GRAND RAPIDS -- Another eight condominiums are being planned for Monroe Center.

Virgin Soil Development is planning to build eight condos on the long-vacant second and third floors of 56 Monroe Center NW, which also houses XO Asian Cuisine.

With prices ranging from $139,900 to $159,000, The Brickway Residences will be among the lowest-cost condos downtown.

Brice Bossardet, owner of Virgin Soil, said there is a fertile market on the lower end of the condo market.

Less than one block away along Monroe Center, another developer is offering 16 units in the former Fox's Jewelers building, now dubbed Fox Lofts, for $139,900 to $189,900.

"I think if I had 50 of these, I could sell them," Bossardet said. "It's not really tremendously affordable, but when things are going for $250 per square foot, it makes it a lot more reasonable."

Bossardet, who lives in a condo on Monroe Center NW, is developing and selling higher-end condos across the street at the former Central Bank building, 65 Monroe Center, and on the upper floors of a series of buildings known as Front Row Condominiums.

Two of the 800-square-foot units planned already are reserved, he said. An addition to the weathered rear of the building expanded the second and third floors, while also rerouting XO's cooking exhaust above the building.

Bossardet plans a rooftop deck for residents. Some units facing the rear could get balconies, he said. A new elevator will be installed, along with energy-efficient wood windows.

Bossardet said he likely will seek a grant from the Downtown Development Authority's Building Reuse Incentive Program to help offset some costs for updating the building, which is more than 100 years old.