Predictions for the coming year

[joeDowntown]

11 hours ago, tSlater said:

Welp, I'm not doing so hot already.

I did the opposite. I almost mentioned the amphitheater and then thought “nah, that’ll never happen!”  

Joe

[Guest]

Here's a couple of my predictions (and dreams too, I guess(

-The Embassy Suites and 601 Bond will open and add a lot more people to the area, one of the factories in the area will vacate, be torn down and a tower will be built

-The momentum on Bridge street continues.  The DTE project begins.  Another four or five story mixed used development will be proposed, perhaps the empty bank site across from Bridge street Market.

-The gap between Bridge and LMD will see some houses razed and housing will be built

-The vacant land west of the GVSU parking ramp will be developed into apartments

-There will be another development along Michigan where houses are razed and mixed use built.  Either East of College or East of Eastern on the South side.

-A 12 story project will be proposed for Arena parking lots 2 or 3

-USPS will begin negotiations with DeVos Place regarding the purchase of their site

-There will be some larger suburban housing projects... perhaps near Post/131, along Wilson south of LMD, or south of M6

-Amphitheater will break ground

-The downtown movie theater will be a huge success 

-Spectrum will announce plans for more development, a building to consolidate all of their many sites east of the hospital

-Plans will move forward with the convention hotel

-Redevelopment of the Baxter neighborhood  will gain more momentum and begin to pick up South of Franklin and East of Eastern, long time renters and residents will be forced to move further south  and even into Kentwood.

-A couple more large scale apartment complexes will be built outside of GR

The church on Eastern b/w Dunham and Thomas will be made into housing

-More people will relocate to Grand Rapids and housing stock will remain low, with prices high

'Cheap housing stock on the westside and Michigan corridor will be razed and replaced with apartments

-With attendance continuing to fall a few more churches will close and perhaps be redeveloped

-Nothing will be done in regards to the homeless on Division.

-The city market site will continue to stall, and the proposal will be 'meh'

-Either Duthlers, or the dollar store on Bridge will close due to competition from Bridge street market, hopefully to be redeveloped.

 

[Pattmost20]

1 hour ago, Floyd_Z said:

Either Duthlers, or the dollar store on Bridge will close due to competition from Bridge street market, hopefully to be redeveloped.

 

Already happened. At least 50% of the prediction did.

[MJLO]

My only prediction for 2019:

RDV will announce a major renovation to the 5/3rd building.  It will include a major height addition.  Spectrum health will be a major tenant consolidating multiple offices. Windquest will announce they are moving their offices there, freeing up the Windquest building to be part of the new convention center hotel.

[GRDadof3]

22 hours ago, MJLO said:

My only prediction for 2019:

RDV will announce a major renovation to the 5/3rd building.  It will include a major height addition.  Spectrum health will be a major tenant consolidating multiple offices. Windquest will announce they are moving their offices there, freeing up the Windquest building to be part of the new convention center hotel.

I'm going to add to mine too: 

) This time next year, due to the overwhelming success of Studio Park, the 2nd phase residential tower will be announced with a late 2020 ground-breaking planned. It will surprise everyone by being taller than 12 stories (16 - 18).

) The office building portion of Studio Park will also have a new developer

 

[joeDowntown]

2 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

 

) The office building portion of Studio Park will also have a new developer

 

Definitely agree on the second one. I think Orion is probably bummed they didn’t do a few more floors. While I loved what Franklin was trying to do, they definitely were shooting for the moo (attracting a suburban headquarters to move downtown into a very expensive (per sq. ft.) building. 

I think there are a lot of smaller companies that would move downtown (especially this location, where parking won’t be a concern). 

I think pulling the legacy corporations might be a pipe dream. But I’ve been wondering, do people have thoughts on who the next generation of high growth companies are (and would be a good fit downtown)  

Hexarmor seems to be growing like a weed (although they’ll be set in their new building on Leffingwell for a while). Blue Medora? Salespad? Envoy? Local banks? 

Joe

 

[GRDadof3]

5 hours ago, joeDowntown said:

Definitely agree on the second one. I think Orion is probably bummed they didn’t do a few more floors. While I loved what Franklin was trying to do, they definitely were shooting for the moo (attracting a suburban headquarters to move downtown into a very expensive (per sq. ft.) building. 

I think there are a lot of smaller companies that would move downtown (especially this location, where parking won’t be a concern). 

I think pulling the legacy corporations might be a pipe dream. But I’ve been wondering, do people have thoughts on who the next generation of high growth companies are (and would be a good fit downtown)  

Hexarmor seems to be growing like a weed (although they’ll be set in their new building on Leffingwell for a while). Blue Medora? Salespad? Envoy? Local banks? 

Joe

 

What about Salespad?  They're a pretty fast growing tech company out on the Beltline.

Shefit? (sports bra makers) They're out in Hudsonville and growing like crazy. 

*cuasterisk.com out on 28th Street seems to have taken over the building their in. Across the street from Betten Imports. 

I don't even know how much Lacks Enterprises has grown recently but they seem to have a name on every other building in Cascade Twp now. Probably not a good office candidate though? 

 

 

[thebeerqueer]

On 1/18/2019 at 10:08 PM, Floyd_Z said:

-The vacant land west of the GVSU parking ramp will be developed into apartments

Already happening too.  https://www.mlive.com/expo/news/erry-2018/12/ef1539a5a71167/six-grand-rapids-affordable-ho.html  

[joeDowntown]

6 hours ago, thebeerqueer said:

Already happening too.  https://www.mlive.com/expo/news/erry-2018/12/ef1539a5a71167/six-grand-rapids-affordable-ho.html  

And from what I can gather, not pleasing on the eye.

Joe

[organsnyder]

Are they siding it with remnants?

Edited January 23, 2019 by organsnyder

[joeDowntown]

36 minutes ago, organsnyder said:

Are they siding it with remnants?

Best description ever!

Joe

[GRDadof3]

12 hours ago, joeDowntown said:

And from what I can gather, not pleasing on the eye.

Joe

Welcome to the West Side: the new Communist Block! 

Yuck

[thebeerqueer]

1 hour ago, GRDadof3 said:

Welcome to the West Side: the new Communist Block! 

Yuck

I'm generally from the school of infill is better than vacant lots because at least they can be recovered down the line. But, this is pretty hideous. 

[wingbert]

2 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

Welcome to the West Side: the new Communist Block! 

Yuck

Well some have cornices and some don’t.  That’s some pretty risk-taking creativity for some West Michigan architects.

 

[organsnyder]

The clearance sale must've had a 7 cornice/customer limit.

[RegalTDP]

3 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

Welcome to the West Side: the new Communist Block! 

Yuck

Oh, and we haven't even seen the colors of the siding yet... Imagine how much worse it could be!

[GR_Urbanist]

Ok, that is serious Allendale student apartment trash.

The PC is going to need to channel their inner x99 and read these people the Riot Act.

 

 

edit: And it's more "affordable housing". That's just special.

Edited January 23, 2019 by GR_Urbanist

[thebeerqueer]

29 minutes ago, GR_Urbanist said:

edit: And it's more "affordable housing". That's just special.

Well, it is special for the Westside and needed. 

[GR_Urbanist]

23 of the 34 units are subsidized housing. This is a terrible concentration of "low-income" in a near DT area, next to GVSU, when we have people looking to move to GR for work or school that are not looking for a subsidized apartment (or dont qualify), and sometimes finding nothing. We should attracting these people into the center of town as much as possible as long as they want to come here.

We need more market-rate with SOME subsidized units mixed, not project after project that is geared for the same demographic, using tax dollars, with some crumbs for the people that can afford market-rate and can serve as a basis to attract the retail and services to these parts of town that is sorely lacking. Low-income subsidized apartments should never be this concentrated and in these numbers.

And with the visual cheapness of this project with a $812,627 tax credit, it isnt too far of a stretch to imagine that it is going to age like some subdivision out on 36th street.

Edited January 23, 2019 by GR_Urbanist

[Guest]

21 hours ago, joeDowntown said:

And from what I can gather, not pleasing on the eye.

Joe

I hope this is the color rendering and its just random shades of gray.  

[demhem]

Speaking of student apartment trash. Will it look better or worse than this fine East Lansing gem?

[organsnyder]

Hard to tell if those are windows, or just stickers.

[kwl]

On 12/28/2018 at 8:56 AM, joeDowntown said:

I really hope GRFC doesn't go the Whitecaps route. It was a horrible experience to watch. I hope they find/build a true soccer stadium. Trying to squeeze a soccer field onto 5/3 Ball Park is not ideal.

Joe

 

On 12/28/2018 at 10:13 AM, GRLaker said:

I think if GRFC held all of its games at 5/3 Ballpark, we would see its demise as a program. The type of people showing up to watch GRFC games are not the type that want to get into a car, drive up to Comstock Park, and watch soccer in a baseball stadium with horrible sight lines. In order for GRFC to continue to flourish, it needs to remain in the immediate vicinity of downtown.

Consumed with the thought that we'll see major movement on a downtown Stadium in the next 2-3 years based on the following observations: 

1) 5/3 is a logistical, if not safety, nightmare on game days getting off the interstate. Without substantial investment in routing the offramp/onramps, that location could never be successful. 

2) There are a flurry of affiliation deals expiring in the next 3 years (2020 & 2022) and we'll see some movement of teams both from location and team affiliation standpoints. This will force prospective bidders to get competitive with amenities. 

3) 5/3rd ballpark is amongst the oldest stadiums in the league that does not have historical purposes. 

4) Erie SeaDogs (Tigers AA affiliate) finished in the bottom of their respective league on attendance. (205,000).  

5) White Caps finished 2nd in attendance in their league (386,609), second to only Dayton. 

6) If measured by attendance, the Whitecaps have higher annual attendance than 4 teams at the Triple-A level (International League). 

While we're not ready to be promoted to the big leagues, this should say that the area is ready for a more marketable team. 

[cstonesparty]

48 minutes ago, kwl said:

 

Consumed with the thought that we'll see major movement on a downtown Stadium in the next 2-3 years based on the following observations: 

1) 5/3 is a logistical, if not safety, nightmare on game days getting off the interstate. Without substantial investment in routing the offramp/onramps, that location could never be successful. 

2) There are a flurry of affiliation deals expiring in the next 3 years (2020 & 2022) and we'll see some movement of teams both from location and team affiliation standpoints. This will force prospective bidders to get competitive with amenities. 

3) 5/3rd ballpark is amongst the oldest stadiums in the league that does not have historical purposes. 

4) Erie SeaDogs (Tigers AA affiliate) finished in the bottom of their respective league on attendance. (205,000).  

5) White Caps finished 2nd in attendance in their league (386,609), second to only Dayton. 

6) If measured by attendance, the Whitecaps have higher annual attendance than 4 teams at the Triple-A level (International League). 

While we're not ready to be promoted to the big leagues, this should say that the area is ready for a more marketable team. 

If you take a look at the leagues (Eastern League is where Erie belongs) you'll see that geographically the Whitecaps are in a natural fit now and it would be challenging to switch for travel and natural rivalries.  

The stadium is owned by the Whitecaps and they're unlikely to move for that reason.  It's a profit center for them I'm sure.  They do need to keep innovating in the facility and may have gotten lazy on that count the last few years with only premium seating areas the real changes to the stadium itself...

[GRDadof3]

I'm really hoping this year we hear more about:

) The CAA voting to move forward with the convention center hotel, and maybe see it start to rise in 2020

) The MSU Innovation Center project get kicked off, again, rising in 2020

) Consumers Energy getting started on their West Side project

) The residential tower and office building of Studio Park formally kicked off,  getting started in 2020

I want at least 3 if not 5 tower cranes in the sky every year from here on out.  (not including the Amway hotel's)