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Former JA Building Renovation

Yankee Fan

By Yankee Fan
in Grand Rapids

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joeDowntown Metropolis

joeDowntown

Posted
Posted

I don't know Veloise, Gabrielle Works thinks anything is a sign, whether it is a line of neon or a light shining on the Convention Center for 3 days... :)

I thought that they actually relaxed the sign ordinance a couple of years ago (remember when the city fought the Brassworks building until they realized it complied with their new sign ordinance? :) . I'd actually like to see more diversity in signage. Sign's like the Fox Jeweler sign should be welcomed downtown. It reminds me of the "heyday" of GR urban retail (not that I was alive or anything).

Joe

Two different things. The variance to allow changing message boards for churches & schools in residential districts is a different animal than the lettering atop JA (unless I am misremembering this as a static sign). Generally it's a good idea to prevent visual clutter by limiting sign quantities and sizes. And JA isn't exactly in a RES zone.

Now, if the JA folk submitted a proposal for interesting artistic shapes atop their building--not lettering--those can't really be construed as a sign. (Unless the shapes are highway info icons implying this is a place to get a paper cut or a drink or food or...) If I were them, that's what I'd do. (I've seen neon ambiguous shapes on buildings, trying to recall where.)

[enjoying the chance to play my planner card]

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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How come every photo I see of Grand Rapids in the past looks better and more interesting that what is there now?

Because downtown Grand Rapids' heyday was in the early 1900's. In fact, talk about your 10 year boom. I discovered at the library that over 100 new buildings were built in the CBD between 1905 - 1915 (I think it was?).

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Prankster Burg

Prankster

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How come every photo I see of Grand Rapids in the past looks better and more interesting that what is there now?

Because when a lot of them were tore down, they were considered obsolete and asthetically unpleasing. They were replaced with what was, at the time, considered trendy and more in demand. Now that the cyle has come around again, the old style buildings are what's in demand. And the buildings that replaced them are now considered ugly.

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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Wait, so what's going on now? Has this gone from cool 12 story mixed-use building to rehab of existing building?

12 stories? That proposed condo building has been long off the table. The latest was an addition of 4 stories to the JA Bldg.

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MAU Whistle-Stop

MAU

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12 stories? That proposed condo building has been long off the table. The latest was an addition of 4 stories to the JA Bldg.

And that was proposed for the lot next to 2 E Fulton. The JA Building was never discussed going over a total of 6.

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grcitydog Whistle-Stop

grcitydog

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While I'm glad to see this building to be put to use, I'm extremely disappointed to see it staying at two stories :( , especially for such an important corner. The six stories, which I thought they were doing, would have made it more prominent. Well, at least the entire corner isn't parking.

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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While I'm glad to see this building to be put to use, I'm extremely disappointed to see it staying at two stories :( , especially for such an important corner. The six stories, which I thought they were doing, would have made it more prominent. Well, at least the entire corner isn't parking.

It's not known if it's going to stay at two, it just appears that way on the listing. We have someone looking into it to find out the scoop. :thumbsup:

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civitas Burg

civitas

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Two floors, that's it. Something to do with the costs of structurally supporting 4 more floors is prohibitive. :(

Hopefully someone can tie a high-rise mixed-use project to the East into this building.

Translations - I bought the building with borrowed money. The bank wants a check every month. The office market is in the toilet and the housing demand has been met by the projects already under construction. If I could identify a tenant that wanted 50 stories I'd build it in a minute...

...but until then, the payment is due and I better see if I can find a tenant for the existing building.

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