New projects on the West Side

[EastownLeo]

Could it be that all the new additions have a destination appeal? Marketing and image that draws a crowd?  Where as Black Heron seemed to be taking a more neighborhood established feel that was not "changing things"  They came in with a whisper and left with a whimper, while New holland, BU and sovengard all came in with a bang?

[thebeerqueer]

19 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

People thought the "neighbor night" was a bad thing? Or would they only allow those people in on those nights? (which is a bad idea I think)

<- This person thought it was a bad thing because on those nights they would allow anyone in but only provide the discount to those that lived in the aforementioned properties. When asked if they would apply the discount to anyone living on the Westside (and perhaps change their wording on the marketing piece) they didn't respond. Seems disingenuous to a 'neighborhood night'.

[EastownLeo]

Anyone have pictures of the new development on the west side of the river, north of 6th street.  Seems like its more than 50% done?

[kevin8gr]

I took this photo last Sunday 6-11-17. This is the development on Front street.

[GRDadof3]

On 6/16/2017 at 9:37 AM, thebeerqueer said:

<- This person thought it was a bad thing because on those nights they would allow anyone in but only provide the discount to those that lived in the aforementioned properties. When asked if they would apply the discount to anyone living on the Westside (and perhaps change their wording on the marketing piece) they didn't respond. Seems disingenuous to a 'neighborhood night'.

Ah yes, that's not a good way to run a promotion. 

[EastownLeo]

St. James School at 750 1st St. will be converted into 36 apartments, 16 townhomes.

I always forget about this area.

[thebeerqueer]

22 hours ago, EastownLeo said:

St. James School at 750 1st St. will be converted into 36 apartments, 16 townhomes.

I always forget about this area.

I believe these will be either senior housing or income qualified. 

As a St James alumni, I'm excited to see this space re-imagined. The terrazzo floors inside always mesmerized me. 

[GVSUChris]

I'm sure that this will be great for GVSU and maybe even Grand Rapids if they program it well, but my idealistic self was REALLY wanting something more interesting to happen with the Ferris site. That said - this is probably a good use of the building. 

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2017/06/grand_valley_state_to_spend_81.html#incart_river_home

edit - feel free to move this to a more appropriate thread. 

Edited June 22, 2017 by GVSUChris

[GRDadof3]

8 hours ago, thebeerqueer said:

I believe these will be either senior housing or income qualified. 

As a St James alumni, I'm excited to see this space re-imagined. The terrazzo floors inside always mesmerized me. 

The whole site plan for this project is on UP somewhere. I posted it. 

1 hour ago, GVSUChris said:

I'm sure that this will be great for GVSU and maybe even Grand Rapids if they program it well, but my idealistic self was REALLY wanting something more interesting to happen with the Ferris site. That said - this is probably a good use of the building. 

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2017/06/grand_valley_state_to_spend_81.html#incart_river_home

edit - feel free to move this to a more appropriate thread. 

Wow, that's awesome actually. I wonder if the coffee shop will stay.

[GR_Urbanist]

I think this is the best we can hope for if we want a possibility that the building will be made over from a mostly windowless factory into a natural extension of the DT campus, and will (bridge) the gap between Bridge St. and GVSU. Certainly bringing in more students wont hurt! Plus Ferris will lease their retail space, so no lose there. Likely a gain in customers.

 

Some other manufacturing entity would have left it almost as-is, and I honestly dont see anyone else that would want it.

[GRDadof3]

9 hours ago, GR_Urbanist said:

I think this is the best we can hope for if we want a possibility that the building will be made over from a mostly windowless factory into a natural extension of the DT campus, and will (bridge) the gap between Bridge St. and GVSU. Certainly bringing in more students wont hurt! Plus Ferris will lease their retail space, so no lose there. Likely a gain in customers.

 

Some other manufacturing entity would have left it almost as-is, and I honestly dont see anyone else that would want it.

Exactly. A big expansion of the engineering department vs yet another apartment building with vacant ground floor retail, I'd say it's a win. And more students to help fill those apartment buildings.

[arcturus]

Add to the mix a top notch YMCA and completion of the Meijer you've got just about everything one needs.  

[thebeerqueer]

I couldn't be more pleased with this announcement. GVSU 's engineering school is a great fit for that space. It's a turnkey operation for them and impossibly close to their other properties. With the shady expansion of the downtown overlay district to include this area, there was concern that this property could be developed up to a 16 story building and now with GVSU owning it, that quells those fears. Also, if Ferris and GVSU can work out an agreement to lease/operate the coffee shop/retail store I think it will be a great example of public institutions and long time local business displaying their commitment to the neighborhood; it's a win-win, as they say. 

It will be interesting to see how GVSU and Walker work together to develop the Standale Plaza property into an attractive and efficient parking solution. 

[Kinkema]

53 minutes ago, thebeerqueer said:

 With the shady expansion of the downtown overlay district to include this area, there was concern that this property could be developed up to a 16 story building and now with GVSU owning it, that quells those fears.

I had hoped the property would be turned into a 16 story building /:

Edited June 22, 2017 by iK1NkY

[GR_Urbanist]

9 minutes ago, iK1NkY said:

I had hoped the property would be turned into a 16 story building /:

Well you never know, GVSU might toss on a few extra stories when they renovate the place.

If they are expanding their engineering program into this, they are going to go full-out into making the place look top-notch to attract the best talent from around the world. Companies are begging for more engineering grads, so this will be a major focus as their medial assets have become.

[wingbert]

28 minutes ago, GR_Urbanist said:

Well you never know, GVSU might toss on a few extra stories when they renovate the place.

If they are expanding their engineering program into this, they are going to go full-out into making the place look top-notch to attract the best talent from around the world. Companies are begging for more engineering grads, so this will be a major focus as their medial assets have become.

One of the top division 2 school engineering programs around!

[thebeerqueer]

 

51 minutes ago, iK1NkY said:

I had hoped the property would be turned into a 16 story building /:

A multi story building would be appropriate there, just not a 16 story building. It would be incongruous to the surroundings. 

[joeDowntown]

I think it's a really smart purchase and am happy to see the engineering school expand. Also cool that GVSU now stretches from almost Wealthy to (almost) Bridge. 

Joe

[elcelc]

Here's a drone fly-over of Grand View Place along Front St just north of 6th Street.

 

[EastownLeo]

37 minutes ago, elcelc said:

Here's a drone fly-over of Grand View Place along Front St just north of 6th Street.

 

More glass than I expected.

[joeDowntown]

And the most annoying soundtrack ever goes to... The building is shaping up. I hope that's not all surface parking right up to the river. 

Joe

[GR8scott]

On June 22, 2017 at 9:26 AM, wingbert said:

One of the top division 2 school engineering programs around!

That's kind of like being the tallest midget, really should be D1 but that's another story. As for the building GVSU has historically been very short as far as college buildings go. Would love to see even a 10 story housing there 

[wingbert]

On 6/24/2017 at 11:34 AM, GR8scott said:

That's kind of like being the tallest midget, really should be D1 but that's another story. 

Exactly!

[GRLaker]

On 6/24/2017 at 11:34 AM, GR8scott said:

That's kind of like being the tallest midget, really should be D1 but that's another story. As for the building GVSU has historically been very short as far as college buildings go. Would love to see even a 10 story housing there 

Agreed. My alma mater's lack of vision is honestly embarrassing. I realize that it takes donors to fund a D1 program, but they don't even try to propose the idea to the alumni and region's elite. They just give in to the defeatist mindset of, "not everyone can have the success of North Dakota State when they move up. We'd rather beat up on the likes of Hillsdale, Lake Erie College, Davenport, Tiffin, etc."

Also, I am a bit surprised by GVSU's lack of height downtown. Allendale Township restricts them to four stories on the main campus. You would think that the freedom to go big downtown would result in a building the likes of MSU's School of Medicine, but alas...3-5 stories is all we get. 

[GR8scott]

vision might be part of it and also short history but the AD has publically been adamantly against a move to even D1 FCS, wrongly citing an astronmical cost when the facilities at GVSU are already bigger and better than many if not most FCS schools. A reminder that Grand Rapids is the largest city and metro area without a D1 school. Golden opportunity.

 

as for height, I somehow thought Allendale wouldn't have a 4 story limitation since its unincorporated.  Ferris state has a door that's 12 or so floors. IL state has one that's like 25 stories. I would thjnk if the goal is to have a suburban and an urban campuses, keep Allendale under 4 and build everything downtown over 4! But that's not what's happening. especcially student housing downtown should be high density