Mar 27, 2025
Eastern Floral CEO and former Grand Rapids city commissioner Bing Goei is breaking into the housing development space for the first time under a partnership that plans to bring an infill mixed-use project to Grand Rapids’ southeast side.
Goei is partnering with Holland resident and real estate investor Saleem Usmani to build 27 apartments with commercial space in Grand Rapids’ Third Ward, an area that Goei recently represented on the commission and that city leaders have identified as historically underinvested.
Plans for the nearly $8 million project call for a four-story, 22,800-square-foot building with ground-floor retail.
The development team, doing business as S&B Impact Group LLC, is under contract to buy the nearly half-acre vacant lot at 1356 Kalamazoo Ave. SE.
The Third Ward spanning the city’s southeast side historically has had the highest population of Black residents and the least amount of investment among the three wards. According to a city economic opportunity dashboard, private investments supported by city incentives in the Third Ward from 2012-2017 were a fraction of those in other areas of the city.