LEED Silver Affordable Housing Asset Puts on Rooftop Solar
The power capacity is estimated to reduce the cost of electricity by as much as 50 percent and will pay for itself in nine to 10 years.
Genesis Non-Profit Housing Corp. and Colliers International have partnered to equip St. James Apartments and Townhomes, a Grand Rapids, Mich., affordable supportive development with solar panels. In addition to the solar array, the property was LEED Silver certified in August this year with a score of 67.5 points.
The solar installation consists of 308 solar panels and has a generating capacity of 125,000 kilowatt-hours per year. This power capacity is estimated to reduce the cost of electricity by as much as 50 percent and will pay for itself in nine to 10 years.
Solar Winds Power Systems designed and implemented the project, Destigter Architecture & Planning provided the architectural services, Pioneer Construction handled the construction and Van Haren Electric provided electrical services. Colliers’ Incentives team provided consulting services on the economic viability and tax credit portion of the project. The firm brought on board National Equity Fund and Mercantile Bank to syndicate the solar tax credits that made up for a significant portion of the funding for the solar installation.
St. James Apartments and Townhomes is an adaptive reuse development located at 750 First St. NW opened in December 2018. Previously, the building was a school, which was redeveloped into 36 apartments. Genesis Non-Profit Housing Corp. and co-developer Dwelling Place also constructed 16 townhomes. The latter provides property management services.
