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Old Sprint Nextel HQ Building


EEKris

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hey, I heard this is going to be an AK Rikks (it will be a rather large store). They are doing a great job on the building. Night and day difference from what it used to look like:

http://yfrog.com/nupl9gdj

Versus the old:

http://www.google.com/maps?ll=42.913111,-85.512171&spn=0.008439,0.021136&hnear=2465+Thornapple+River+Dr+SE,+Grand+Rapids+Charter+Township,+Michigan+49546&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=42.913109,-85.511917&panoid=3OX0v883DJnqu65d6IvOMA&cbp=12,3.36,,1,-0.61

Joe

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  • 1 month later...

I believe they purchased the building and will be the sole occupier. The previous building was a lease and was way too small. Product offering expansion and subsequent growing inventory made for space constraints.

The building does look nice and I wish them well. Please don't pull a "Daniel's" and overshoot the mark.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

AK Rikks will be holding a press conference tomorrow, May 18th at the J.W. Marriott in Salon A. Coffee and light breakfast will be served at 9:30 am, followed by the press conference at 10:00 am. I am assuming the big news they mention will be to announce the new store.

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This is probably one of the coolest renovations I've seen in a while. The old Nextel Building was hideous. I love what they've done with it!

Joe

This is just one change taking place in that general area. Keep your eye on the strip mall where Jet's Pizza is located (6275 28th Street S.E.). It could be next up for some activity. :ph34r:

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They showed off a lot of water colors of the interior at the press conference. Going to be pretty nice. There's also about 3000 sf of "classroom" space that will occupy the back portion, for events, classes, etc.. Still in the works.

This is just one change taking place in that general area. Keep your eye on the strip mall where Jet's Pizza is located (6275 28th Street S.E.). It could be next up for some activity. :ph34r:

Oooohh, a new Sonic??!! :fun:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sadly, after reading the article and looking at the pictures on Rapid Growth (http://www.rapidgrow...42012rikks.aspx) I've got a bad feeling about this.

"The Backroom would give Kendal [sic] and GRCC design students an entry point into the fashion industry, but in Grand Rapids, not New York."

Cascade Twp, not GR, and how will these students get there if they don't own cars?

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"The Backroom would give Kendal [sic] and GRCC design students an entry point into the fashion industry, but in Grand Rapids, not New York."

Cascade Twp, not GR, and how will these students get there if they don't own cars?

they can take the bus. I wonder how long that ride is going to be. probably longer than they'd be at AK Rikks

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I think you guys are getting a little overboard on the location.

1) Yes, Cascade is Grand Rapids in the grand scheme of things, especially if you are comparing a location like NYC to GR

2) Many people commute to and from school (on four wheels, not two). So why does it seem so absurd that people would not go in the other direction?!

Buses, bikes and downtown are great. It doesn't mean the rest of the metropolitan area is an inaccessible cesspool of mediocrity. ;)

Joe

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I think you guys are getting a little overboard on the location.

1) Yes, Cascade is Grand Rapids in the grand scheme of things, especially if you are comparing a location like NYC to GR

2) Many people commute to and from school (on four wheels, not two). So why does it seem so absurd that people would not go in the other direction?!

Buses, bikes and downtown are great. It doesn't mean the rest of the metropolitan area is an inaccessible cesspool of mediocrity. ;)

To me, it sounds like a re-run of Davenport's mad dash out to the south beltline, build dorms (!!), then realize, "oops, maybe our marketing gurus all own cars and drive them everywhere."

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In this case, AK Rikks is "making a mad dash" three blocks down the street? I simply don't get the comparison.

Davenport University was situated downtown, mostly along Fulton. They acquired land out in the boonies and rebuilt their campus far away from students, affordable student housing, student amenities, and all the fun stuff that students enjoy doing besides studying. They then realized that they really needed a presence downtown, so they moved their management (hah!) school into the building behind GRAM.

Their marketing, statistics, and demographic advisors might have made a blunder in helping them decide to move to the beltline. Yes, the land was cheap (IIRC some of it was donated). But if it decimates your enrollment, and then you have to backtrack...

(For extra fun, look up the testimony presented to the BZA when they asked for permission to install additional signage on the DT building. I think it was the November 2011 meeting.)

The comparison, to go overboard in explaining this: it would seem that AK Rikks has swallowed someone's advice regarding GRCC and Kendall students. Last time I checked, both of those schools were downtown. The AK Rikks location is not. As I attempted to point out a couple posts back, the store is well beyond the fringe of Rapid service. "They can just ride the bus," well, no, they can't.

The forthcoming Bob Gibbs presentation will cover concepts such as retail magnets. On this forum we've discussed our DT "food court." The Nextel building is all by itself; no additional reason to go there.

Hope that this clarifies sufficiently.

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