GRAND RAPIDS TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — A development currently under construction will bring almost 100 new townhomes to a community located off of the East Beltline near Grand Rapids.

Work on Meadowood Townhomes started last winter at a 40-acre at 3300 E Beltline Ave. near 4 Mile Road. Once complete, it will include 96 townhomes, a mix of two- and three-bedroom units.

The project is from WDG Construction and Pure Real Estate Management, the same team behind Evergreen Townhomes, a 52-unit townhome development located just across the Beltline.

Jason Wheeler, WDG Construction partner and Pure Real Estate Management director of marketing, said the Evergreen Townhomes were leased quickly and the team saw big demand for that type of offering.

They took some of their favorite elements from that project and did some modifications to fit the much-larger Meadowood Townhome site better. He said they wanted to create a living community that feels more like a single-family home environment.

“We feel like we’ve helped to bring a new offering to this area and expand on the successes that we had at Evergreen Townhomes,” he said.

The two- and three-bedroom units offer a variety of floor plans ranging from 1,375 square footage to 1,600 square footage, with some including a fenced-in yard and a basement. They all include patios, garages and in-unit laundry.

So far, about a third of the homes have residents, Wheeler said, with another third almost done and the last third expected to be done in late spring 2025.

Next year, the team will also focus on completing amenities, like a community pavilion, hiking trails, a barbecue and grilling area and fire pits.

The residents who have already moved in have had good feedback, Wheeler said.

“So far, so good,” he said. “People love it here.”

The project comes as townhouse construction booms across the country. According to the National Association of Home Builders, it is at a record high. Townhouses made up 15% of single-family home starts in the second quarter of 2024, according to the NAHB, with those types of projects remaining solid even as other sectors of the housing industry saw some slowdown.

Wheeler said that many residents who opt to rent a townhome instead of an apartment are those who want a single-family experience but do not want to own a home, or those who are expecting to soon transition into homeownership.

“That might mean that there’s people that are in transition looking for a home here in this area, and maybe working with the realtor and they know that they have a six- or a nine-month or a 12-month window. Maybe there’s a home under construction that they’re aiming toward, that sort of thing,” he said. “As well as there’s some people that don’t want to own a home for the maintenance costs and all these other aspects of things.”

Wheeler said as West Michigan continues working toward filling its housing shortage, there needs to be a balance between projects like apartments and high-rise developments in the city core, which offers things like vibrancy and easy transportation, with projects like Meadowood, which offers more peace and privacy.

“It’s a quiet area,” he said. “They’re really well-built homes. So we’re leaning on our quality and our ability to deliver a little bit more space to somebody, some outdoor activation and a lower density experience.”

Wheeler said he hopes to see more West Michigan townhome developments in the future.

“Our townhomes are an always evolving model. So we complete a project, we look at the good, the bad, the ugly, we make some tweaks and we are always expanding on and improving upon this base idea that we have,” he said. “So we hope to continue pursuing townhome construction and we definitely see a market for it.”