First-time Developer to Open Cuban Restaurant in Grand Rapids

Juan Lopez , a first-time developer, is turning the property at 1516 Cesar E. Chavez Ave. SW into a Cuban restaurant and a 17-unit apartment. Plans for the project have been submitted to the Grand Rapids Planning Commission. This news was first seen in Crain’s Grand Rapids .

According to the plans submitted, the building’s basement will serve as restaurant storage and contain one apartment unit. The ground floor will be converted into a 1,652-square-foot restaurant and two one-bedroom units alongside a common area, bike storage, and a mailroom. Finally, two new stories will be constructed to hold six apartment units on each floor. The apartment portion will contain four studios, 12 one-bedrooms, and one two-bedroom.

The restaurant, called Palmas , will have a small dine-in area and a takeout counter. Lopez also has plans for an outdoor seating area down the road. His mother, Martiza Lopez , will bring her lifetime passion for cooking into Palmas’s kitchen. While not many details are available regarding the offerings, Lopez told Crain’s his mother specializes in making “guava pastries” — scones with guava, coconut, and cheese fillings.

What Now Detroit reached out to Lopez with an email request for comments, but hadn’t heard back by the time of this coverage. According to the Crain’s article, Maxam Architecture is the project’s designer and Lopez is collaborating with Cella Building Co. to renovate the existing building and construct the new floors.

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