518 replies to this topic

[joshleo]

Hey gang. I live on the corner of College and Wealthy and drive down Wealthy all the time. I love visiting The Wealthy Street Bakery, and like what is happening with some of the stores such as Wealthy and Charles and the antique store. I think that Wealthy Street is coming together slowly (especially down by the wealthy street theatre) but there is still plenty of work to do. I thought I would post pictures of all the buildings that I think need still need some help. I would love to know the history of the buildings and also if there are any plans for renovating them. If what ideas you have for the buildings if there are no current plans.

I will list the images in the order I encountered them, from College and Wealthy down to the Diamond area...

this is the least inviting eatery on the street, not to mention that there is no sidewalk, just asphalt, I think it would be nice without the bars and would benefit from a sidewalk.


The sign between these two buildings reads: "Developing Soon" I hope so, this could be a cool storefront



Pretty sure this place isn't still doing business


This would have been an interesting store to visit when it was actually selling beer...



Somerdyke Plumbing and I think some law offices are right next to the thin beer store... they need some exterior help too



Across the street is another service station that could use a little cleanup here and there


and next to that, a house/storefront/BBQ and ice cream place?


Again back on the south side of the street is a building that I think would make a great little specialty food store.


on the adjacent corner is a recently sold building


But next to that, it the bane of my existence, the biker building where all the loud bikes gather and then scream past my house while i sleep. I have always said to myself, what this street needs is a grim reaper riding a chariot to spice things up.


and next to that, an equally ugly building, was the mural added to make it look nicer or worse? not sure.


Back on the north side, this gas station would be nice to have, if it was actually in operation and not BRIGHT yellow


on the south side next to Wealthy and Charles is EToys?


Then going down the line towards Eastern Ave (skipping over the buildings that are ok)
this building looks cool but is it going to be anything else besides blinds?

same question for this:


Interesting design and color...


on the corner of Eastern and Wealthy. Was this a bank? is something happening here? I really like this building


I know this building is being used by a screen printer but does he really need all the old garages etc?


there was one more that I didn't take a picture of, and that is that yello ice cream place by the wealthy theatre... someone please do something with that too.

when I was trying to think about what would go well in these places, I couldnt really think of much. I think with the big box stores of today, the small retail storefront which used to house hardware stores, shoe stores, clothing stores, furniture stores (I imagine) the only thing these storefronts could house would be offices and specialty stores with low rent...

sorry if this was too many photos, but there is a lot of work yet to be done on Wealthy Street.

[twoshort]

joshleo, on Feb 28 2007, 12:47 PM, said:

The sign between these two buildings reads: "Developing Soon" I hope so, this could be a cool storefront

These were only very recently taken off the CARWM site, they were for sale.  Perhaps they sold?

joshleo, on Feb 28 2007, 12:47 PM, said:

on the south side next to Wealthy and Charles is EToys?

It's a hair salon I believe

joshleo, on Feb 28 2007, 12:47 PM, said:

Then going down the line towards Eastern Ave (skipping over the buildings that are ok)
this building looks cool but is it going to be anything else besides blinds?

That's the offices for McGraw construction.  The blinds are there for privacy I'm assuming.  The west end is a conference room.  Whoever has the office upstairs right on Wealthy Street is there just about EVERY day and it seems like he's there 18 hours a day.

[twoshort]

Bazzani rehabbed the building on the SW corner of Wealthy and Easter for a doctor or something who lives in the building now and plans to turn the front section into a book store in the future.


I also want to know what the story is with the screen printer...

[suydam]

twoshort, on Feb 28 2007, 01:03 PM, said:

It's a hair salon I believe

EToy's is a hair salon?! I've been wondering that for a long time.  Gotta wonder what kind of hair salon has tiny windows, a mysterious-sounding name and a window-sticker that says "Road Rage Kills".  

The "Developing Soon" building has said that for at least 2 years (that's when I moved here and began a Wealthy St. commute).

[twoshort]

suydam, on Feb 28 2007, 02:23 PM, said:

EToy's is a hair salon?! I've been wondering that for a long time.  Gotta wonder what kind of hair salon has tiny windows, a mysterious-sounding name and a window-sticker that says "Road Rage Kills".

I walked from the bakery to Wealthy at Charles one time and I seem to recall that it was a salon, yes.

[golscorer4]

Apparently this one has been approved by HPC for demolition



I'm really dissapointed by that. I wanted to do some sort of Rural Studio intervention with it.

Edited by golscorer4, 28 February 2007 - 01:39 PM.

[twoshort]

golscorer4, on Feb 28 2007, 02:38 PM, said:

Apparently this one has been approved by HPC for demolition

I'm really dissapointed by that. I wanted to do some sort of Rural Studio intervention with it.

That is too bad, I've always thought it was kind of cool.  Why are they demolishing it, do you know?

[PRCH]

Briefly: (Nice photo's by the way)

"Developing Soon" was painted on the building by a craftsman who once had a shop in the building. He was being hopeful. He also painted, with Heartside Reb, the fish murals on the single story building (which is used to store auto parts - wanna buy it??) .

Wealthy Auto parts is alive and well, owned by folks who have lived on Henry for 30+ years.

"Beer" will be demolished and it's too bad but HPC allowed it. The Wealthy Bakery people now own Somerdyke's and will be renovating it. It will be available for lease when the plumbers move out (after about 50 years in the building) . "Beer" will be used for parking.

Etoys, in business since the 60's, will have facade improvements including full window restoration, hopefully this spring. Etoy's husband owns the Wealthy Car Wash at Eastern. Road Rage Kills?: a relative of the owner was killed in a road rage incident a couple years ago.

The brick building on the corner was an Old Kent Bank. Doctor Ronnie is planning to open a book store. The little building next door was a grocery store and is currently  the object of several people's lust.

This part of Weathy has enormous potential for all sorts of retail/restaurants, etc. Low rent? ha. Did I miss anything important?? Oh, ya: "Developing Soon" is now owned by Brian Vanfarowe - he's in the book.

Edited by PRCH, 28 February 2007 - 03:08 PM.

[GRDadof3]

Wow, I never really thought about how many gas stations are (were) on Wealthy.  These aren't even counting Sandmann's and the car wash place that I think used to be a gas station, and several others I seem to remember.  

Awesome montage Josh!

[GR_Urbanist]

golscorer4, on Feb 28 2007, 02:38 PM, said:

Apparently this one has been approved by HPC for demolition



I'm really dissapointed by that. I wanted to do some sort of Rural Studio intervention with it.

I would have loved to see it become some sort of outdoor cafe / diner, with the lot next to it bricked over for the outdoor patio/eating area




This building absolutely gets under my skin every time I go to the bakery. It is poorly maintained and I have never seen anyone actually go into any of the places there nor would I think they would want to. It's a dump that needs to be bought out. It would make a nice neighborhood grocery store. The contrast between the clean, and lively Wealthy street bakery across the street with this dead and creepy place is just stunning.




Honestly, other than the Bakery, and a handful of shops nearby, the western part of the Wealthy Street District is in serious need of better tenants and businesses. It still has a very run down feel as you can see from the pictures. It has just as much potential as the Eastern part of the district, it just hasnt caught fire (not literally, I hope) as the rest of the uptown area.

[Veloise]

GR_Urbanist, on Feb 28 2007, 04:07 PM, said:

... it just hasnt caught fire (not literally, I hope) ...

NOT funny!

[mpchicago]

Wealthy Auto parts is alive and well, owned by folks who have lived on Henry for 30+ years.



Give this fella a facade improvment grant!  That's actually a nice example of an early gas station.

Edited by mpchicago, 28 February 2007 - 03:26 PM.

[GRGridGirl]

Thanks for putting this together!  Yes, Wealthy Street west of Eastern has tremendous opportunity to revitalize more, increasing the present work being done along the street.  

Summer 2007:  Wealthy Street between Eastern and Union will be reconstructed.  The width of the street will be reduced to 40 feet; currently there are sections as wide as 60 feet.  By narrowing the street, properties will now have a 12 ft setback from the curb, which will increase pedestrian traffic, while slowing down those speedy drivers.  This will also provide an opportunity for retailers to offer sidewalk tables, creating more of a third space for us citizens.  Originally, installing new brick with concrete parking lanes and ornamental lighting was part of this construction project.  Unfortunately when the street was widened in the 70’s, the brick was removed for asphalt. (Why? What were they thinking?)  Now there are no grant monies available to put new brick in.  Luckily the City has applied again for enhancement grant funds to help offset the cost of the ornamental lighting.  If approved, I believe the property owners would vote for a special assessment to pay for the ornamental lighting.  

Once this street construction project is complete, it will add to the positive efforts on the street.

2008:  I think the remaining vacant properties & absentee building owners on Wealthy Street will sell.  Hopefully, we don’t have to wait this long.

2009:  Phase out Renaissance Zone.   “The final three years of the Zone will begin a phase-in of taxation. For example, in the year 2009 a business will pay 25% of their tax liability, 50% in the year 2010, 75% in the year 2011, and 100% after 2011.”  -City of GR

Wealthy Street is in my Top 5 favorite streets in GR.

[Veloise]

GRGridGirl, on Feb 28 2007, 06:12 PM, said:

...
Summer 2007:  Wealthy Street between Eastern and Union will be reconstructed.  ... Luckily the City has applied again for enhancement grant funds to help offset the cost of the ornamental lighting.  If approved, I believe the property owners would vote for a special assessment to pay for the ornamental lighting.  
...

The assessment is based on Weathly frontage. Article last week mentioned that one homeowner was having to pay .... a lot [I'll look it up] for her "share" of the ornamental lighting. The piece strongly implied that there is owner resistance to having to cover that cost.

>IDEA< Sell sponsorships on these old-timey streetlights, the way schools do with bricks on their walkways and parks do with benches.

[joeDowntown]

I always thought that building was a very well funded dotcom from around 2000.

twoshort, on Feb 28 2007, 01:03 PM, said:

It's a hair salon I believe

[joeDowntown]

I have heard from reliable sources that "bad things" go on in that building and that the police are always on their asses. That building would look a lot like Wealthy Street Bakery / Art of the Table if it were renovated properly.

GR_Urbanist, on Feb 28 2007, 04:07 PM, said:

This building absolutely gets under my skin every time I go to the bakery. It is poorly maintained and I have never seen anyone actually go into any of the places there nor would I think they would want to. It's a dump that needs to be bought out. It would make a nice neighborhood grocery store. The contrast between the clean, and lively Wealthy street bakery across the street with this dead and creepy place is just stunning.

[joshleo]

joeDowntown, on Mar 1 2007, 03:43 PM, said:

I have heard from reliable sources that "bad things" go on in that building and that the police are always on their asses. That building would look a lot like Wealthy Street Bakery / Art of the Table if it were renovated properly.

"bad things" as in like prostitution? drugs? porn? dog sacrifices?

[twoshort]

joeDowntown, on Mar 1 2007, 03:43 PM, said:

I have heard from reliable sources that "bad things" go on in that building and that the police are always on their asses. That building would look a lot like Wealthy Street Bakery / Art of the Table if it were renovated properly.

The owner is a Jeff Bentley Sr.   The only property records in the city in that name are those store fronts, so either he lives there or he's an out of towner.

[ericnmu]

I say someone here should go into The Wild Bunch and give us a full report.

[GRGridGirl]

twoshort, on Mar 1 2007, 04:02 PM, said:

The owner is a Jeff Bentley Sr.   The only property records in the city in that name are those store fronts, so either he lives there or he's an out of towner.

He lives in the home across the street, just east of the WSB.  He also owns the vacant lot on the sw corner of Wealthy/James SE.

ericnmu, on Mar 1 2007, 04:03 PM, said:

I say someone here should go into The Wild Bunch and give us a full report.

I'm looking into joining with my electric scooter!