Occupant: Wanted

Assorted photos of the Quarternote Lofts.

The 5th Quarter

Clerestory Skylight

 Thomas Wolfe said 'You Can't Go Home Again'.  We tested that theory this past winter by adding loft apartment number 5..... affectionately known as tht 5th Quarter.  The results speak for themselves...

Conversation Pieces

A few of our favorite snips that help define our project...

An Assortment

One Down, Three to Go...

Our latest marketing inititive is now complete and up to date.  Photos, floorplans, prices and an overview of our neighborhood.  Coupled with craigslist advertising we receive weekly inquiries

Significant WOW Factor

Final finishes are now in place.  This unit, the epitome of urban cool, has been furnished and now serves as model for our development.  Note the skylight above the kitchen island which never fails to elicit the expected "WOW". 

New Identity

Welcome to The Citadel Dance and Music Center - and welcome to the Quarternote Lofts. This bucolic autumn view captures our new presence in the Benton Harbor Arts District. After fifteen months of hand-wringing worry we have arrived.

Note the iconic sign that identifies both school and residential space.


As one patron of the music school proclaimed: Best. Sign. Ever.

One Year Later

One year -to the day, The Citadel Music Center is open for business. Students of all ages marvel at the transformation and are welcomed into their new studio spaces. The vibe is at once warm, unique, eclectic, and unmistakably artistic.

The Greening of (an) American (Roof)

While a carpet of sedum grows in a West Michigan nursery, our walk-out roof top deck is gradually transformed. The drought-resistent succulent plant is pregrown over several months and will be delivered in 2ft x 4ft modules in mid July. The roof will be fully vegetated within 6 hours of receipt and will create a magical greenspace for our residents to enjoy. A first in Benton Harbor, the LifeRoof system will minimize water run-off, conserve heat in the winter and moderate the ambient summer temperatures of the common patio space. Cocktails, anyone?

Un-common Spaces

The Quarternote Lofts exhibit several common areas that are sure to please. Featured here, what will become a shared roof-top deck and green space.

To the right, looking down from above on a portion of the roof deck. When complete, most of this roof surface will be a green LiveRoof.

In the distance you can catch a glimpse of the Harbor Shores golf practice facility. Above, left, a view from the deck looking down the C&O Railroad Tracks. I think I hear Woodie Guthrie off in the distance...

Year to Year

Above: Summer 2009

After and before, the transformation is complete. In just one year a page is turned on a neighborhood that now rivals that in any urban setting. What remains unknown is the effect that this physical face lift will have. New restaurants? A bookstore? The possibilities are many and varied - but all require one essential ingredient - people! Enough to weave the web of commerce -neighbors serving neighbors. At what point do we reach critical mass - and will we know it? I suspect it is a moving target - a continuum without an end, an equation without an answer, a process that becomes ever more complicated with the addition of every new business and resident. A fascinating pallet to which we add just a bit more color with our music school and our urban lofts.

Below: Summer 2008

A Park Grows in Benton Harbor

A small triangular park greets Spring and reminds all of us why we love this neighborhood. Urban, historic and alive - with space for so much more. Already home to artists, teachers and renaissance pioneers, the Arts District continues to captivate. Music, threatre, live entertainment, fine dining - a vibrant landscape, an open invitation. If it's not here now, it will be soon!

Return From Exile

Beginning nearly a year ago, an inventory was made of the various architectural and vintage artifacts that could be saved for re-use. Many of the items were impractical or ultimately undesirable. Some, such as the multiple paned warehouse windows and the impressively worn freezer door shown here have made the final cut. They will provide accent and definition for our spaces and connect them to their early roots.

What is that sound?

It could be music. It will be music.

These photos feature details of the new Citadel Music Center. The odd round window was a flat belt pulley in a former life and the multiple paned warehouse window and the doors on the left were salvaged from the original ice cream factory. Overhead you may notice the pan-poured structural concrete ceiling of the music center.

Keep listening...

Indecent Exposure

Over a period of several months the building is stripped in stages of the more modern sheet metal and stucco facade. The original brownstone is revealed and then stripped as well, exposing the rough brick under layment. A new course of brownstone will restore the building to its original state.

Stairway to Heaven

Here are two shots of the stairway in our largest residential unit. The apartment, once a windowless, cork-lined refrigeration room of the Hill Ice Cream Company now features

2-1/2 baths, exposed brick walls and expansive views of the nearby golf course. A true loft, the second floor remains open to the living space below.

Rock Photo

Inspections finally complete, the drywall crew has descended into the space that will become home to the Citadel Music School. This nine-man "rock band" will complete the initial "hanging" process in about 3 days. Nearly 3000 sq feet will be devoted to music instruction for students of all ages. The school will feature a waiting room, director's office and 10 instruction studio rooms as well as a larger group ensemble and "kindermusic" room. Brass, String, Woodwind, Piano, Percussion and Voice instruction - all under one roof.

Ghost Stories

We pass them everyday without giving them a second thought. Their influence on our consumptive impulses has long since passed. Yet they linger - fading over time until their clouded message loses its connection to our modern world... These few samples are tucked away in alley ways and side streets - no longer frequented by the retail public that were once drawn in.

We're Beaming!

Gloss black paint has been applied to the exposed iron I-beams that support our roof. The exposed ceiling joists have been stained and sealed and we are very pleased with the way the colors compliment each other. The original brick surfaces add additional contrast to the newly finished ceiling components.