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Eastown Flats - 1400 &1415 Wealthy St.


Gorath

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Awesome!

 

And please don't listen to those people that think this is "too big". This is the perfect size for this location. Maybe add one storefront, if any.

 

Hopefully it will serve as a catalyst to develop that lot on the NE corner of Wealthy and Fuller.

 

I know, there were people on The Salon saying it might be too tall at 3 stories. How can you make that determination based off of a site plan? Until you see the renderings, there's no way to tell about the massing of the project and how it compares to surrounding properties. Plus, would 10 stories be too tall? I'm not so sure...

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I know, there were people on The Salon saying it might be too tall at 3 stories. How can you make that determination based off of a site plan? Until you see the renderings, there's no way to tell about the massing of the project and how it compares to surrounding properties. Plus, would 10 stories be too tall? I'm not so sure...

 

Agreed.  Even without a rendering, I don't understand how 3 stories could be obtrusive.  It barely even pierces the tree canopy.  And isn't the Kingsley Building, like, 5 stories?  Eastown is cool enough to have more than one tall building.

 

However, I agree with the Saloners who are pushing for ground floor retail.  I think it's a missed opportunity if there isn't any.  I read there that city planners advised against it.  I wonder why?

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ah, Saloners...

 

IMHO, it seems like a good buffer between the residential section and the commercial district. I don't think 3 stories is too tall at all. I think it will fit in nicely with the rest of the street and encourage redevelopment of some other properties. The Phoenix building being a great example. 

 

I wondered about retail as well, but I don't think it is as critical as a good residential development (which would further strengthen the retail corridor).

 

Joe 

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Renderings were sent out to nearby residents.

 

attachicon.gif2013-07-25_0919.png

 

attachicon.gif2013-07-24_1633.png

 

Thanks! Not bad. It even looks like the ground floor unit on the top one with the Big Eastown E could be retail. The insistence that this have ground floor retail is a bit stiff. If it works for the developer, then do it. But if it just ends up being another Little Caesar's or Chinese takeout, does that contribute to the neighborhood?

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Thanks! Not bad. It even looks like the ground floor unit on the top one with the Big Eastown E could be retail. The insistence that this have ground floor retail is a bit stiff. If it works for the developer, then do it. But if it just ends up being another Little Caesar's or Chinese takeout, does that contribute to the neighborhood?

 

Split the difference -- insist that they are live-work units on the ground-floor (especially 1400 Wealthy).  commercial construction and heights on the ground floors and allow the market to decide. By sectioning off as units, no little ceasar's or takeout will go there. Rather you will have artists, bike repair and other creative-type businesses that either rent for their biz, or live and work there. 

 

Further, I question if Wealthy will maintain its residential feel further east. As the street continues to gentrify, there will be more pressure to better line the street. 

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I think those building would look great in that spot.  I do agree there should be some retail component.  The spot they show with the e! i think is right across from the Pizza Hut.  Seems like an approptiate adjacency.  That part of Easttown definitely needs some new life. 

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3 stories too tall? haha Ive always thought that GR has very short residential buildings there are a handful scattered about the city that break the 4 story barrier. Denver and although a much larger city, has 10 or so story apartment and condo buildings everywhere in the middle of residential neighborhoods even a few around 20 floors, 3 stories in a hip vibrant neighborhood like eastown would be unnoticeable 

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Split the difference -- insist that they are live-work units on the ground-floor (especially 1400 Wealthy).  commercial construction and heights on the ground floors and allow the market to decide. By sectioning off as units, no little ceasar's or takeout will go there. Rather you will have artists, bike repair and other creative-type businesses that either rent for their biz, or live and work there. 

 

Further, I question if Wealthy will maintain its residential feel further east. As the street continues to gentrify, there will be more pressure to better line the street. 

 

More houses might turn into businesses, but I don't see much support for tearing down houses to build commercial buildings. Plus, I'd hardly say Eastown was "gentrifying." How so?

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Thanks! Not bad. It even looks like the ground floor unit on the top one with the Big Eastown E could be retail. The insistence that this have ground floor retail is a bit stiff. If it works for the developer, then do it. But if it just ends up being another Little Caesar's or Chinese takeout, does that contribute to the neighborhood?

If the takeout is as good as Erb Thai, then yes, it's great for the neighborhood.

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Eastown certainly has not gentrified to date, but (prediction) the Downtown to East Grand Rapids corridor will become the desired area of town over the next 10 years. Every healthy city has a higher income historic area, and this will serve as Grand Rapids'.

 

Regarding commercial conversions, the Silver Line is under construction, the Laker Line is in the planning phase. I would assume that the Wealthy/Fulton corridors would be one of the next considered. Assuming that BRT/Streetcar would wander down Wealthy, single-family residential would not be the highest and best use. I foresee a day when Wealthy is lined with mixed-use 3-story buildings from Lake (Eastown) to Union (Heritage Hill), a small gap for the historic district and then pick-up again at St Mary's. By no means do I think this will happen in the next 3-5 years, but it would be a likely conclusion should Grand Rapids continue to healthily urbanize. My recommendation is that the Orion project should be adaptable for commercial or residential use. How about this: http://www.djc.com/stories/images/20060828/Liveaboves_big.jpg

 

Not a perfect example, but I like the idea of garage door-style front doors allowing for more transparency. 

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Eastown certainly has not gentrified to date, but (prediction) the Downtown to East Grand Rapids corridor will become the desired area of town over the next 10 years. Every healthy city has a higher income historic area, and this will serve as Grand Rapids'.

 

Regarding commercial conversions, the Silver Line is under construction, the Laker Line is in the planning phase. I would assume that the Wealthy/Fulton corridors would be one of the next considered. Assuming that BRT/Streetcar would wander down Wealthy, single-family residential would not be the highest and best use. I foresee a day when Wealthy is lined with mixed-use 3-story buildings from Lake (Eastown) to Union (Heritage Hill), a small gap for the historic district and then pick-up again at St Mary's. By no means do I think this will happen in the next 3-5 years, but it would be a likely conclusion should Grand Rapids continue to healthily urbanize. My recommendation is that the Orion project should be adaptable for commercial or residential use. How about this: http://www.djc.com/stories/images/20060828/Liveaboves_big.jpg

 

Not a perfect example, but I like the idea of garage door-style front doors allowing for more transparency. 

 

 

You don't have to go that far to see some cool live/work projects. The newest buildings in Celadon are pretty cool. I think if you built the ground floor retail with the "option" of the space having access to a unit right above it, that'd be an excellent selling point.

 

263400.jpg

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  • 4 months later...

New renderings and extra info.

 

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2013/12/rent_details_on_eastown_flats.html

 

 

 

...A three-story, 19-unit apartment building with 848-square-feet of ground-floor retail is planned for the 0.38-acre site of a vacant car wash at 1400 Wealthy St. SE. The building would include 10 1-bedroom units, seven 2-bedroom units and two studio units. The plan provides 19 on-site parking spaces.

 

A four-story, 16-unit apartment building with 1,309-square-feet of ground-floor retail is planned for the 0.29-acre site of a parking lot at 1415 Wealthy St. SE. The building would include nine 1-bedroom units, six 2-bedroom units and one 3-bedroom unit, with three of the third-floor units extending upward into a partial fourth story. The plan provides 17 on-site parking spaces.

 

 


 


1400-wealthyjpg-c3c0a20b6f244154.jpg 

 

13923259-large.jpg

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  • 4 months later...

Any updates?

 

Hardly inside information but walking down the sidewalk today I noticed a bunch of construction type trucks parked at the 1415 lot and a  port-a-john.  No holes in the ground or anything.  No people around but it was around lunch time.  

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hardly inside information but walking down the sidewalk today I noticed a bunch of construction type trucks parked at the 1415 lot and a  port-a-john.  No holes in the ground or anything.  No people around but it was around lunch time.  

 

False alarm I guess.  I walked by again today.  No construction going on at 1415.  The lot is just being used as a staging area for the equipment and pipes for the new gas lines being laid on Lake DR and on Wealthy.  But new gas lines are good too.  

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  • 3 months later...

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