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Warner Building/Hyatt Place - Lyon and Ottawa/Pearl and Ottawa


mpchicago

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Found this. http://www.historygrandrapids.org/document/3092/lyon-nwdoc

 

6344781_orig.jpg

 

[iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1447167161896!6m8!1m7!1sB7Io4sQumIt97Xhwy5EC0A!2m2!1d42.96725695906424!2d-85.67007330064537!3f150.24115443177544!4f0.9493610154648735!5f0.4000000000000002" width="400" height="300" frameborder="0" style="border:0" allowfullscreen][/iframe]

(Streetview address is positioned for this angle)

Edited by Veloise
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Haha. Well played mgreven! Were these buildings taken down in the 60's as well? They were SO darned close to the non renewal side of things. Bummer. I'd rather have these buildings than a 16, 24, or 50 story building. :)

Joe

Yes, it was demolished in 1966.  MLive has a shot of it being taken down: http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2014/05/wrecking_downtown_100_photos_o.html?galleryPart=2

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Haha. Well played mgreven! Were these buildings taken down in the 60's as well? They were SO darned close to the non renewal side of things. Bummer. I'd rather have these buildings than a 16, 24, or 50 story building. :)

Joe

A city completely infilled with buildings this height would be far more useful than the one tower they maybe might build here one day.

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Yes, it was demolished in 1966.  MLive has a shot of it being taken down: http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2014/05/wrecking_downtown_100_photos_o.html?galleryPart=2

The only thing I like about that demo photo is that VanderSys Floor Coverings was my grandpa's store. A later version of his store was torn down for the AGP tower. 

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A city completely infilled with buildings this height would be far more useful than the one tower they maybe might build here one day.

That's a fine idea, and just think how cheap the architect fees would be if you just copied this one.  Exterior design already done.  Just make it a little taller, replace some of the windows with iron grates for parking levels, and Bob's your uncle.  And everyone likes it except NYC architecture critics who we don't give a hoot about anyway.  You listening, Concept and Warner?  Don't.  Be.  Ugly.  Be heroes.  "In the interest of good civic virtue, instead of building an ostentatious power-sucking glass covered vanity project, we decided to bring back what once was here to correct a mistake from the past and avoid making another one for the future."  I will shower your fine, beautiful, visually interesting building with handfuls of little rose petals every day.  I promise-ish.  

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That's a fine idea, and just think how cheap the architect fees would be if you just copied this one.  Exterior design already done.  Just make it a little taller, replace some of the windows with iron grates for parking levels, and Bob's your uncle.  And everyone likes it except NYC architecture critics who we don't give a hoot about anyway.  You listening, Concept and Warner?  Don't.  Be.  Ugly.  Be heroes.  "In the interest of good civic virtue, instead of building an ostentatious power-sucking glass covered vanity project, we decided to bring back what once was here to correct a mistake from the past and avoid making another one for the future."  I will shower your fine, beautiful, visually interesting building with handfuls of little rose petals every day.  I promise-ish.  

 

That's a really excellent idea actually. I think the site is large enough that you can do a liner building, aka 38 Commerce-ish. You could still go up 10 or 12 floors. 

 

22945357096_0a14a71ae7_b.jpg

 

Edited by GRDadof3
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At first I doubted whether this would work because the site seemed a little narrow.  However, along Ionia it appears to be about 130 feet, which is roughly the same width as 38 Commerce.  The north facing liner building would have to be much narrower to accommodate the ramp.   You could probably get away with a parking "wing" that juts down toward Pearl where you drew it, and which feeds back onto the ramp.  That's awkward, but as long as all the spaces are visible, it works.  It *might* be wide enough to pull off a ramp with liner on that side, but it gets a little narrow at the "choke point" and uses more travel space for less spots.  Once you're up and over the ramp and the federal square building, you can go nice and wide with 2-3 floors of large floorplates that are perfect for law office use and avoid lots of people split between floors.  

However you do it, this is a drastically superior site plan from an urban design perspective over a couple of towers.  It's also a better building for a large tenant who doesn't want to split an office over half a dozen floors.  You also get plenty of light for the building, direct floor reserved spaces for residential units, and a vastly superior pedestrian experience.  A genius idea and I am glad we thought of it. :)   Architects, please feel free to steal it.  The world will thank you.

This is what people want, and what a lot of people moved out of the Urban Renewal Zone to get.  A 25 story tower, maybe.  But a 10 story liner versus a 14 story "tower"?  I'll talke the liner all day long.  

 

 

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At first I doubted whether this would work because the site seemed a little narrow.  However, along Ionia it appears to be about 130 feet, which is roughly the same width as 38 Commerce.  The north facing liner building would have to be much narrower to accommodate the ramp.   You could probably get away with a parking "wing" that juts down toward Pearl where you drew it, and which feeds back onto the ramp.  That's awkward, but as long as all the spaces are visible, it works.  It *might* be wide enough to pull off a ramp with liner on that side, but it gets a little narrow at the "choke point" and uses more travel space for less spots.  Once you're up and over the ramp and the federal square building, you can go nice and wide with 2-3 floors of large floorplates that are perfect for law office use and avoid lots of people split between floors.  

However you do it, this is a drastically superior site plan from an urban design perspective over a couple of towers.  It's also a better building for a large tenant who doesn't want to split an office over half a dozen floors.  You also get plenty of light for the building, direct floor reserved spaces for residential units, and a vastly superior pedestrian experience.  A genius idea and I am glad we thought of it. :)   Architects, please feel free to steal it.  The world will thank you.

This is what people want, and what a lot of people moved out of the Urban Renewal Zone to get.  A 25 story tower, maybe.  But a 10 story liner versus a 14 story "tower"?  I'll talke the liner all day long.  

 

 

One other option is to do a circular ramp. They take up less space.

22557283538_de258b02b3_b.jpg

 

 

600-03587077em-Highway-and-Ramp-to-Publi

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1 hour ago, wingbert said:

 

Let me be the first to say "game changer!"

 

 

 

I smell a ploy: "Look at the grocery store! Pay no attention to the unscreened ugly parking deck!"

There was supposed to be a grocery store at Tapestry Square and the Proos site as well. Time will tell..

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