New projects on the West Side

[GRDadof3]

16 hours ago, GRLaker said:

I'm just glad they're not $1,100-1,200. $996 for downtown is a step in the right direction. I pay $870 for my one bedroom suburban apartment. Around $900 seems to be common for anything worth living in.

Interesting. 

[thebeerqueer]

18 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

Interesting that the developers are calling the apartments on the Red Lion site "affordable."  $996 for a 1 bedroom is now affordable, eh? 

http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2018/01/former_red_lion_site_to_become.html?ath=1a90132b90933db8002100e5723c045a#cmpid=nsltr_strybutton

I would be interested in what the prices of the income restricted apartments would be?  Isn't that usually 80% AMI??

[GRDadof3]

4 minutes ago, thebeerqueer said:

I would be interested in what the prices of the income restricted apartments would be?  Isn't that usually 80% AMI??

I believe that's the income restriction to qualify for those, ie you can't make more than 80% of the Average Median Income that MSHDA declares. I think the rent is on a sliding scale based on income and family size?? 

[thebeerqueer]

34 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

I believe that's the income restriction to qualify for those, ie you can't make more than 80% of the Average Median Income that MSHDA declares. I think the rent is on a sliding scale based on income and family size?? 

That sounds about right. 

[joeDowntown]

I took some photos of the west side today. It’s amazing how different Bridge Street looks, and there’s a lot more to come!

 

[thebeerqueer]

Exciting times on the Westside!

[GR_Urbanist]

A couple of renovations (or one renovation and a new building?) to the west of the Meijer site on Bridge. I think its 820 Bridge St.

[GRDadof3]

6 hours ago, GR_Urbanist said:

A couple of renovations (or one renovation and a new building?) to the west of the Meijer site on Bridge. I think its 820 Bridge St.

That's cool. I've driven by that building on the far right probably a billion times and thought it'd be a cool renovation project. 

[localtalent]

Jolly Pumpkin is supposedly on track to open in the former Black Heron space sometime in March.

Based on visible progress, I would assume that means late March.

[InSecurity]

Walked by Jolly Pumpkin this morning and there is a sign in the window saying they are hiring. 

[InSecurity]

On 10/5/2017 at 5:45 PM, GRDadof3 said:

In the same neighborhood, right across the street from Sovengard:

http://www.grnow.com/grand-new-sparrows-coffee-co-books-mortar-expand-west-side/

The Bridge St Sparrows has a sign on the door “Closed until further notice”

 

[thebeerqueer]

20 hours ago, InSecurity said:

The Bridge St Sparrows has a sign on the door “Closed until further notice”

 

Whaaa??? That's nuts!

[localtalent]

20 hours ago, InSecurity said:

The Bridge St Sparrows has a sign on the door “Closed until further notice”

 

Very sad for this news.

[GR_Urbanist]

I'm thinking it has to be something other than the actual selling of coffee? Did someone offer them, or the landlord, huge money for the space? Did the owner buy out their lease?

I mean, they just opened! And they are almost assured tons of business in the near future with all the development . I haven't heard anything about them being empty either. But if that location is done, then it is a spectacular collapse after such a promising start.

[mgreven]

I was looking at their FB page and it looked that as of last week, they were expanding hours.  Maybe (hopefully)  just an equipment or building issue...my wife says it's always busy when she goes or walks by.

[thebeerqueer]

Perhaps GVSUChris can shed some light on this situation.

[GVSUChris]

27 minutes ago, thebeerqueer said:

Perhaps GVSUChris can shed some light on this situation.

Hey! I've been holding back to answer because I honestly know nothing. My husband and I own Books & Mortar and we did have a pop-up going in there during the holidays but we ultimately decided to pull out at the end of the year. We actually were pretty profitable BUT there are some steep challenges there and so we decided to get out while we were still making money off of it and focus on other growth opportunities. I have reached out to a couple people who will have an answer and get back soon! 

[thebeerqueer]

44 minutes ago, GVSUChris said:

Hey! I've been holding back to answer because I honestly know nothing. My husband and I own Books & Mortar and we did have a pop-up going in there during the holidays but we ultimately decided to pull out at the end of the year. We actually were pretty profitable BUT there are some steep challenges there and so we decided to get out while we were still making money off of it and focus on other growth opportunities. I have reached out to a couple people who will have an answer and get back soon! 

I'm glad that your pop-up worked out for you guys.  It was super cute.

Thanks for looking out for your nosy Urban Planet friends. 

[jonrapley]

40 minutes ago, GVSUChris said:

Hey! I've been holding back to answer because I honestly know nothing. My husband and I own Books & Mortar and we did have a pop-up going in there during the holidays but we ultimately decided to pull out at the end of the year. We actually were pretty profitable BUT there are some steep challenges there and so we decided to get out while we were still making money off of it and focus on other growth opportunities. I have reached out to a couple people who will have an answer and get back soon! 

On a complete side note I love Books & Mortar! I am in there a few times a month.

 

Back to the topic now, does Bridge St get enough pedestrian traffic during the day to support a coffee shop?

[demhem]

1 hour ago, GR_Urbanist said:

I'm thinking it has to be something other than the actual selling of coffee? Did someone offer them, or the landlord, huge money for the space? Did the owner buy out their lease?

I mean, they just opened! And they are almost assured tons of business in the near future with all the development . I haven't heard anything about them being empty either. But if that location is done, then it is a spectacular collapse after such a promising start.

I was going to speculate the same. They have always been busy when I've stopped to get coffee.  

[GVSUChris]

So...I don't know the details yet though they are slowly coming in...but what I have heard from a few people connected to that location is that they are not reopening and that they were over-extended there. I can not provide any more than speculation but I will keep you updated as I find out more. I did notice that they have "deleted" Bridge Street from their website and social media so that doesn't bode well.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about all of this. As I said before, we actually made some decent money BUT we were the only spot over there where office workers could pop-in for a gift on their way home or to an office event. I believe we could have really done well there if we stayed HOWEVER...in the time we were there (October - December) it become clearer and clearer that retail was not going to be a big part of the fabric of Bridge. The Conscious Collective was becoming more Sovengard, the Red Lion lot was becoming another brewery concept and bar, and Black Heron was turning to Jolly Pumpkin. I am not at all "dissing" these projects but it was self-evident that Bridge will be a robust entertainment district but no place for retail. I even had conversations with the owner of Denym about their awareness that it wasn't going to become quite the walkable neighborhood that they had hoped for. 

I'm an enigma in this conversation because I own a retail business that thrives on other retail businesses being nearby and yet I see the future and it doesn't include traditional brick-and-mortar like we might want it to. We are lucky that our store is "hot" and we can cover our HIGH rent, but the reality is it is EXTREMELY expensive to run a brick-and-mortar space on tight margins and the broadest part of our customer base is aging. We have a ton of support from millennials but they have MUCH different spending patterns and brick-and-mortar cutesy-fun-shops can't expect to live off of them going forward. It will be so interesting to see how walkable neighborhoods continue to shift towards a heavy presence of food and beverage. I'm not saying brick-and-mortar won't always have a place, but it will become more and more nuanced as rent continues to rise and profitability shrinks. 

Also - I've been told that a national chain restaurant (think fast food) might be opening over here haha. 

[GRDadof3]

49 minutes ago, GVSUChris said:

So...I don't know the details yet though they are slowly coming in...but what I have heard from a few people connected to that location is that they are not reopening and that they were over-extended there. I can not provide any more than speculation but I will keep you updated as I find out more. I did notice that they have "deleted" Bridge Street from their website and social media so that doesn't bode well.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about all of this. As I said before, we actually made some decent money BUT we were the only spot over there where office workers could pop-in for a gift on their way home or to an office event. I believe we could have really done well there if we stayed HOWEVER...in the time we were there (October - December) it become clearer and clearer that retail was not going to be a big part of the fabric of Bridge. The Conscious Collective was becoming more Sovengard, the Red Lion lot was becoming another brewery concept and bar, and Black Heron was turning to Jolly Pumpkin. I am not at all "dissing" these projects but it was self-evident that Bridge will be a robust entertainment district but no place for retail. I even had conversations with the owner of Denym about their awareness that it wasn't going to become quite the walkable neighborhood that they had hoped for. 

I'm an enigma in this conversation because I own a retail business that thrives on other retail businesses being nearby and yet I see the future and it doesn't include traditional brick-and-mortar like we might want it to. We are lucky that our store is "hot" and we can cover our HIGH rent, but the reality is it is EXTREMELY expensive to run a brick-and-mortar space on tight margins and the broadest part of our customer base is aging. We have a ton of support from millennials but they have MUCH different spending patterns and brick-and-mortar cutesy-fun-shops can't expect to live off of them going forward. It will be so interesting to see how walkable neighborhoods continue to shift towards a heavy presence of food and beverage. I'm not saying brick-and-mortar won't always have a place, but it will become more and more nuanced as rent continues to rise and profitability shrinks. 

Also - I've been told that a national chain restaurant (think fast food) might be opening over here haha. 

Chik-Fil-A?

I spoke to the Sparrows owner, not reopening. They sound sad about it but it was better for the overall health of their enterprise to concentrate on Wealthy which is extremely successful. 

 

[thebeerqueer]

1 hour ago, GVSUChris said:

So...I don't know the details yet though they are slowly coming in...but what I have heard from a few people connected to that location is that they are not reopening and that they were over-extended there. I can not provide any more than speculation but I will keep you updated as I find out more. I did notice that they have "deleted" Bridge Street from their website and social media so that doesn't bode well.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about all of this. As I said before, we actually made some decent money BUT we were the only spot over there where office workers could pop-in for a gift on their way home or to an office event. I believe we could have really done well there if we stayed HOWEVER...in the time we were there (October - December) it become clearer and clearer that retail was not going to be a big part of the fabric of Bridge. The Conscious Collective was becoming more Sovengard, the Red Lion lot was becoming another brewery concept and bar, and Black Heron was turning to Jolly Pumpkin. I am not at all "dissing" these projects but it was self-evident that Bridge will be a robust entertainment district but no place for retail. I even had conversations with the owner of Denym about their awareness that it wasn't going to become quite the walkable neighborhood that they had hoped for. 

I'm an enigma in this conversation because I own a retail business that thrives on other retail businesses being nearby and yet I see the future and it doesn't include traditional brick-and-mortar like we might want it to. We are lucky that our store is "hot" and we can cover our HIGH rent, but the reality is it is EXTREMELY expensive to run a brick-and-mortar space on tight margins and the broadest part of our customer base is aging. We have a ton of support from millennials but they have MUCH different spending patterns and brick-and-mortar cutesy-fun-shops can't expect to live off of them going forward. It will be so interesting to see how walkable neighborhoods continue to shift towards a heavy presence of food and beverage. I'm not saying brick-and-mortar won't always have a place, but it will become more and more nuanced as rent continues to rise and profitability shrinks. 

Also - I've been told that a national chain restaurant (think fast food) might be opening over here haha. 

Thank you for the explanation and your efforts, I certainly appreciated them. I think as Bridge St matures with the recent and pending addition of apartments and those residents start to realize that they need things other than food and drink in their neighborhood, retail might have an opportunity. It will always be tough but hopefully it will get better as the neighborhood grows into its new-ish identity.  

[GRDadof3]

Jolly Pumpkin GR has its own FB page now:

https://www.facebook.com/JollyPumpkinGrandRapids/

 

[mgreven]

On 2/25/2018 at 8:57 PM, GRDadof3 said:

Jolly Pumpkin GR has its own FB page now:

https://www.facebook.com/JollyPumpkinGrandRapids/

 

Opening on March 22 for Jolly Pumpkin.  

Is the project across the street still a go or did they decide to scrap it?  I saw someone post that they changed their minds and backed out.  That's a bummer if true.