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Lyon at Ottawa Tower

Allan

By Allan
in Grand Rapids

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woz Whistle-Stop

woz

Posted
Posted

Wow! I'm not much for postmodern architecture, but that is a lot cleaner than the version I remember.

If this tower is ever built, however, who would use it? Downtown would need to draw a pretty massive tenant to drive a demand for that much office space. The Steketee's building Blue Cross took over a couple of years ago is tiny compared to this tower. I mean, Steelcase or Meijer would have to move their corporate offices downtown (something I wish they would have done years ago) to necessitate an office building of this scale.

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superNOVA Whistle-Stop

superNOVA

Posted
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The best use for that building would be for the city and county. The county owns about five buildings downtown, annexes for various departments. I worked for the county and it was an immense pain in the a$$ to get anything done that required cross department cooperation.

On top of that law firms would love to be next to the courthouse and even the courthouse itself is already running out of space. They could move judge and prosecutor offices there. It is an ideal project for a new city/county government complex all tied to the courthouse.

It could not be more perfect.

Unfortunately, those are the cheapest clients possible and not exactly what you aim for when filling a building like this.

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snoogit Town

snoogit

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Does anyone know what corner of Lyon and Ottawa this was supposed to be built at? If anyone knows how much of the block it was supposed to take up, please let us know the info. :)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

where the empty lot is now... i think it would have taken up the entire block from ionia to ottawa and lyon to pearl

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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Does anyone know what corner of Lyon and Ottawa this was supposed to be built at? If anyone knows how much of the block it was supposed to take up, please let us know the info. :)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

From what I remember: it was planned to cover the surface lot at the Southeast corner of Lyon and Ottawa, across from the Waters Building. The base of the building was an "L" shape that wrapped around the 1 Federal Plaza building on Pearl. Then the tower rose from the corner at the "bend" in the L, with a grand foyer facing out toward the street corner. It had a parking garage on the first couple of levels on the Lyon/Ionia side, with retail fronting Lyon and Ottawa.

There used to be a website that the developer had where you could download a video that felt like you were swooping down from the sky Northwest of the site, flying right along I-196, and then coming right down to street level on Ottawa to the base of the tower. Then it rose up the 30 or so floors to the peak and backed out. Very slick ;)

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snoogit Town

snoogit

Posted
Posted

From what I remember: it was planned to cover the surface lot at the Southeast corner of Lyon and Ottawa, across from the Waters Building.  The base of the building was an "L" shape that wrapped around the 1 Federal Plaza building on Pearl.  Then the tower rose from the corner at the "bend" in the L, with a grand foyer facing out toward the street corner.  It had a parking garage on the first couple of levels on the Lyon/Ionia side, with retail fronting Lyon and Ottawa.

There used to be a website that the developer had where you could download a video that felt like you were swooping down from the sky Northwest of the site, flying right along I-196, and then coming right down to street level on Ottawa to the base of the tower.  Then it rose up the 30 or so floors to the peak and backed out.  Very slick ;)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I wonder if archive.org still has that. If only we knew the URL

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joeDowntown Metropolis

joeDowntown

Posted
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The url was www.dpfox.com. They didn't have the flyby up still but they did have the specs. Oh, what could have been:

DP Fox Ventures LLC and The Ellis Family Trust have announced their intent to construct a 25-story tower on the corner of Lyon and Ottawa in the heart of downtown Grand Rapids. Construction is slated to begin in the spring of 2000.

Location: Main 25-story tower at the southeast corner of Lyon and Ottawa streets, with six-story wrap-around retail and parking structure to the south and east.

Completion: Late 2001

Size: 415,000 Gross Square Feet 343,000 Rentable Square Feet

Height: 357

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snoogit Town

snoogit

Posted
Posted

The url was www.dpfox.com. They didn't have the flyby up still but they did have the specs. Oh, what could have been:

DP Fox Ventures LLC and The Ellis Family Trust have announced their intent to construct a 25-story tower on the corner of Lyon and Ottawa in the heart of downtown Grand Rapids. Construction is slated to begin in the spring of 2000.

Location: Main 25-story tower at the southeast corner of Lyon and Ottawa streets, with six-story wrap-around retail and parking structure to the south and east.

Completion: Late 2001

Size: 415,000 Gross Square Feet 343,000 Rentable Square Feet

Height: 357

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egrguy Burg

egrguy

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Posted

i remember seeing this in the paper with much excitement at the time. it along with the now slated riverhouse condos were the two most awaited bldgs.

hopefully with the reemergence of riverhouse, this project can can get off the ground as well. the problem is who would the tenent be?

i always had the dream that with gr's rapidly growing health industy that downtown could lure a company like perrigo to relocate their hq to downtown.

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snoogit Town

snoogit

Posted
Posted

i remember seeing this in the paper with much excitement at the time. it along with the now slated riverhouse condos were the two most awaited bldgs.

hopefully with the reemergence of riverhouse, this project can can get off the ground as well. the problem is who would the tenent be?

i always had the dream that with gr's rapidly growing health industy that downtown could lure a company like perrigo to relocate their hq to downtown.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

that would be nice, and actually would help to get rid of GR's aura that its only Amway city

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Rizzo City

Rizzo

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Ada should be branded Amway City... Even if Van Andel or Devos research facilities pump out the cure for cancer, I can see the heading on the papers now. "Cancer Cured!! Amway co-founders fund research that results in a cure for cancer."

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snoogit Town

snoogit

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Posted

Ada should be branded Amway City... Even if Van Andel or Devos research facilities pump out the cure for cancer, I can see the heading on the papers now. "Cancer Cured!! Amway co-founders fund research that results in a cure for cancer."

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If that happens, ltalk to an Amway representative near you!

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joeDowntown Metropolis

joeDowntown

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Rizzo,

I would strongly disagree on this point. VAI is one of the best funded research institutes. It has also attracted some of the top talent in the world. I think a lot of cities may have research institutes in some form, but not to the magnitude that we do. It all remains to be seen, but I think VAI is a shining example of GR in the 21st century.

Joe

I dont think anything great will become of the research institute anyway. They're a dime a dozen nowadays. Every city has a biotech industry now.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

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superNOVA Whistle-Stop

superNOVA

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I dont think anything great will become of the research institute anyway. They're a dime a dozen nowadays. Every city has a biotech industry now.

The VAI is the second most well funded private researc institute in the world. Right behind one with a $12 billion endowment in San Diego. The estimated $2.5 to $4 billion endowment will run it for a very, very long time. Not to mention that the board is littered with Nobel Laureates and the heads of the National Science Admin.

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