MJLO

Feb's gains could also be lower due to weather as well. I'm not up there as much these days so correct me if I'm wrong, but as I recall Feb wasn't an easy snow month for you all. That could be the difference between up 4% and up 10% as well.

Well I think the Q-Line is more of a gimmick to be fair. It is also a street car and not LRT(if that matters). It basically shuttles folks between midtown and downtown. It's route is perhaps more practical than the people mover, but it still only serves a touristy stretch of Woodward. I think rail if done right in GR could actually be more functional and less of a novelty. But to your point, ridership likely wouldn't be anywhere near the cost justification.

I would love to see GR get some form of rail. I have my doubts about them dropping $1bill on rail infrastructure when they won't spend the much cheaper $ for true BRT though. Especially if it's a "build it and they will come" scenario.

Traffic up 16.35% in January 2023 vs. 2022 to 261k passengers. If growth stays at that pace 2023 will end over 4 million passengers. I remember heading into 2020 airport traffic was up double digits in Jan/Feb compared to record breaking 2019. Feb 2020 had over 300k passengers(which was huge for a winter month). It'll be interesting to see how this month ends, whether it's close to that 2020 number or not. I've not been home in a few months but it seems like you guys keep getting hit with snow storms so that will probably slow some of that traffic.

GRR already has a customs staff on account of being an international airport. My guess is that they could probably handle it now. We are probably looking at a couple flights a week a la the Allegiant business model at first, so they could likely prepare for that volume already. At most even if a daily flight returned from Toronto, we are still probably only talking about a 50 seater Embraer or similar. It wouldn't be hard to accommodate that especially if they have the facilities now. Not at all like a DTW that handles multiple flights from multiple continents with 1000s of passengers at once.

That would be incredible. I've said more than once that stretch of Godfrey has the bones to be one of the coolest neighborhoods in town.

Lol was gonna say. There's really no way to wash the 1960's out of that piggy

I think this expansion was done mostly with future growth in mind. Though I do think Allegiant wants to expand their focus here and a lack of available gates makes that problematic currently. I believe it also comes with a "big kid" customs receiving area so that folks flying in internationally can enter the way they do at most airports. The old way customs set up a card table at the gate, and checked people at the gateway. I think that was a big reason why Air Canada dropped the daily Toronto flight. Perhaps this will open to some Caribbean flights, or maybe even bring back Air Canada to the market.

Yeah it's hard to say. Given the nature of politics perhaps the administrator was an obstacle to the political objectives of this new elected faction. I think the seemingly out of left field appointment of John Gibbs could be a better indicator. Getting rid of DEI can easily be interpreted as anti-minority. The simultaneous hiring of Gibbs to that role could be an attempt to assuage some of that criticism. Additionally it gives John Gibbs more local ties and visibility than he previously had, should he intend to run again. Kind of a two birds/one stone thing. Perhaps it's too cynical on my part but I think politics tend to work this way. Though typically with more nuance/subtly than the folks behind this are showing.

Sincere question because I'm only loosely following. What exactly are they doing that's bad for business? Eliminating DEI as a county dept? I'm not fully connecting the dots on how that is government intervention with private businesses, unless they are saying that employers within the county cannot have DEI dept's as well. That seems more along the lines of obnoxious virtue signaling than it does actually being anti-business. I understand it being a deal breaker for the younger/more progressive crowd, but I have a hard time seeing it having an actual measurable impact on local employers overall ability to recruit. Most folks who value DEI aren't likely to consider Ottawa County as a serious place for relocation to begin with. There are conservative suburban counties in areas that are growing much more rapidly with the same type of policies that are still thriving. Optically I agree it's a liability. As far as I know Ottawa County is still a lower tax, loosely regulated alternative to Kent County. I would think that still appeals to a lot of businesses and potential new residents. Are they doing other things that are potentially regulating/affecting the private sector?

Responded to this over in the "Devos family headquarters" thread. Sorry everybodyI think this is a good discussion and I want to continue it. I didn't intend to hijack this thread. My apologies

Insert (struggling with the format on UP) Moving the discussion about Calder Plaza over here from the studio park thread.(Sorry Y'all didn't mean to hijack it). This was the closest thing I could find on a thread dedicated to the Calder Plaza portions of downtown. In regards to @GRDadof3response about Acrisure not taking the old 5/3rd building: I can't see it either. Unless CDW/RDV has some kind of dramatic reskin that dramatically changes it and adds height, or just builds something new entirely. Though I wouldn't put it past them. Regarding Calder Plaza being "Old Downtown": I think that's a great way to put it. That urban renewal they did in the early 60s really hasn't stood the test of time. I get that they were doing what they could to try and keep the city core "competitive" with the offices moving to the suburbs. But man does it feel like a snap shot in time "Build an impenetrable fortress so that the poor people can't bother us". Is there anything on the radar to help it not be the deadest of dead zones? It really kills several blocks of otherwise continual urban fabric. Almost a liability at this point.

That's a crazy thought! How has nothing been built there yet?? I always forget that parking lot used to be the bus terminal.

The re-skin they did to it's smaller sibling was actually pretty impressive. A reskin with maybe a taller addition would be awesome. Though they could implode it and build something new and I'd be just as happy lol.

It also makes me wonder about the former Old Kent/Fifth third headquarters owned by CDW. They've been quietly positioning that for a big overhaul the last few years. The corner of Lyon and Ottawa is perfect for some kind of signature tower in lieu of that boring ass 1960's box that's currently in it's place.

Developer still pursuing this project. Though I have my worries it's just too big for them to pull off given the current state of resources. https://mibiz.com/sections/real-estate-development/developer-charging-ahead-with-redevelopment-of-sligh-furniture-building-despite-delays

How many decades has that building been closed off to the street? I remember what that strip of wealthy was like late 80s/early 90s. Neighborhood was so bad McDonalds abandoned it. Crazy to think how different things are.

I don't know if it's a lack of forward thinking. It seems like ambitious projects fly through approval processes pretty easy. It may be the less flattering answer of market conditions not really supporting density projects like that right now. Maybe developers truly can't justify the cost. I've always felt that Orion may be a bit of a paper tiger, they are ambitious(and they deserve props for that) but they never seem be able to reach the scale they initially set out for. Probably the reason you never see projects at that level come from Rockford Construction. Though at least the final product of what they propose is what they intended.

God I hope that's a typo and not BHSH's new name. That sounds like the name for a failed smoothie chain

I’m kind of surprised seeing that it’s the wheelers that they didn’t at least try to downsize to a Waffle House or something.

Understood. Still I can't think of another example of a city as old as GR with portions of the riverfront that can't be redeveloped.

Was it a pretty common/short sighted decision to put landfills right next to the river back when this was done? Or were GR's early planners just specifically adept at making future prime spaces unusable for decades/centuries?

I still think Arcisure is the most immediate answer to this question. Another acquisition of a digital company in IL. In most of these cases they are acquiring the technology. My guess is there will be a consolidation (even if just in part) in Grand Rapids. If they keep growing the way they are and building out their facilities, it's going to have an impact on the amount of tech in the local economy. https://mibiz.com/sections/finance/acrisure-expands-digital-offerings-with-latest-acquisition

I like this one too. Though I'll admit it reminds me of the gentrification episode on south park. "The Lofts at SoDo SoPa" lol.

Big Rapids is not that far. Kind of an extension of the GR area. You can be downtown from BR in 45 mins.