Twelve Weston (Formerly known as 35 and 41 S Division)

[joeDowntown]

6 hours ago, x99 said:

Pretty much.... I like that they took a traditional brick look, but I don't know why they think that means it has to be completely boring. The old buildings that were there before had a lot of cool stuff going on.

Agreed. I would love to know, on a building like this, what would be the extra cost to vary the brickwork a bit, add some nice cornice work, etc. I'm wondering how much this adds to construction. To me, it doesn't seem like much in the overall scheme of things, but maybe I'm terribly wrong. Would love if someone had some insight. 100k? $10M? Just wondering what this does to the overall financials. 

I'd probably go broke being a developer as I'd go overboard.

[kwl]

Anyone hear any whispers or updates here? Have to imagine there is interest with Studio C only a few blocks away. 

 

 

[x99]

On 3/26/2018 at 4:01 PM, kwl said:

Anyone hear any whispers or updates here? Have to imagine there is interest with Studio C only a few blocks away. 

This corner might as well be a million miles away. I'm not optimistic.  It's nerve-wracking for many people to drive through here even with their windows up.  To the mayor's credit, I saw her walking down Division in broad daylight, though... You get used to it, but dozens of drunk/drugged people sleeping and urinating in the doorways makes it a tough nut to crack.  Maybe someone will pull off a LIHTC funded building someday.  Maybe.

[joeDowntown]

I think it’ll be a few years. There’s a lot better places to focus on right now for infill.

Joe 

 

[GVSUChris]

Looks like new plans are being presented to the HPC for this site for a - DRUM-ROLL - a 3-story building. So we've gone from 13 to 6 to 3. You can see the initial designs in the HPC packet. Pretty snoozy though I'm sure they'll be ripped apart and put back together. It's also pretty hard to design an interesting building in the shadow of the back of an ugly 8 story parking structure. 

[GR_Urbanist]

Quote

No shelters

No parks

No parking lots

No "low-income" housing

No faux-old architecture

No squat two-story cheap building.

And no empty lot for 7 years.

But this is GR, and the developers will do their best to deliver you one or all of the above.

I wrote that back in 2014. Looks like we got an empty lot (hole in the ground) for about 5 years, and a proposal one story higher than 2.   

 

Now let's see if we will get the low-income housing, some homeless related non-profit agency and that faux-old architecture.

 

Dont let me down, GR developers!

[GRLaker]

2 hours ago, GVSUChris said:

Looks like new plans are being presented to the HPC for this site for a - DRUM-ROLL - a 3-story building. So we've gone from 13 to 6 to 3. You can see the initial designs in the HPC packet. Pretty snoozy though I'm sure they'll be ripped apart and put back together. It's also pretty hard to design an interesting building in the shadow of the back of an ugly 8 story parking structure. 

Snoozy indeed. However, it's an expected design for Division - the black hole of Grand Rapids business, architecture, and customer traffic.

[MJLO]

37 minutes ago, GRLaker said:

Snoozy indeed. However, it's an expected design for Division - the black hole of Grand Rapids business, architecture, and customer traffic.

I find this so ironic given that it probably has the best built environment and infrastructure in the city to support a super trendy and vibrant retail corridor. 

[GRLaker]

30 minutes ago, MJLO said:

I find this so ironic given that it probably has the best built environment and infrastructure in the city to support a super trendy and vibrant retail corridor. 

Agreed. I just think there is enough of a stigma surrounding Division that no one wants to touch it. Rockwell-Republic being the exception. It's unfortunate, because I see the city blossoming all around it, but Division is largely ignored.

[Prankster]

Wow, very underwhelming. 

[GRDadof3]

All you have to do is spend 20 minutes out on the sidewalk in that area to see why no developer wants to risk anything more than 2 or 3 stories there. In fact, we should do a UP meetup there. Bring your own lawnchair to the sidewalk out by Republic/Rockwell.. 7pm.. 

[GRLaker]

9 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

All you have to do is spend 20 minutes out on the sidewalk in that area to see why no developer wants to risk anything more than 2 or 3 stories there. In fact, we should do a UP meetup there. Bring your own lawnchair to the sidewalk out by Republic/Rockwell.. 7pm.. 

I didn’t want to be the one to say it...But yeah...It’s the cause of the stigma and it will likely never go away as long as all of the shelters are directly downtown along Division.

[GR_Urbanist]

As long as Degege is where it is, nothing will change. Its location at a major intersection is just killing the area. That place encourages too much loitering. The park across the street is no help either.

 

But they dont care, the city doesn't care, and no one wants to complain. So S. Division will continue to hemorrhage the few outlets that are left to the Uptown area and Bridge St. disctricts.

 

At least this watered-down project, and hopefully the movie theater complex, will pump a little more life into the area.

[TheSutterKing]

6 hours ago, GR_Urbanist said:

As long as Degege is where it is, nothing will change. Its location at a major intersection is just killing the area. That place encourages too much loitering. The park across the street is no help either.

Agree. Where would be a good place to relocate it or build another shelter?

[GR_Urbanist]

Somewhere by the corner of Division and Grant (just south of  El Matador's factory) there is a nice-sized empty lot where a new, large Degege building could go, where they could serve their clientele far better than where they are now.

 

 

[GRDadof3]

6 hours ago, TheSutterKing said:

Agree. Where would be a good place to relocate it or build another shelter?

That big giant warehouse along S Division between Wealthy and Franklin. Put all the missions under one roof with mega dinners and revival/born again videos on big screens. 

Boom.  

[GRDadof3]

Here's the new 12 Weston proposal. I assume this is a "starting" drawing knowing that a lot more detail will be required? 

 

 

[GRLaker]

13 hours ago, GR_Urbanist said:

Somewhere by the corner of Division and Grant (just south of  El Matador's factory) there is a nice-sized empty lot where a new, large Degege building could go, where they could serve their clientele far better than where they are now.

 

 

That would be ideal. It’s an area that will never be desirable from a retail, restaurant, and market rate apartment standpoint. Maybe then we could actually fill in this area with legitimate development. 

Edited September 2, 2018 by GRLaker

[GR_Urbanist]

Well...wow. That building design is just some crap.

 

And they decided to forgo running the ground floor transparency all the way to the end, and instead opted for a nice brick wall.

 

I guess as long as the ground floor is not another non-profit, then it at least fills in that ugly hole with something useful.

Edited September 2, 2018 by GR_Urbanist

[GRDadof3]

42 minutes ago, GR_Urbanist said:

Well...wow. That building design is just some crap.

 

And they decided to forgo running the ground floor transparency all the way to the end, and instead opted for a nice brick wall.

 

I guess as long as the ground floor is not another non-profit, then it at least fills in that ugly hole with something useful.

Well all of those holes in the urban fabric are like missing teeth. As long as you fill in those teeth gaps with something: cardboard, wood, yellow plastic, used dentures, playdoh, then the infill goal is moved one step closer (apparently)/sarc.

[Allison Slater]

14 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

That big giant warehouse along S Division between Wealthy and Franklin. Put all the missions under one roof with mega dinners and revival/born again videos on big screens. 

Boom.  

Are you talking about the big building fenced off from Division on the west side of the road?  It's currently in use by a food distribution service.

And all of them being in one spot is kind of what's caused this problem in the first place. It would seem wiser to have them better distributed throughout the city. Locating in an industrial area seems a good idea, though. Less NIMBYs to oppose the action, and puts them right in the middle of a plethora of jobs. How amount move one to South Division & Grant area as was mentioned, one to the Cottage Grove area, and one to the Ann St. area. Where did that homeless camp on the railroad property by Ann St. move to when more tracks were added? If they're still somewhere in the area, seems like that'd be a good place for such services.

 

Edited September 2, 2018 by tSlater

[joeDowntown]

I don't think it's THAT bad. Heck, I'm impressed anyone is willing to give it a shot. It'd be nice to see some more transparency on the Weston side. I parked in the Rockwell/Republic lot for years, and that section always felt a bit sketchy. It'd be nice to see a few windows along Weston to know someone might be watching out for you.

We've also got a jumper on the third floor in one of the renderings.

Joe

[MJLO]

Is there any indication on it's intended usage?

[GRDadof3]

On 9/2/2018 at 3:31 PM, MJLO said:

Is there any indication on it's intended usage?

Market rate apartments and retail:

https://mibiz.com/item/26082-apartment-project-proposed-for-long-vacant-corner-of-division-and-weston

I actually don't mind the hole in the ground, it has character. 

[Guest]

How many apartments?  8-10? Why are developers so afraid to go big around here?