Those are the market — mostly older stock, mostly without parking, none of it new. This building should sit meaningfully above it, and the reasons are specific rather than wishful.
| Level | Layout | SF | What it has that the market does not | Recommended |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 3 bed · 2 bath | 1,424 | Its own door to the street and a 470 SF walled patio — the only unit that lives like a house; mudroom, study nook, garage stall | $2,700–3,000 |
| 02 | 4 bed · 3 bath | 1,422 | Four bedrooms AND a 960 SF private roof terrace — the best rental in the building by a distance; garage stall | $3,100–3,500 |
| 03 | 2 bed · 2 bath | 1,430 | Large primary suite, office, private balcony, garage stall — a couple’s floor, not a compromise two-bed | $2,300–2,600 |
| 04 | 1 bed · office | 1,536 | Whole top floor, 10′ ceilings, private balcony, sole access to the roof terrace | $3,200–3,800 |
| All four let, at the middle of each range | $11,750 / mo | |||
Four things justify a premium here, and none of them are the finishes
A private garage stall is worth $150–250/month on its own in a Michigan winter, and almost no comparable building offers one per unit. Separate metering means the tenant pays their own heat, so your rent is clean rather than bundled — compare carefully against listings that include utilities. Genuine acoustic separation (FIIC 58–62) is the thing renters cannot see on a listing but feel in week one, and it is why people renew. And new construction in a market of century-old housing stock carries its own premium: no draughts, no radiators, no surprise repairs.
Level 4 is the most valuable floor — know what occupying it costs
Whole top floor, ten-foot ceilings, and a private balcony and exclusive access to the roof terrace. If it were let it would carry the highest rent in the building, around $3,500 a month, roughly $42,000 a year. That is the true cost of living in it, and it is worth naming plainly: not a loss, but a real number that should be a deliberate choice rather than an assumption.
Level 2 is now the best unit in the building — price it like one
Putting the four-bedroom on Level 2 stacks the two scarcest things in this market on one floor: four bedrooms and a 960 SF private outdoor room. Nothing comparable in Grand Rapids offers both, which is why it is priced $700 above the three-bed below it rather than the $200 a bedroom alone would justify. Test it: list Level 2 first at $3,500. If it lets inside two weeks you have priced the whole building too low, and the other three should move up before you sign anything.
Verify against three real listings before you set a number
Everything above is market data plus reasoning, not a comp study, and rents move. Before you lease, pull three actual current listings within a mile that have similar bedroom counts and parking, and check the gap. If this building is not clearly better than all three, the premium is not there and the numbers should come down. Rents from a document are a starting point; a real comp beats them every time.
11Where the money shows — and where it doesn’t
You said no cheap anything, and no wasting money. Those pull in opposite directions unless you are deliberate about which surfaces people actually touch and see.
Ceiling height and glass
Ten-foot ceilings and large windows are the strongest luxury signals per dollar in the entire building. Nobody has ever walked into a tall, bright room and thought it felt cheap.
Anything the hand touches
Solid-core doors, weighted hardware, stone counters, real tile. These are felt every single day and are a small fraction of the build.
Silence and lighting
The quiet you are already paying for is the most expensive-feeling thing in a building. Layered, dimmable lighting is the cheapest way to make grey and black read as elegant rather than flat.
The rooftop pool
Roughly 30 tons of water on a wood-framed building, usable four months a year in Michigan, sitting directly above your own bedroom. $300–600K for the amenity with the shortest season and the worst failure mode.
Design the tub bay, and the way out
A large tub — 9′×9′, 700 gallons — loads roughly 111 psf against a floor normally designed for 40. Trivial to engineer now, ruinous to retrofit. It is craned in before the roof closes, so schedule it early, and leave a removal path (removable parapet or a wide glazed panel) or replacing it in fifteen years becomes demolition. Running cost is the real trade: 400 gallons held at 102° through a Michigan winter is a permanent utility line — about a third cheaper to hold than the 700-gallon version, and it heats back up far faster after use.
Spa room moisture control — non-negotiable
An enclosed hot tub is a wet room, not a room with a tub in it: dedicated dehumidification, vapour barrier on the warm side, moisture-rated finishes, floor drain. The sliding glass wall helps enormously — opening it is the best dehumidifier there is — but the mechanical system still has to carry a sealed Michigan winter. Value-engineered away, the moisture goes into wood framing directly above your bedroom.
The closet is millwork, not square footage
A fitted 80 SF closet holds far more than an unfitted one twice the size. A 5 × 6 grid of cubbies takes a wall roughly 4′ wide and 5′6″ tall; angled shoe shelving takes a 3′ column. That leaves the two long walls entirely to double-hang — about 20 linear feet of hanging, which is more than most wardrobes need. Figure $8–14K for this level of fit-out, plus $1–2K for LED shelf lighting that is genuinely worth it in a room with no window. Where I would stop: glass-fronted display doors on the hat wall are another $2–3K, and they are a dust decision, not a storage one — worth it only if the collection is the point.
Six people in 1,424 SF is the tightest unit in the building
Four bedrooms plus three bathrooms inside a 1,424 SF plate leaves bedrooms around 120 SF each — legal, common, and genuinely snug. Two honest ways out, both decided before drawings: give Level 1 more floor area than the levels above it, since the ground floor is the one that can extend past the upper plate, or build three bedrooms and accept that two children share. Also worth knowing before you spend the money: a fourth bedroom and third bath cost real construction dollars, and a 4-bed rent is typically only modestly above a 3-bed. Do it because you want the unit to genuinely house six, not because you expect it to pay for itself.
Rough in the second bathroom and the urinal together
The Level 4 guest bath sits on the living side so a visitor never crosses the bedroom, and stacking it over the bathrooms below keeps it on the same wet wall — cheap if drawn now, expensive as an afterthought. The wall-hung urinal in the primary bath needs its own supply, a 2″ drain, venting and blocking in the wall. Included in the first-fix plumbing it costs almost nothing; added afterwards it means opening a finished wall and cutting into a stack. Same logic for a second one in the roof powder room if you want it — decide before the plumber starts.
Slope any glass that sits above the tub
Flat glass over a hot tub drips condensation straight down onto whoever is in it — every night, all winter. Overhead glazing must be sloped, roughly 10–15° minimum, so condensate runs to a gutter at the low edge instead of collecting and falling.
Who can see into a lit glass box at night?
Glass on three sides is spectacular by day and a lantern after dark. Before the site is chosen, check sightlines from every taller neighbouring building. The fixes — switchable glass, fritted panels, a solid wall on the exposed side, or simply orienting the open faces away — are all easy now and awkward later.
Thermally broken frames on the glass
This is the one place not to shop on price. A hot tub behind cheap single-glazed frames in February means condensation running down the glass and ice on the tracks. Insulated glass and thermally broken frames, rated for roof-level wind load. Budget roughly $1,500–2,500 per linear foot of opening.
Planting beds are a structural load, not decoration
Saturated soil runs about 100 lb per cubic foot — a 2′-deep bed weighs roughly what a person does every 18 inches of run. Beds need structural allowance, waterproofing protection, drainage to the roof drains and a hose bib. Decide their positions with the engineer, not afterwards with a garden centre.
Roof infrastructure, even if the furniture waits
Structural capacity for the tub, the gas line to the fire pit and bar, drainage, waterproofing and railings all go in during construction. Retrofitting any of them onto a finished roof costs several times more. Decking, planters and furniture can arrive in year two.
Exotic materials and facade ornament
In a grey/black/white building, restraint reads as expensive and decoration reads as trying. Put the money into proportion and finish quality instead.
Bespoke rental layouts
Three different floor plans triples the drawing, plumbing and cabinetry cost and no tenant ever knows. Repeat the plate.
You asked how to build creatively and save real money without anything reading as cheap. Every move below cuts cost by removing complexity or buying in repetition — not by downgrading a material anyone touches. Several of them make the building better, not merely cheaper.
| Move | Why it saves | Rough |
|---|---|---|
| Keep it a pure rectangle | Every jog and bump-out multiplies framing, flashing, roof edge and thermal detailing, and each one is a future leak. A simple mass with a superb facade reads far more expensive than a complicated shape in cheap finishes — the whole modernist idiom you are after is the clean box. | $40–70K |
| Three identical rental floors | One set of drawings, one cabinet order, one tile order, one appliance package. The trades price floor two and then get faster on three and four. Bespoke layouts triple the design fee and delete the learning curve. | $50–90K |
| Stock window sizes, ganged | Custom dimensions cost 30–50% more for no visual gain. Three standard units mulled together read as one enormous opening at a fraction of the price. Nobody has ever looked at a window and known it was a catalogue size. | $25–45K |
| 10′ ceilings on Level 4, 9′ below | Height is charged across every wall, every stair run, the elevator travel and the volume you heat. Buy the drama where you live; nine feet still feels generous in a rental and nobody measures. | $30–50K |
| Spend the envelope budget, shrink the equipment | The highest-return move in a cold climate, and it works twice. A genuinely airtight, heavily insulated shell can halve the heating equipment you need to buy — so part of the insulation pays for itself at purchase, and the rest pays you back every winter for fifty years. | net gain |
| ICF for the exterior walls | Insulated concrete form gives structure, insulation and mass in one trade and one pass. It is common in Michigan so the labour is priced normally, and the mass is a serious acoustic asset — you are already paying for quiet, so let one system deliver three things. | roughly neutral |
| Bid in January, close the shell by November | Contractors quote softest when their spring books are empty. And a Michigan shell caught open in deep winter bleeds money on temporary heat and weather delay. Timing is the one lever that costs nothing to pull. | $30–60K |
| Polished concrete on Level 1 | The slab is already there. Grind and polish it and you have a hard-wearing, thermally massive grey floor that suits the palette exactly — for less than the mid-grade flooring you would otherwise buy and install on top of it. | $12–20K |
| Large-format porcelain instead of stone slab | Modern porcelain reads as stone at arm’s length, costs a fraction, never needs sealing and does not stain. In a grey, black and white scheme the difference is genuinely hard to see — and it is more durable in a rental than the real thing. | $25–40K |
| One stone, bought once | A single slab selection across all four kitchens and every bathroom means one bulk purchase, one fabricator setup, and offcuts that become window sills and shelves instead of waste. | $10–18K |
| Construction — 7,780 SF at $260/SF | $2,023,000 |
| Soft costs — design, engineering, permits, financing (15%) | $303,000 |
| Contingency (10%) | $202,000 |
| Attached 4-stall garage — 970 SF incl. rated separation and lift lobby | $140,000 |
| Driveway and approach — ~2,400 SF concrete, kerb cut, apron | $28,000 |
| Garage-roof terrace — waterproofing, pavers, glass guard, door | $34,000 |
| Level 1 patio — 470 SF paving, privacy wall, private entry door | $21,000 |
| Fin screen wrap — west elevation, steel only, no PV | $52,000 |
| Roof programme — structure, guardrail, tub + canopy, fire pit, play lawn | $135,000 |
| Balconies — Levels 3 and 4, inset, glass guards | $16,000 |
| Window treatments — manual roller blinds throughout, ~50 openings | $12,000 |
| Flooring credit — LVP instead of engineered oak on Levels 1–3 | −$38,000 |
| Sanitaryware credit — floor-mount WCs on Levels 1–3 | −$2,800 |
| Total, excluding land | $2,925,000 |
This number is here to be watched, not obeyed. It is construction only — land sits outside it. The building is being designed first and priced afterwards, which is the right order — deciding what you actually want is cheap on paper and expensive in concrete. Three things to hold in mind while that happens. The $260/SF is a placeholder and every figure on this page swings on it, so get a real rate from a Grand Rapids builder before treating any of this as real. Land is settled separately and is not in this total. And when the time comes to bring the number down, the ten moves above are worth roughly $250–400K without touching a single surface you would ever notice — the lever is complexity and repetition, not quality.
What is genuinely not worth the money, in one place: switchable glass anywhere in the building; any battery at this array size; solar past what the tub canopy was going to cost anyway; a fourth bedroom on Level 1 justified by rent rather than by wanting it; and a large tub instead of 8, which you have already heard and already decided.
12Schedule of everything
The full fixture, equipment and systems list, so nothing gets discovered late. Counts are the design intent for pricing, not a permit set — an architect and engineer will adjust them. Read the four flagged items at the end before anything else on this page: each one is a legal or physical requirement that reshapes the building if it turns up after drawings.
| Plumbing fixture | L1 | L2 | L3 | L4 | Roof | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toilets — wall-hung, concealed carrier | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 |
| Urinal — wall-hung | — | — | — | 1 | — | 1 |
| Bathroom lavatories | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 14 |
| Showers — curbless where possible | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| Bathtubs — rentals only, families need one | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 3 |
| Kitchen sinks | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | 4 |
| Bar sink | — | — | — | — | 1 | 1 |
| Washer boxes with pan, drain and auto shutoff | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | 4 |
| Heat-pump water heaters | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | 4 |
| Hose bibs — frost-free, drain-down on the roof | 2 | — | — | — | 2 | 4 |
| Floor drains — laundries, mech room, roof | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Plus: utility sink in the mechanical room, dog relief patch drain, refrigerator water lines ×4, ice maker and kegerator lines, water service with backflow preventer, sewer with backwater valve, sump pump with battery backup, gas service if the fire pit and any range stay gas | — | |||||
| Electrical | What and where | Qty |
|---|---|---|
| Service and panels | Main service, house panel for common areas and elevator, one panel per residence, separate meters per unit | 5+1 |
| General receptacles | Code sets the rhythm: no point along a wall more than 6′ from an outlet, so roughly every 12′, and any wall over 2′ gets one. Figure 70 on Level 1, 55 each on 2 and 3, 65 on Level 4 | ~245 |
| Kitchen counter receptacles | Every 4′ of counter, all GFCI, plus island and peninsula outlets | ~32 |
| GFCI locations | Within 6′ of every sink, all bathrooms, laundries, garage, exterior, roof, balconies | ~50 |
| Floor outlets | Two in each large living room — a 450 SF room with sofas floating off the walls has no other way to power a lamp without a cord across the floor | 8 |
| USB-C combination outlets | Both sides of every bed, kitchen, office, living | ~24 |
| 240V circuits | Ranges ×4, hot tub 50A GFCI with disconnect in sight of the tub, EV chargers, heat pump condensers ×4 | ~13 |
| EV charging | At minimum, conduit and panel capacity to every parking space now — chargers can follow, buried conduit cannot | per space |
| Weatherproof outlets | In-use bubble covers on the roof, terrace, bar, entry | ~14 |
| Lighting | Recessed throughout, cove lighting set back from glass, under-cabinet, closet and pantry, stair and elevator lobby, exterior facade, terrace and path lighting, step lights | — |
| Switching | Dimmers everywhere as standard, three-way at every stair and room with two entries, occupancy sensors in closets and utility | — |
| Detection | Interconnected smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area and on every level; CO alarms on each level and near any fuel-burning appliance | ~30 |
| Mechanical and ventilation | Notes | Qty |
|---|---|---|
| Cold-climate heat pump systems | One per residence, own thermostat, rated to roughly −13°F | 4 |
| ERV or HRV — one per unit | Not optional. A genuinely airtight building has to be ventilated mechanically or the moisture has nowhere to go | 4 |
| Bathroom exhaust fans | Every bathroom, humidity-sensing, ducted to outside — never into a joist bay | 11 |
| Kitchen hoods with make-up air | A powerful hood in a tight unit will backdraft without dedicated make-up air | 4 |
| Electric radiant floor — bathrooms | Almost free at rough-in, impossible later, and the single most-remarked-on luxury in a Michigan winter | 11 |
| Snow melt at the entry walk | Worth pricing — it removes the one maintenance job that has to happen at 6am | 1 |
| Building, core and low voltage | Notes |
|---|---|
| Elevator — 4 stops | Machine-room-less traction. Needs a pit, overrun, dedicated circuit, emergency lowering, a phone line and a place for the controller. Typically $75–120K and it is the least negotiable line in the building |
| Stairs and egress | Number of stairs required at four storeys is a code question with a real cost attached — confirm before the plate is fixed |
| Roof drainage | Primary drains plus secondary overflow scuppers, which code requires and which are what stops a blocked drain turning a flat roof into a pond |
| Refuse and recycling | Enclosed room at ground level, hose bib and floor drain inside it |
| Mail and packages | Secure mailboxes plus a package room or locker — four households, and nobody wants boxes in the lobby |
| Entry and access control | Fob or code entry at the street door, video intercom to each residence, cameras at entry, refuse room, parking and roof stair |
| Network | Cat6 home-run to a rack in each unit, wireless access points wired not meshed, service entry with room for two providers |
| Audio | Speaker cable to nine zones on Level 4 and the roof, sealed back-boxes behind every ceiling speaker |
| Appliances per residence | Range and oven, vented hood, microwave or speed oven, dishwasher, refrigerator and freezer, washer, ventless heat-pump dryer, disposal. Level 4 adds a wine refrigerator; the roof adds ice maker, kegerator, two under-counter refrigerators and the grill |
An elevator means all four residences must meet Fair Housing design requirements
This is the item most likely to be discovered too late, and it is federal law, not a preference. A building with four or more units and an elevator makes every unit a covered dwelling: accessible route from the street, doors with 32″ clear passage, bathroom walls blocked for future grab bars, usable kitchen and bathroom clearances, and controls and outlets within reach ranges. None of it is expensive when drawn from the start. All of it is brutal to retrofit, and getting it wrong is a lawsuit rather than a punch-list item. Say it to the architect in the first meeting.
Assume a sprinkler system until someone tells you otherwise
A four-storey building with four dwelling units will very likely require automatic sprinklers to NFPA 13R. That is a water service upsized for fire flow, a riser room, piping through every ceiling, a fire department connection and an alarm. It is a large number and it touches every ceiling detail in the building, so it cannot be an afterthought. Confirm it with the Grand Rapids building department before schematic design ends — and if it is required, it also affects the stair and egress question above.
Fire-rated separation between residences, and the acoustic layer is not it
Floors and walls between dwelling units need a rated assembly — typically one or two hours — and that rating is separate from the sound isolation you are buying. They are usually built together, but every penetration compromises both: recessed lights, speaker cutouts, plumbing stacks, duct runs. Each one needs the correct rated detail. This is precisely how a carefully designed quiet building gets undone during rough-in, one hole at a time.
Ventilation is what makes a tight building safe rather than sick
Everything on this page pushes toward an airtight, heavily insulated shell — correct for Michigan, and it removes the accidental air leakage that older buildings rely on to dry out. Without a heat-recovery ventilator per unit, moisture from four showers, four kitchens and a rooftop hot tub has nowhere to go, and the result is condensation inside the walls and mould behind the finishes. The ERV is not a luxury line item. It is the thing that makes the insulation safe.
13Room-by-room schedule
Every room in the building with ceiling height, finishes, window openings, power, lighting, plumbing fixtures and mechanical provision — the level of detail an architect prices from and an engineer designs to. Window sizes are nominal openings. Electrical counts are design intent; the licensed engineer produces the stamped circuit and panel schedules from them.
Level 1 — family of six — ground entry, mudroom, four bedrooms, three bathrooms
| Room | SF | Ceiling | Floor finish | Windows | Power | Lighting | Plumbing | Mechanical |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Living | 260 | 9'-0" | Polished concrete | 2 @ 5'x7' | 8 + 2 floor | 6 recessed, cove | — | Supply x2, return |
| Kitchen + dining | 285 | 9'-0" | Polished concrete | 2 @ 5'x7' | 10 counter GFCI + 6 | 8 recessed, 3 pendant, under-cab | Sink, dishwasher, disposal, fridge line | Hood + make-up air |
| Entry + mudroom | 55 | 9'-0" | Polished concrete | — | 2 | 2 recessed, 1 sconce | — | Return air |
| Primary bedroom | 172 | 9'-0" | Engineered oak | 1 @ 5'x7' | 7 + USB both sides of bed | 4 recessed, 2 sconce | — | Supply, return |
| Primary ensuite | 50 | 9'-0" | Porcelain, radiant | 1 @ 2'x4' obscured | 3 GFCI | 3 recessed, mirror light | WC, lavatory, shower | Humidity-sensing exhaust |
| Primary closet | 40 | 9'-0" | Engineered oak | — | 2 | 2 recessed, LED shelf | — | Passive |
| Bedroom 2 | 120 | 9'-0" | Engineered oak | 1 @ 4'x6' | 6 + USB | 3 recessed | — | Supply, return |
| Bedroom 3 | 112 | 9'-0" | Engineered oak | 1 @ 4'x6' | 6 + USB | 3 recessed | — | Supply, return |
| Bedroom 4 | 108 | 9'-0" | Engineered oak | 1 @ 4'x6' | 6 + USB | 3 recessed | — | Supply, return |
| Family bath | 65 | 9'-0" | Porcelain, radiant | 1 @ 2'x4' obscured | 3 GFCI | 4 recessed, mirror light | WC, 2 lavatories, tub/shower | Humidity-sensing exhaust |
| Bath 3 | 50 | 9'-0" | Porcelain, radiant | — | 2 GFCI | 3 recessed, mirror light | WC, lavatory, shower | Humidity-sensing exhaust |
| Laundry | 40 | 9'-0" | Porcelain | — | 3 GFCI + 120V dryer | 2 recessed | Washer box, pan, drain, auto shutoff | Exhaust, ERV |
| Walk-in pantry | 40 | 9'-0" | Polished concrete | — | 3 | 2 recessed, occupancy sensor | — | Passive |
| Storage | 25 | 9'-0" | Polished concrete | — | 1 | 1 recessed, occupancy sensor | — | Passive |
| Total | 1422 | |||||||
Level 2 — family of four — three bedrooms, two bathrooms, study nook off the living room
| Room | SF | Ceiling | Floor finish | Windows | Power | Lighting | Plumbing | Mechanical |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Living | 290 | 9'-0" | Engineered oak | 2 @ 5'x7' | 8 + 2 floor | 6 recessed, cove | — | Supply x2, return |
| Kitchen + dining | 285 | 9'-0" | Engineered oak | 2 @ 5'x7' | 10 counter GFCI + 6 | 8 recessed, 3 pendant, under-cab | Sink, dishwasher, disposal, fridge line | Hood + make-up air |
| Entry | 50 | 9'-0" | Porcelain | — | 2 | 2 recessed | — | Return air |
| Primary bedroom | 196 | 9'-0" | Engineered oak | 2 @ 4'x7' | 7 + USB both sides of bed | 4 recessed, 2 sconce | — | Supply, return |
| Primary ensuite | 62 | 9'-0" | Porcelain, radiant | 1 @ 2'x4' obscured | 3 GFCI | 4 recessed, mirror light | WC, 2 lavatories, shower | Humidity-sensing exhaust |
| Primary closet | 40 | 9'-0" | Engineered oak | — | 2 | 2 recessed, LED shelf | — | Passive |
| Bedroom 2 | 138 | 9'-0" | Engineered oak | 1 @ 5'x7' | 6 + USB | 3 recessed | — | Supply, return |
| Bedroom 3 | 128 | 9'-0" | Engineered oak | 1 @ 5'x7' | 6 + USB | 3 recessed | — | Supply, return |
| Bath 2 | 65 | 9'-0" | Porcelain, radiant | 1 @ 2'x4' obscured | 3 GFCI | 4 recessed, mirror light | WC, lavatory, tub/shower | Humidity-sensing exhaust |
| Study nook | 58 | 9'-0" | Engineered oak | 1 @ 4'x6' | 5 + data | 3 recessed, task | — | Supply |
| Laundry | 40 | 9'-0" | Porcelain | — | 3 GFCI + 120V dryer | 2 recessed | Washer box, pan, drain, auto shutoff | Exhaust, ERV |
| Pantry | 48 | 9'-0" | Engineered oak | — | 3 | 2 recessed, occupancy sensor | — | Passive |
| Linen + utility | 24 | 9'-0" | Porcelain | — | 1 | 1 recessed | Heat-pump water heater | Condensate drain |
| Total | 1424 | |||||||
Level 3 — couple — two bedrooms, two bathrooms, office and private balcony
| Room | SF | Ceiling | Floor finish | Windows | Power | Lighting | Plumbing | Mechanical |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Living | 330 | 9'-0" | Engineered oak | 3 @ 5'x7' corner | 9 + 2 floor | 7 recessed, cove | — | Supply x2, return |
| Kitchen + dining | 300 | 9'-0" | Engineered oak | 2 @ 5'x7' | 10 counter GFCI + 6 | 8 recessed, 3 pendant, under-cab | Sink, dishwasher, disposal, fridge line | Hood + make-up air |
| Entry | 50 | 9'-0" | Porcelain | — | 2 | 2 recessed | — | Return air |
| Primary bedroom | 250 | 9'-0" | Engineered oak | 2 @ 5'x7' | 8 + USB both sides of bed | 5 recessed, 2 sconce | — | Supply x2, return |
| Primary bath | 90 | 9'-0" | Porcelain, radiant | 1 @ 3'x4' obscured | 4 GFCI | 5 recessed, 2 mirror lights | WC, 2 lavatories, walk-in shower | Humidity-sensing exhaust |
| Walk-in closet | 70 | 9'-0" | Engineered oak | — | 3 | 3 recessed, LED shelf | — | Passive |
| Guest bedroom | 150 | 9'-0" | Engineered oak | 1 @ 5'x7' | 6 + USB | 4 recessed | — | Supply, return |
| Bath 2 | 60 | 9'-0" | Porcelain, radiant | 1 @ 2'x4' obscured | 3 GFCI | 3 recessed, mirror light | WC, lavatory, tub/shower | Humidity-sensing exhaust |
| Office / den | 90 | 9'-0" | Engineered oak | 1 @ 5'x7' | 6 + 2 data | 4 recessed, task | — | Supply |
| Laundry | 40 | 9'-0" | Porcelain | — | 3 GFCI + 120V dryer | 2 recessed | Washer box, pan, drain, auto shutoff | Exhaust, ERV |
| Balcony | 90 | open | Pavers on pedestals | — | 1 weatherproof GFCI | 2 step lights | Deck drain | — |
| Total | 1520 | |||||||
Level 4 — ten-foot ceilings throughout, single-occupant layout, stair to the roof
| Room | SF | Ceiling | Floor finish | Windows | Power | Lighting | Plumbing | Mechanical |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Living | 450 | 10'-0" | Engineered oak | 4 @ 6'x8' corner | 11 + 4 floor | 9 recessed, full cove | — | Supply x3, return |
| Kitchen | 120 | 10'-0" | Engineered oak | 1 @ 5'x7' | 10 counter GFCI + 4 | 6 recessed, 3 pendant, under-cab | Sink, dishwasher, disposal, fridge + wine fridge lines | Hood + make-up air |
| Primary bedroom | 300 | 10'-0" | Engineered oak | 2 @ 6'x8' | 9 + USB both sides of bed | 5 recessed, 2 sconce, cove | — | Supply x2, return |
| Primary bath | 160 | 10'-0" | Porcelain, radiant | 1 @ 3'x5' obscured | 5 GFCI | 6 recessed, 2 mirror lights | WC, urinal, 2 lavatories, walk-in shower | Humidity-sensing exhaust |
| Guest bath | 70 | 10'-0" | Porcelain, radiant | — | 3 GFCI | 3 recessed, mirror light | WC, lavatory, shower | Humidity-sensing exhaust |
| Walk-in closet | 80 | 10'-0" | Engineered oak | — | 4 | 4 recessed, LED to every shelf | — | Passive |
| Office | 140 | 10'-0" | Engineered oak | 2 @ 5'x7' | 8 + 4 data | 5 recessed, task, cove | — | Supply, return |
| Laundry | 40 | 10'-0" | Porcelain | — | 3 GFCI + 120V dryer | 2 recessed | Washer box, pan, drain, auto shutoff | Exhaust, ERV |
| Entry / lift lobby | 40 | 10'-0" | Porcelain | — | 2 | 2 recessed | — | Return air |
| Walk-in pantry | 32 | 10'-0" | Engineered oak | — | 3 | 2 recessed, occupancy sensor | — | Passive |
| Storage | 30 | 10'-0" | Porcelain | — | 1 | 1 recessed, occupancy sensor | — | Passive |
| Utility — linen + water heater | 24 | 10'-0" | Porcelain | — | 1 | 1 recessed, occupancy sensor | Heat-pump water heater | Condensate drain |
| Stair to roof | 50 | 10'-0" | Porcelain | 1 @ 3'x7' | 2 | Step lights, 3-way switching | — | Passive |
| Total | 1536 | |||||||
Roof — three things and nothing else: a hot tub under a steel canopy, a gas fire pit lounge, a play lawn. No enclosed rooms, so no bathroom, no plumbing beyond the drains and hose bibs
| Room | SF | Ceiling | Floor finish | Windows | Power | Lighting | Plumbing | Mechanical |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hot tub under canopy | 210 | 8'-6" canopy | Pavers on pedestals, slip-rated | — | 2 GFCI in-use covers + 110V tub outlet | 4 damp-rated downlights in the canopy | Hose bib, deck drain | Open on two sides, wind screens on two |
| Fire pit lounge | 376 | open sky | Pavers on pedestals | — | 4 GFCI in-use covers | Step and bench lighting | Gas line with shutoff | Open sky |
| Play lawn | 259 | open | Pet-grade turf on drainage mat | — | 2 GFCI in-use covers | 4 low-level path lights | Hose bib, relief-patch drain to sanitary | Open |
| Open terrace | 445 | open | Pavers on pedestals | — | 2 GFCI in-use covers | Perimeter step lights | Primary + overflow roof drains | Open |
| Mechanical strip | 170 | — | Ballast pavers on rails | — | 4 disconnects, one per residence | 1 service light | Condensate to roof drain | Screened from the terrace |
| Total | 2400 | |||||||
14What the building needs from the ground
Land is settled, so this is not shopping advice — it is the list of assumptions the design above is built on. Orientation, privacy, solar yield, whether the terrace is overlooked and whether the accessible entry is cheap all follow from the site. Check the plot against these early: anything here it fails is not a dealbreaker, it is simply a part of the design that has to change, and it is far cheaper to find that out now than after drawings.
The 42′ plate plus side setbacks needs about 60′ of width; the rear garage and its apron push the DEPTH requirement to roughly 145′, and front-plus-rear setbacks push depth past 90′. Below this you are redesigning the building to fit the lot.
Room for the building, parking, the refuse enclosure and a real entry approach without fighting for every foot. This is the size to actually hunt for.
The whole privacy strategy and the rooftop spa assume you are the tallest thing around. One taller neighbour overlooking the terrace undoes section 04 and the hot tub both.
The fin screen, the solar and the terrace sun all assume it. A lot that forces the long glazed face north is buildable but a different building.
| Check | Why it matters here specifically | If the site fails this |
|---|---|---|
| Zoning allows 4 dwelling units | Not every multi-family zone permits four. A rezoning is months and may simply be refused. | Rezoning is months and may be refused — confirm before drawings |
| Height limit above ~50′ | Four storeys at 9–10′ ceilings plus floor assemblies, parapet and the roof structures lands near 48–50′. A 35′ cap costs you a whole floor. | Under 45′ means losing a floor — the whole stack is redrawn |
| Nothing taller adjacent or planned | Check what is approved nearby, not just what is standing. A permitted five-storey next door two years from now looks straight onto your terrace. | The roof privacy strategy and the spa both need rethinking |
| Grade close to flat | The elevator makes every unit subject to Fair Housing, which requires an accessible route from the street. On a steep lot that route becomes ramps, retaining and real money. | Budget for ramps and retaining to meet the accessible route |
| Alley or rear access | Puts parking, refuse and deliveries off the street, which keeps the entry facade clean — the one in section 02 only works if bins are not beside the front door. | Bins and parking end up on the entry facade — plan a screen |
| Water table and soil | Parts of Grand Rapids sit high. It decides whether a basement is possible at all, and a bad geotech report can add serious foundation cost. | No basement, and the foundation number goes up |
| Water service sized for fire flow | If sprinklers are required — assume they are — the main has to deliver fire flow. Upsizing a service from the street is a large, unglamorous number. | Upsizing the service from the street is a large line item |
| Parking requirement per unit | Four units at two spaces each is eight cars, roughly 1,200–2,000 SF once you add the drive aisle. That can quietly consume the lot. | The plate shrinks, or parking has to go under the building |
Take one photograph from the middle of every candidate lot
Stand where the roof terrace would be — middle of the lot, facing each of the four directions — and photograph all four. That single set of images answers more design questions than any listing: what overlooks you, where the afternoon sun lands, which face deserves the glass, and whether the view is worth the money section 04 spends on glazing. Do it before you make an offer, not after.
Get the zoning answer in writing before you offer
“Four units should be fine” from an agent is worth nothing. Ask the Grand Rapids planning department directly, for that parcel, in writing: permitted units, height limit, setbacks, required parking, and whether sprinklers are triggered. It is free, it takes a phone call and an email, and it is the difference between a building and a very expensive vacant lot.
15Questions only a Michigan architect can close
Can this be a single-stair building?
Two stair towers eat roughly 424 SF per floor — nearly a quarter of the plate. If one stair is permitted at this height, that area returns to the residences and the whole budget conversation changes.
How does Fair Housing design apply?
Four residences plus an elevator normally makes every unit a covered dwelling — accessible routes, 32″ clear doors, reinforced bath walls. Owner occupancy does not exempt the design requirements. Confirm before layouts are fixed.
What does an occupied roof trigger?
A hot tub, a conservatory and a stair raise egress, guardrail, drainage and structural questions all at once. This is the detail most likely to reshape the top of the building.
What lot does this actually need?
A 42′×44′ plate plus setbacks, parking and refuse sets your minimum site. Take this program shopping — do not buy land and then discover it cannot hold the building.
16Making the renders
The model at the top of this page is not the finished image — it is the input. Architectural photorealism is not hand-drawn; you build the massing, then let a render engine or an AI do the realism. Screenshot the model, upload it, paste the matching prompt below.
| Tool | Free tier | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| MyArchitectAI | Yes | Built for exactly this — CAD exports and line drawings to photoreal in about ten seconds |
| Remodel AI | 3 renders, no card | Rated highest for photorealism; eleven exterior architectural styles |
| RunDiffusion | Free daily tokens | Browser based, runs the current image models |
| mnml.ai | Free trial | Takes SketchUp / Revit / Blender output — same principle as our massing export |
| Archmaster | No-login free tier | Fastest way to just try one |
Turn structure adherence UP
Every one of these tools has a slider — structure adherence, fidelity, or denoising strength. Set it high. Low means the AI invents its own building from your image as loose inspiration; high means it renders this building, keeping the floor count, the proportions, the fin screen and the roof. That single setting is the difference between a picture of The Slate and a picture of some other building entirely.
Exterior, street level. Use a screenshot of the model as it first loads.
Rooftop, aerial. Click Roof on the model first, then screenshot. This is the one to lead a pitch with.
If faces or hands come out wrong, append: candid documentary photography, natural posture, realistic anatomy, correct hands, --no deformed faces, extra limbs, mannequins, cgi
Level 4 living room. No model screenshot needed — run this one from text.