Bocce-themed venue in Grand Rapids expected to open early next year

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A project to bring a self-described “dinnertainment” venue to Grand Raids’ Belknap Lookout neighborhood continues to move forward with support from Brownfield financing.

The Grand Rapids Brownfield Redevelopment Authority on Wednesday approved $1,029,821 in tax increment financing for the nearly complete reimagining of 975 Ottawa Ave. NW south of Coldbrook Street. New venue Silva is scheduled to open next year.

Silva is the latest in a long line of tenants in the building built by Berkey and Gay Furniture company in the 1920s. The history serves as a major draw for the team led by developer Mark Secchia and director of operations Sarah Andro.

“We had a historian do a report on the building and they came back with a 185-page report of everything the building has ever been,” Andro told News 8. “I think that for people who don’t even enjoy history, you can feel when you walk through the building that it wants to be open. It wants to be something.”

The facility has housed lumber drying kilns and coal processing facilities, vaudeville shows and orchestra performances, and even a fitness center complete with a pool and basketball court.

Next year, it will open as a place for food, drinks, conversation and games, including five Italian-built bocce ball lanes situated on the former site of the pool deck beneath three-story ceilings. Upstairs will be an event space with room for a gathering with up to 1,600 guests.

Secchia’s vision of a destination entertainment and community-building venue for the North Monroe neighborhood is coming along quickly.

“In this phase, every day I walk into the building, there is something to look at,” Andro said. “It’s terribly exciting. We are going in phases, so the event space will open after. But we are hoping to get the restaurant, bar and bocce sight open in February.”

Once the venue opens, the reimbursements approved by the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority will be paid back to the developer over the next 24 years to offset eligible Brownfield activities during demolition and construction, including lead and asbestos abatement and site preparation.

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