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Developments along the East Beltline


GRDadof3

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There wasn't really a thread for this but posts are scattered around in regards to things going up along the East Beltline (and some people are interested in metro-wide development). There's a bunch of activity it seems recently, particularly sites that have been sitting dormant for a while:

) The new Hilton Garden Inn and restaurant at 2321 E Beltline are under construction, foundations appear to be going in

) Next door apparently WMU totally renovated their building

) In that same area, I wonder if we'll finally see re-use of that office building site on the East Side of the road across from Anna's House? 

) The second building of that project at Lake Drive and the Beltline is going up, and the renovations to the first building appear to be complete

) The addition on Calvary Church is fenced off, I assume starting soon

) They're adding on to the mixed-use building behind Twisted Rooster, on the Southern end. Looks like it will have a small courtyard? 

) The Goodwill Store looks about ready to open North of Knapp

) Village at Knapp's Crossing is seeing a flurry of activity

) The old UAW building has been gone for a while, and the site is starting to look like crap. The Meijer Gardens new parking lot at Bradford is finished, at least it's landscaped well..

) Way North before 5 Mile, it looks like they're getting ready to add on to the office park on the East side of the road. A lot of earth moving toward the back.

Anyone else notice anything? If you go South on Broadmoor there's quite a bit of pickup in industrial construction lately. 

 

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Calvary is starting on Phase One...renovation of gym to student space and a prayer garden outside.  Phase Two which is the renovation of sanctuary starts in April 2016. Phase Three (children's space and hall) will be built in the future.  Very excited for the sanctuary renovation especially the handicap accessibility...when it was built in 1986 it was a different time and we outgrew that space already by the early 90's.  You can barely walk around the halls on a Sunday morning. This has been needed for 20 years.  So glad that people in wheelchairs won't have to sit in the back behind posts anymore, too.  =)

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Ok! It looks like it's "building E" in the PDF that is going up (building farthest in the photo).

 

 

WP_20150927_15_40_53_Pro.jpg

Yes, it's an apartment building. The footprint sort of looked like Croswell Mews (their project in East) for a while there. I thought I had heard there was going to be another restaurant going in where that sales trailer is, but haven't heard anything more recently. I also thought the Licari's were going to branch out and build another restaurant downtown? 

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A co-worker is moving into the new building being constructed at Celadon- Condos. Supposed to be done in February and I believe it is the last residential building left to be built in Celadon. The only thing remaining are retail buildings. Licari's is a hopping place. I'd be surprised if they didn't try to expand into the new building.

Joe

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Just south of Burton, something is going up. Lots in front of the Plainfield Meijer are getting businesses too. It's everywhere.

I was blown away by the apartment project going up where Centennial Country Club used to be (right off I-96 by the 28th St exit). It's a lot bigger than I thought it would be. Then you pass the first tower crane in Cascade where the Drury Inn is going up. :)  All the commercial construction people I know are super busy. 

 

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I was blown away by the apartment project going up where Centennial Country Club used to be (right off I-96 by the 28th St exit). It's a lot bigger than I thought it would be. Then you pass the first tower crane in Cascade where the Drury Inn is going up. :)  All the commercial construction people I know are super busy. 

 

I sure hope those high profile projects downtown come to fruition soon. BOB expansion, I'm looking at you.

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Yes, it's an apartment building. The footprint sort of looked like Croswell Mews (their project in East) for a while there. I thought I had heard there was going to be another restaurant going in where that sales trailer is, but haven't heard anything more recently. I also thought the Licari's were going to branch out and build another restaurant downtown? 

 

I was wrong, these are going to be condos now. Construction costs came in a lot higher than anticipated, so I hear.

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Calvary is starting on Phase One...renovation of gym to student space and a prayer garden outside.  Phase Two which is the renovation of sanctuary starts in April 2016. Phase Three (children's space and hall) will be built in the future.  Very excited for the sanctuary renovation especially the handicap accessibility...when it was built in 1986 it was a different time and we outgrew that space already by the early 90's.  You can barely walk around the halls on a Sunday morning. This has been needed for 20 years.  So glad that people in wheelchairs won't have to sit in the back behind posts anymore, too.  =)

Calvary Church's building project is a boondoggle, a massive waste of misspent money, a Crystal Cathedral that focuses more on the pastors' legacies than on God, an ugly design, and a poor architectural decision. Although the administration likes to claim that the church will become more accessible to the differently-abled with the new look, in reality it makes the space far less accessible to those who cannot squeeze themselves into the tiny, movie-theater like seats planned! The space has not been outgrown; Calvary has simply tried to be too much, like the Meijers of churches.

 

People in wheelchairs could be served in the current sanctuary without being seated behind poles, by the way. Shorten pews throughout the sanctuary, and people in wheelchairs could roll right up and sit next to their friends and family in the traditional seats! That would cost a lot less than $25 million, by the way. 

 

The sanctuary plan is plain disgusting from aesthetic perspective, and it emphasizes a video screen (!) over everything. If I wanted to spend my time staring at a video screen, I would go to the movies! 

 

The project should have been called Disgrace Beyond, because that's what it is: a disgrace to Calvary Church beyond all that we could ask or imagine. 

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Calvary Church's building project is a boondoggle, a massive waste of misspent money, a Crystal Cathedral that focuses more on the pastors' legacies than on God, an ugly design, and a poor architectural decision. Although the administration likes to claim that the church will become more accessible to the differently-abled with the new look, in reality it makes the space far less accessible to those who cannot squeeze themselves into the tiny, movie-theater like seats planned! The space has not been outgrown; Calvary has simply tried to be too much, like the Meijers of churches.

 

People in wheelchairs could be served in the current sanctuary without being seated behind poles, by the way. Shorten pews throughout the sanctuary, and people in wheelchairs could roll right up and sit next to their friends and family in the traditional seats! That would cost a lot less than $25 million, by the way. 

 

The sanctuary plan is plain disgusting from aesthetic perspective, and it emphasizes a video screen (!) over everything. If I wanted to spend my time staring at a video screen, I would go to the movies! 

 

The project should have been called Disgrace Beyond, because that's what it is: a disgrace to Calvary Church beyond all that we could ask or imagine. 

Ugly church, unbridled growth, watch the service on a giant video screen... kind of sounds like Ada Bible Church. :) 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Not quite East Beltline, though part of the same neighborhood association - feel free to move this if necessary.

A proposal to build 34 duplex apartments on 9 acres near Leonard & Perkins has received a lot of pushback from North East Citizens Action. So now there's talk about using it for urban farming. 5 adjacent acres are also currently for sale.

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Not quite East Beltline, though part of the same neighborhood association - feel free to move this if necessary.

A proposal to build 34 duplex apartments on 9 acres near Leonard & Perkins has received a lot of pushback from North East Citizens Action. So now there's talk about using it for urban farming. 5 adjacent acres are also currently for sale.

 

I literally laughed out loud when I read that they want it to be an "urban hops farm." Hops farms are extremely risky and extremely expensive, even moreso than a winery due to the sheer dollars it takes to install all of the growing trellis's and that you can't start harvesting full yield of crops until years 4 or 5. There are many, many broke hops farmers out there in the world. I personally looked into it for a business idea and quickly realized what a dumb idea it was.

Duplex apartments seem like a perfect fit for that area. The developer could try selling them as condos, since there are several similar condo complexes nearby to the Northeast, but I don't see why they should be forced to go that way.

 

 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Universal Forest Products is looking to expand its East Beltline corporate HQ's, possibly consolidating R&D (from other parts of the country?). I noticed a few years ago they took over a building on the other side of the beltline back in the business park.

http://www.mlive.com/east-grand-rapids/index.ssf/2015/11/post_349.html

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I read the township minutes a few months back and they had asked why they didn't expand north up the Beltline (the land is for sale). UFP said they had tried for years and exhausted that option. Wonder if the house and property to the north are asking for an extreme payout. They must be since they have to jump through a bunch of hoops to expand east. 

Joe

 

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I read the township minutes a few months back and they had asked why they didn't expand north up the Beltline (the land is for sale). UFP said they had tried for years and exhausted that option. Wonder if the house and property to the north are asking for an extreme payout. They must be since they have to jump through a bunch of hoops to expand east. 

Joe

 

Yes, the two properties directly to the North are for sale for over $100,000 an acre because they're on the Beltline. They probably got the old houses to the West for a fraction of that. 

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