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East Beltline Developments


GRDadof3

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REI is somewhat of a destination. Maybe with stores in Troy, Northville, Ann Arbor, and border states they figure the ads will bring in some traffic from people traveling to / through those cities. Could be a sign of things to come in GR, though. The Ann Arbor store is pretty small but like Joe said they have some large versions with climbing walls and water courses for testing gear.

Seattle:

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Denver:

 

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I visited the Seattle store last year. It is truly an amazing place. Right in the city and they even managed to squeeze in a secluded walking trail in front of the store. You even had to go through a wooded path to get to the entrance which resembled some sort of entry to a massive tree house/wood cabin structure. Inside were multiple levels of merchandise very bight and beautiful place.

 

If they come to GR, it would be a shame to just stick it out at some cheesy strip mall. The Seattle store was located in a spot that is physically similar to what you would find in an area like Ottawa Ave between N. Division and N. Monroe.

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I visited the Seattle store last year. It is truly an amazing place. Right in the city and they even managed to squeeze in a secluded walking trail in front of the store. You even had to go through a wooded path to get to the entrance which resembled some sort of entry to a massive tree house/wood cabin structure. Inside were multiple levels of merchandise very bight and beautiful place.

 

If they come to GR, it would be a shame to just stick it out at some cheesy strip mall. The Seattle store was located in a spot that is physically similar to what you would find in an area like Ottawa Ave between N. Division and N. Monroe.

 

 

Maybe at 1340 Monroe. :) 

 

I also read that they treat customers as "shareholders" or almost like a cooperative. It's probably more gimmick than anything but it's still pretty unique fora national retailer. 

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  • 3 weeks later...
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http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2015/06/7_new_retailers_heading_to_vil.html#incart_river

 

If it was this easy to get tenants, this is what we get? I was hoping for better. Pieology sounds neat, but nothing moves the meter in my opinion.

 

The restaurant pads they mention are just a small portion of the 25 - 30 retailers planned there. It's Mlive taking a story lead (probably from here) and jumping the gun before the retailers are locked in.

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I'm all for local support first but I also like to see a good MIX of chains, that only raises the bar in competition and customer expectations and until recently GR was seriously lacking the variety of national chains in retail, restaurants and hotels. Theres been some improvements but still underrepresented. I think a lot of it has to do with being on a peninsula and not on the way to anything. The article mentions that recent addition of Muskegon and Grand Haven to the metro area increased awareness to the area which is interesting but its still not a pass through area like Indianapolis that seems to have everything. Retail has gotten a little better but I really hope chains like REI, Which Wich and Sheraton to name a few have a presence here. 

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Maybe at 1340 Monroe. :)

I also read that they treat customers as "shareholders" or almost like a cooperative. It's probably more gimmick than anything but it's still pretty unique fora national retailer.

Customers can become members of the REI "co-op." I joined 20 years ago for about $30 (for a lifetime, not sure what it is now). You get back 10% of what you spend every year as a dividend. They even send a ballot with the dividend so you can vote on their board members each year (though this is probably more a formality.

They have a great return policy, kind of like Costco. They used to be famous for it - you could return anything at any time for the life of the product. I had a bag that I took on overseas trips, the handle broke, they gave me a new model, I used that for a few years, they gave me another one - about 15 years later I am on the 3rd bag, all replaced for free. However, they have trimmed back the policy since it was getting abused (people would buy gear for big trips and then return it afterward).

I digress - I would love to see REI here. This is a great market for them - most of the outdoor sports they specialize in are popular here. It would be really cool to have it on the river in or near downtown. They could have a little canoe/kayak testing area.

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Noticed today that the Bagger Dave's is going up pretty quick. Looks like they are working on the Bravo restaurant too. 

 

Joe

They've got the area fenced off now in front of D&W where the building will go that has the Pieology, Menchie's, Potbelly's and PNC bank in it. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I didn't notice those buildings.. Where will Bravo be located in relation to where Bagger Daves is now?

Bravo is going between Bagger Dave's and PF Changs.

The other 4 or 5 tenant building is going down in the low area right in front of D&W. Nothing exciting yet, the main retail buildings along the back and North end haven't been announced yet. 

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So they are going to town on the building in front of D&W and pouring the footings for what I think will be the PNC Bank. Any word on new tenants? I was at a Lormax Stern development in Livonia las weekend and they had a lot of stores I had never heard of (or seen in person). Hoping they bring some of these tenants west. 

In other interesting news(?) they had the large grass area in front of Celebration Cinema fenced off. i know this was listed by M Retail, is something happening? It looked like either development was about to start, or they are hosting a really crappy wedding reception in a sea of parking. :)

Joe

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So they are going to town on the building in front of D&W and pouring the footings for what I think will be the PNC Bank. Any word on new tenants? I was at a Lormax Stern development in Livonia las weekend and they had a lot of stores I had never heard of (or seen in person). Hoping they bring some of these tenants west. 

In other interesting news(?) they had the large grass area in front of Celebration Cinema fenced off. i know this was listed by M Retail, is something happening? It looked like either development was about to start, or they are hosting a really crappy wedding reception in a sea of parking. :)

Joe

That building going up in front of D&W will have a PNC Bank, Menchies, Pie-ology, Potbelly and I think one more store. I'm hoping they haven't announced the major tenants because they're working on a couple of big fish (wishful thinking). :) 

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In other interesting news(?) they had the large grass area in front of Celebration Cinema fenced off. i know this was listed by M Retail, is something happening? It looked like either development was about to start, or they are hosting a really crappy wedding reception in a sea of parking. :)

Joe

I was thinking that was where they were going to be showing the Rocky Horrer Picture Show, I think that was tonight. Couldn't think of another larger lawn they would be using for it.

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  • 1 month later...

For those who are tracking this project, they have updates on their website. The tagline is "Bringing Luxury Retail to Grand Rapids" but they still don't have a list of retail tenants yet. It certainly looks bigger than I pictured it though, and there's a couple of stores including a 36,000 sf anchor to the left not shown in this render.

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All semblance of a village is gone except WAIT! There's a band playing in the plaza. 

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It is seriously sad that we still have developers trying to add some perfunctory "town village" ornamentation to an obvious cheap-looking strip mall as some way of saying please dont notice it's a strip mall.

 

That is the most uninviting space I've seen yet shoehorned into something so suburban. If your band has to preform between the blank walls of strip mall stores, you may just want to consider finding a new line of work.

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2 hours ago, GR_Urbanist said:

It is seriously sad that we still have developers trying to add some perfunctory "town village" ornamentation to an obvious cheap-looking strip mall as some way of saying please dont notice it's a strip mall.

 

That is the most uninviting space I've seen yet shoehorned into something so suburban. If your band has to preform between the blank walls of strip mall stores, you may just want to consider finding a new line of work.

The developer flat out blasted the concept of a town village and changed the orientation of the project, so I think it was to be expected. With that being said, I'm glad there is a little public art. I think the band shell could have gone. 

With the talks of not enough retail space available, I can't fathom that this development doesn't have retailers lined out the door waiting for the buildings to get built.

Also, if you look at the site, the mix in photos of known tenants (Potbelly's, Menchie's, Bravo) but if you look at the image with a sofa, art and birdcage lighting, that is Restoration Hardware... hmm. Could be they are just swiping imagery, but Restoration Hardware would be a nice win.

Joe

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13 hours ago, joeDowntown said:

The developer flat out blasted the concept of a town village and changed the orientation of the project, so I think it was to be expected. With that being said, I'm glad there is a little public art. I think the band shell could have gone. 

With the talks of not enough retail space available, I can't fathom that this development doesn't have retailers lined out the door waiting for the buildings to get built.

Also, if you look at the site, the mix in photos of known tenants (Potbelly's, Menchie's, Bravo) but if you look at the image with a sofa, art and birdcage lighting, that is Restoration Hardware... hmm. Could be they are just swiping imagery, but Restoration Hardware would be a nice win.

Joe

Or it could be Kirkland's. That has shown up on the site plan on and off. 

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