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Village of Ada - Complete Makeover


joeDowntown

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I saw in the Ada Twp agenda a few weeks ago that there's a lot of upcoming work in downtown Ada. I'm not sure how much of this is started already... I believe the bolded ones have started or been announced already.

Revised PVM District Development Plan, Construction of a 13,105 sq. ft. three-story building, Unit A1, River Street Commons Site Condominium, 460 Ada Drive SE, ACME Marine.

• PVM District Development Plan, Construction of a 14,417 sq. ft. two-story, Mixed-Use Bldg., Unit B6 Marketplace square, 7505 River Street SE, Marketplace Square B-6, LLC. Planning Commission Annual Report to Township Board Page 2 of 3

• PVM District Development Plan, Construction of a 5,120 sq. ft., two-story, two-tenant building, for veterinary care and professional offices, Unit 7, Ada West Commercial Condominium, 7163 Headley St. SE, All 4 Sallie, LLC.

PVM District Development Plan, Construction of a 6,412 sq. ft., two-story building to be used for retail, service and office uses, Bldg. A8/Unit 8, River Street Commons Condominium, 472 Ada Dr. SE, 460 Ada Drive, LLC.

PVM District Development Plan, Construction of a 37,297 Sq. Ft, Three-Story Building to be used for Retail, Hotel, Banquet and Meeting Center Uses, Units A4 & A5, River Street Commons Condominium, 7415 & 7407 River Street SE, River Street Commons A4 & A5, LLC.

• PVM District Development Plan, Construction of a 4,102 sq. ft., two-story dental building to be located within the Ada West Commercial Condominium, Unit 6, 7167 Headley Street SE, Ada Hills Family Dentistry.

• Revised PVM District Development Plan, Construction of a 13,075 sq. ft., two-story building to be used for restaurant, retail and office uses, Marketplace Square, Unit B5, 7471 River Street SE, Ada Marketplace B-5, LLC.

• Revised PVM District Development Plan, Construction of a 12,230 sq. ft., two-story building to be used for restaurant, retail and residential uses, Marketplace Square, Unit B6, 7505 River Street SE, Ada Marketplace B-6, LLC.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

This is such a pet peeve: Ada rebuilt its streets and didn't include bike lanes. What kind of short-sighted bullshit is this? As a biker you get pinched by the curbs and you're lucky if you make it out alive. 

One is just a quasi bike lane. It just disappears.

Why do I feel like some planner brought it up and Pamela Devos said "bikes can ride on the sidewalks." 

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14 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

This is such a pet peeve: Ada rebuilt its streets and didn't include bike lanes. What kind of short-sighted bullcrap is this? As a biker you get pinched by the curbs and you're lucky if you make it out alive. 

One is just a quasi bike lane. It just disappears.

Why do I feel like some planner brought it up and Pamela Devos said "bikes can ride on the sidewalks." 

20190626_092001.thumb.jpg.0bbd25134721777419a3fd7f2642ae41.jpg

 

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Psh,  biking is for the proletariat.

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This is such a pet peeve: Ada rebuilt its streets and didn't include bike lanes. What kind of short-sighted bullcrap is this? As a biker you get pinched by the curbs and you're lucky if you make it out alive. 
One is just a quasi bike lane. It just disappears.
Why do I feel like some planner brought it up and Pamela Devos said "bikes can ride on the sidewalks." 
20190626_092001.thumb.jpg.0bbd25134721777419a3fd7f2642ae41.jpg
 
20190626_092021.thumb.jpg.340e30ac6d7088873b9925dc0e79393f.jpg
 
20190626_185118.thumb.jpg.c2b8a2869dee1b5f913a72634c77a2a8.jpg
Do you really need bike lanes? I'm a full proponent of just biking in the traffic lane, especially in an "urban" environment like "downtown" Ada. After all, it's just paint...

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

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7 hours ago, 54equalsunity said:

Do you really need bike lanes? I'm a full proponent of just biking in the traffic lane, especially in an "urban" environment like "downtown" Ada. After all, it's just paint...

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
 

Not with how fast people drive through there, and the sheer volume of traffic.  It's not fun in the slightest. 

13 hours ago, Floyd_Z said:

They should build a bike trail so all the bikers will ignore it and bike in the road anyways like they do in the rest of Ada/Cascade  :tw_tounge_wink:

I ride in the road in parts of Ada/Cascade and on the non-motorized trails in other parts. It depends on the section. Grand River I definitely ride on the path because there's no shoulder and 100,000 cars a day drive on it now. :)  But otherwise, cycling in the road is within the law and it's actually safer than the winding blind curve non-motorized paths. 

 

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On 6/27/2019 at 7:14 PM, Floyd_Z said:

They should build a bike trail so all the bikers will ignore it and bike in the road anyways like they do in the rest of Ada/Cascade  :tw_tounge_wink:

In my sub in Allendale, everyone walks in the street. There is a sidewalk on all of our streets. Baffling. 

Do schools no longer teach bike safety and pedestrian safety?

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On 7/4/2019 at 5:12 PM, grandrollerz said:

In my sub in Allendale, everyone walks in the street. There is a sidewalk on all of our streets. Baffling. 

Do schools no longer teach bike safety and pedestrian safety?

In some residential neighborhoods, people walk in the streets to try and slow down cars. It actually works, I lived in a neighborhood that did that kind of "vigilante-ism." 

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  • 5 weeks later...

New apartment complex proposed by Orion for the triangle of land East of the Ada Market (previous Kingma's). All of the garages along Fulton don't seem to be a good look for that area. The design is "OK" seems like Denver cookie-cutter apartments to me. Thoughts? 

 

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That north view is putting lipstick on a pig. How about a view looking direct at the apartment buildings. They have the "view" shown incorrectly on the map inset and the buildings are off 90 degrees. And they paid for this  rendering? The only positive  thing is in a few years the shrubs and bushes may grow enough to screen it from the road. I know, you want me to not hold back and say what I really think about it LOL

Edited by Raildude's dad
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I don't think they look terrible, if this were proposed at the corner of 56th and Ivanrest I might even consider them nice.  The current application seems like it runs counter intuitive to what they are trying to do in Ada.   The garages being the first thing people see as they pull into "downtown Ada" are going to look awkward.  I think they are missing an opportunity to make it feel more integrated into the rest of the master plan.  Though I'm sure the cost of doing so would be significant.  Or perhaps they are just exhibiting a lack of creativity.

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46 minutes ago, MJLO said:

I don't think they look terrible, if this were proposed at the corner of 56th and Ivanrest I might even consider them nice.  The current application seems like it runs counter intuitive to what they are trying to do in Ada.   The garages being the first thing people see as they pull into "downtown Ada" are going to look awkward.  I think they are missing an opportunity to make it feel more integrated into the rest of the master plan.  Though I'm sure the cost of doing so would be significant.  Or perhaps they are just exhibiting a lack of creativity.

You'd never get ground floor retail or anything like that to fly along that section of Fulton. But a building along Fulton and one along the wetlands/river with garages in the middle of the site would make more sense.

The design is fine at least it has brick on it. 

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9 hours ago, mielsonwheels said:

I wonder why they didn't use Dixon for this, seems odd to go away from them now.

Orion has a bad habit of straying from the renderings in the name of 'value engineering'.

Orion always uses Ghafari/Concept Design Group now. 

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14 hours ago, Raildude's dad said:

I don't have a problem with the apartment buildings but the location of the garages is awful

Agreed. I think they thought that putting the apartment buildings along the wetlands was preferable to along Fulton, which may be the case. But the garages are terrible. Looks like a low rent suburb. 

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  • 2 months later...

They’re opening a Bill and Paul’s in Ada. Didn’t realize it was owned by Dan DeVos now. 
 

https://mibiz.com/sections/real-estate-development/bill-paul-s-sporthaus-expanding-in-ada

speaking of snow sports businesses, stopped in Boyne Country Sports in Breton Village. Really nice store!

Joe

 

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1 hour ago, joeDowntown said:

They’re opening a Bill and Paul’s in Ada. Didn’t realize it was owned by Dan DeVos now. 
 

https://mibiz.com/sections/real-estate-development/bill-paul-s-sporthaus-expanding-in-ada

Because of course, after chasing away most of the long-standing Ada businesses, the only thing left to fill all that retail space they’ve created are going to be Amway family owned businesses where actually turning a profit is optional.

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1 hour ago, wingbert said:

Because of course, after chasing away most of the long-standing Ada businesses, the only thing left to fill all that retail space they’ve created are going to be Amway family owned businesses where actually turning a profit is optional.

While I get the sentiment, saying MOST of the long standing businesses is a bit of a stretch.

Spoonlickers closed (which, in reality, I think has more to do with the number of ice cream shops and lower demand for that style of Frozen Yogurt). Cher's Tanning  (moved to Lowell). The never ending turnover of a restaurant (Thornapple River Inn originally). What else? 

- Vitales moved (into what I'd say is a much more successful location which did close O'Briens, but I think they were closing for other reasons)

- McDonald's moved (better location, that McDonald's always had an abbreviated menu)

- Zeytin moved into an expanded location

- Ada Vision moved

- Gravel Bottom moved (into the new development)

- Heidi Christine moved (to a better location, that building was broken up into small spaces, inefficient)

- Sheldon Cleaners moved

- Lake Michigan Credit Union opened a branch in Lowell, were there for a couple years, and knew it was not a long-term lease.

- Artisan Flowers moved

- Peacock Alley moved

I'm not denying that they potentially put a lot of businesses through a lot of pain during redevelopment, and that the rents are much higher, but "chasing away most of the long-standing Ada businesses?". Nada.

Joe

 

 

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1 hour ago, wingbert said:

I suppose you’re right, Joe.  Forcing them to close their location and move elsewhere then raising the rents should they want to return is a perfectly friendly thing to do.  I stand corrected.  Please accept my apologies.

Stop being such a curmudgeon (seriously). Your statement was wildly exaggerated, and I've talked to quite a few of these businesses that while it created a lot of stress and uncertainty, plenty would not choose to move back to their old location. Vitales is doing a booming business, Zeytin is much busier than it was in its old location (one of my faves), Heidi Christines, etc. etc.

I was simply pointing out that "most of the long standing businesses in Ada" have not been chased away.

I talked to a realtor that has had an office in Ada for years, had to move due to the landlord being greedy (one that didn't sell to Amway), and they are happier than . Upgraded their space, nicer offices (office landlords had to up their game a bit), vibrant area, new clients that point to the downtown as an additional selling point, etc.

Business isn't necessarily a friendly place. I thought the Van Andel's announcing an ice cream shop, etc. was a really lousy move, etc. But I've also heard a lot of positives from business owners.

Joe

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