Village of Ada - Complete Makeover

[GRDadof3]

6 hours ago, mielsonwheels said:

A few shots from around Ada:

School house has been relocated:

New building across from the school house:

Wasn't sure if this was the new building already up, or something more to come:

There is another sign like the one above at the intersection of Headley and Ada kitty corner from the Dixon Architecture building for something coming in 2019.

 

I hadn't been to Ada in just a few months and went through the other day and I was floored by the work going on. Just the elevation change of the new development compared to the old shopping mall is astounding, what's left of the old mall. 

[Raildude's dad]

35 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

I hadn't been to Ada in just a few months and went through the other day and I was floored by the work going on. Just the elevation change of the new development compared to the old shopping mall is astounding, what's left of the old mall. 

You need to get out a little more

The elevation change was to get the road above the 100 year flood elevation. The road would flood regularly at the old elevation. The water would back up the storm sewer and come out the catch basins.

[joeDowntown]

We ate at Zeytin last night (great Mediterranean food BTW) and it’s amazing how low (elevation) they are compared to the new development (they’re the last tenant in the old strip mall) when they move in June, I bet that building will come down 30 seconds after they had over the keys!

Joe

[GRDadof3]

13 hours ago, Raildude's dad said:

You need to get out a little more

The elevation change was to get the road above the 100 year flood elevation. The road would flood regularly at the old elevation. The water would back up the storm sewer and come out the catch basins.

LOL, I'd seen the collection of buildings around the new Kingma's but with the new street going back and the additional buildings it just looks even more pronounced.

[Chester Cheeto]

Here are a couple of pdf's that show the new building going up at the intersection of Ada and Headley.

19359352_A7_Renderings.pdf

19359356_A7_Leasing_Plans.pdf

[joeDowntown]

It’s going to look pretty impressive once they get the next group of buildings up. It’ll be interesting to see what they do with the spot that is now the remnants of the old strip mall. 

 

Joe

[jthrasher]

I hear a lot of long time residents of Ada do not like what's happening.  Losing it's "village" feel.  

[MJLO]

13 minutes ago, jthrasher said:

I hear a lot of long time residents of Ada do not like what's happening.  Losing it's "village" feel.  

It's going to be the long time residents anywhere that are the most resistant to change.  

I think it's awesome.  I never felt Ada in its prior form was that quaint to begin with.  It was basically an intersection with a couple older buildings.  Not really "villagey" either imo.   I think this is giving GR an upscale suburb with a walkable feel, something that it lacks(EGR doesn't count IMO because it's more of a streetcar burb).  

[GR8scott]

Officially it’s not a village, it’s nothing but an unincorporated area Inside of a 36sq mile township of the same name. The people who live near the development have the same voice as the people who live over by the forest hills performing arts center or up near Egypt valley. Maybe they should incorporate into a village??

[Chester Cheeto]

It looks like they already have some tenants for the new construction, not entirely sure a paper company would do well in this spot, but best of luck to Michael Scott!

[GVSUChris]

12 minutes ago, mielsonwheels said:

It looks like they already have some tenants for the new construction, not entirely sure a paper company would do well in this spot, but best of luck to Michael Scott!

That is hilarious! Good catch. I didn't see that but wonder how many people will. Someone had a great sense of humor. 

[MJLO]

1 hour ago, GR8scott said:

Officially it’s not a village, it’s nothing but an unincorporated area Inside of a 36sq mile township of the same name. The people who live near the development have the same voice as the people who live over by the forest hills performing arts center or up near Egypt valley. Maybe they should incorporate into a village??

In this day and age they'd have more power collectively staying as is, and impeding the progress of the metro area like every other township in the state. 

[Sparty97]

For those that missed it, Gravel Bottom is re-opening on May 11th in their new location.  They will have 20 beers on tap that day.
https://www.facebook.com/GravelBottom/videos/1847096478687075/

 

 

[Chester Cheeto]

On 5/2/2018 at 9:37 AM, mielsonwheels said:

Here are a couple of pdf's that show the new building going up at the intersection of Ada and Headley.

19359352_A7_Renderings.pdf

19359356_A7_Leasing_Plans.pdf

Earth work has begun (or is nearly complete actually) on the building in the PDF's shown above at the corner of Headley and Ada drive.

[GVSUChris]

So I admittedly have a bit of an obsession with Ada Village for not other reason than it is fun watching a "town" come together at one time. I actually celebrate it and welcome another strong/interesting town-center in the metro. Today they announced plans for the library/farmer's market/community center and a new park. I am SO happy with the continued infill this will bring and how "urban" the design is. I was worried the new library would be all quaint and cottage-y with a big parking lot but that is not the case! 

 

[GRDadof3]

18 hours ago, GVSUChris said:

So I admittedly have a bit of an obsession with Ada Village for not other reason than it is fun watching a "town" come together at one time. I actually celebrate it and welcome another strong/interesting town-center in the metro. Today they announced plans for the library/farmer's market/community center and a new park. I am SO happy with the continued infill this will bring and how "urban" the design is. I was worried the new library would be all quaint and cottage-y with a big parking lot but that is not the case! 

 

The firm my brother works for in Chicago was up for this project and I think was a finalist but they were beat out by locally-owned ProgressiveAE.

I also noticed the other day they broke ground on yet another building along  Headley, somewhere in this vicinity:

[GRLaker]

On 6/22/2018 at 4:25 PM, GVSUChris said:

So I admittedly have a bit of an obsession with Ada Village for not other reason than it is fun watching a "town" come together at one time. I actually celebrate it and welcome another strong/interesting town-center in the metro. Today they announced plans for the library/farmer's market/community center and a new park. I am SO happy with the continued infill this will bring and how "urban" the design is. I was worried the new library would be all quaint and cottage-y with a big parking lot but that is not the case! 

 

This is great. I don't really understand the criticism of this downtown project. Like I said in the suburban thread - after driving around downtown Ada a couple weeks ago, it really put Ada on the map for my wife and I as we look for a new home. We want a suburban setting that has a great downtown like this, Gaslight Village, downtown Rockford, etc. This does a lot for Ada, IMHO.

[joeDowntown]

4 hours ago, GRLaker said:

This is great. I don't really understand the criticism of this downtown project. Like I said in the suburban thread - after driving around downtown Ada a couple weeks ago, it really put Ada on the map for my wife and I as we look for a new home. We want a suburban setting that has a great downtown like this, Gaslight Village, downtown Rockford, etc. This does a lot for Ada, IMHO.

I personally think people are more pissy about the "who" than the "what". I'm live @GVSUChris - I'm fascinated by the redevelopment of the downtown. I played A LOT of Sim City when I was younger, and this like the real life version. 

I agree that this development will rival (or surpass) Gaslight Village. In 5 years, I don't think people moving to the area will even comprehend that it used to be a boring strip mall and a couple of so-so outbuildings. . I also like that the buildings are getting closer and closer to the original downtown. 

Joe

[Chester Cheeto]

On 6/23/2018 at 11:28 AM, GRDadof3 said:

I also noticed the other day they broke ground on yet another building along  Headley, somewhere in this vicinity:

This is the building that's going up right now at the corner of Headley and Ada, foundation walls look to be just about complete:

[wingbert]

18 hours ago, joeDowntown said:

I personally think people are more pissy about the "who" than the "what". I'm live @GVSUChris - I'm fascinated by the redevelopment of the downtown. I played A LOT of Sim City when I was younger, and this like the real life version. 

I agree that this development will rival (or surpass) Gaslight Village. In 5 years, I don't think people moving to the area will even comprehend that it used to be a boring strip mall and a couple of so-so outbuildings. . I also like that the buildings are getting closer and closer to the original downtown. 

Joe

The "who" as in Potemkin?  Perhaps you are correct.

[MJLO]

1 hour ago, mielsonwheels said:

This is the building that's going up right now at the corner of Headley and Ada, foundation walls look to be just about complete:

Forgive me for being a drawing/blueprints/rendering newb,  I interpret both the rendering, and the drawing to mean that this new building is both the white and the red brick portions of the building?  Initially I thought that the new building was only the lighter colored brick.  I think this is bad ass,  I need to get to Ada and check it out.  I am ashamed that I haven't since my folks live in Ada, I am a bad son. 

[Chester Cheeto]

9 minutes ago, MJLO said:

Forgive me for being a drawing/blueprints/rendering newb,  I interpret both the rendering, and the drawing to mean that this new building is both the white and the red brick portions of the building?  Initially I thought that the new building was only the lighter colored brick.  I think this is bad ass,  I need to get to Ada and check it out.  I am ashamed that I haven't since my folks live in Ada, I am a bad son. 

The white brick will be the portion of the building nearest the corner, then the portion of the building south of the archway along Headley will become red brick.

Below shows a better angle of what the building will look like along Ada, with different color brick for each retail space, I like how the different colors differentiate the different retail spaces.

[joeDowntown]

2 hours ago, wingbert said:

The "who" as in Potemkin?  Perhaps you are correct.

Right, @wingbert. Because Ada, MI is by definition “built solely to deceive others into thinking that a situation is better than it really is”.  Shame on communities that open up riverfront space, build parks, reorient the street for flooding, and add density. 

Wait, isn’t GR doing that as well?

Joe

[MJLO]

It's as if Amway is simply developing a lifestyle center in the form of a quaint upscale town.  I could see this really picking up in a year or so and attracting some national retail chains like lulu and the like. 

[wingbert]

3 hours ago, joeDowntown said:

Right, @wingbert. Because Ada, MI is by definition “built solely to deceive others into thinking that a situation is better than it really is”.  Shame on communities that open up riverfront space, build parks, reorient the street for flooding, and add density. 

Wait, isn’t GR doing that as well?

Joe

While I may have preferred to see Ada grow organically based on need and demand, others are happy to see someone else's vision enacted through faux manufactured architecture.  That's fine.  Everyone gets an opinion.  Likes and dislikes are entirely personal opinion and experience.  I'm not saying any of the new buildings are hideous, but for me I also don't believe that people visit places like Rockford or Saugatuck because someone came in and built them all at once according to a single vision of homogeneity.   Do I think the old Ada was a beautiful grand testament to great architecture?  Hardly.   But what it was it came by honestly.  Now, meh.  There's natural maturation, flaws and all, and there's cosmetic surgery.  This feels like cosmetic surgery to me. - superficial and largely unnecessary.

Also, just for clarification my reference was not to the modern day common usage of the term Potemkin Village upon which your shallowly researched and cursory dismissal was based, but rather the origin of the expression itself, "According to Russian legend, 'Potemkin Villages'—entirely fake urban conurbations made to appear real..."   I guess we'll see at the next economic downturn if these new buildings turn out to be follies (a costly ornamental building with no practical purpose) or enduring economic engines of architectural relevance.  I certainly hope it's the latter.