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!