New projects on the West Side

[MJLO]

What's the likely hood of this project coming to fruition?   Proposals for residential developments are coming 3 times a week right now, when does the saturation point happen?

[GRDadof3]

What's the likely hood of this project coming to fruition?   Proposals for residential developments are coming 3 times a week right now, when does the saturation point happen?

 

Considering how looooonnngggg it takes to go through the development process, I think this one is probably a few years out.

[GRDadof3]

What's the likely hood of this project coming to fruition?   Proposals for residential developments are coming 3 times a week right now, when does the saturation point happen?

 

 

Hey mjlo, here's a good article for you. It talks about suburban and urban multi-family projects. Apparently the occupancy rate for the entire metro is 98%:

 

http://mibiz.com/news/design-build/item/22117-suburban-multifamily-market-gains-steam

 

If you think about a comparison, a typical complex in the burbs might have 500 units. Downtown is adding about 1500 by my last count, so the equivalent of 3 big suburban complexes. Doesn't seem too far fetched.

[MJLO]

Hey mjlo, here's a good article for you. It talks about suburban and urban multi-family projects. Apparently the occupancy rate for the entire metro is 98%:

 

http://mibiz.com/news/design-build/item/22117-suburban-multifamily-market-gains-steam

 

If you think about a comparison, a typical complex in the burbs might have 500 units. Downtown is adding about 1500 by my last count, so the equivalent of 3 big suburban complexes. Doesn't seem too far fetched.

 

Thanks for the article , I have experienced the occupancy rate first hand.   Last year before I knew I was going to be xferred out of GR I was looking to lease an apartment as I rented out my condo.  EVERY apartment community even the less desirable ones had waitlists going out at least TWO MONTHS.    With unemployment below 4% and job growth gaining momentum, I am eager to see the march population estimates. 

[GRDadof3]

Some sneaky demo work going on at Alabama:

 

[thebeerqueer]

Some sneaky demo work going on at Alabama:

 

 

There's a lot of work going on inside the building too. You can see lights on and space being cleared out/demo'd.

[civitas]

Sneaky? Looks pretty obvious.

[GRDadof3]

Sneaky? Looks pretty obvious.

 

Only if you're on 1st St, which nobody goes on. Besides, it was a joke Jim.

[civitas]

I go on First Street every day. Lol

[GRDadof3]

I go on First Street every day. Lol

Lol, you win.

[GRDadof3]

This building sold after being on the market for 4 or 5 years. Wonder who got it and what their plans are.

 

http://mls.carwm.com/listing/gk81mMEEGTA/528-4TH-ST-NW-Grand-Rapids-MI-49504

 

Rockford owns just about everything around it, including the building just to the North that is apparently getting a new entrance on the 4th St side of the building (why it's covered in plastic).

[GRDadof3]

West Side commissioners are looking at making Bridge Street from the highway to Stocking a "shared street." First of its kind in GR (maybe even Michigan, not sure).

 

They're also talking about lighting up the underpass with blue LED lights.

 

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2015/03/15_mph_on_bridge_street_grand.html

 

http://fox17online.com/2015/03/12/west-side-of-grand-rapids-may-see-a-serious-makeover/

 

 

[GR_Urbanist]

First of all, have these people have lost their minds?!

 

Second, They cite the concept in Seattle, and having been there last year, I've seen the shared streets in the "Belltown" area where my hotel was.

 

Dont get me wrong, they were incredible things. The Seattle parks and Rec department would close off the various sections and have everything from giant Jenga Games going to Salsa Dancing in the street! It was so much fun to just watch.

 

But the street where they did it there is NOT the same as Bridge. It isn't even on the same planet (figuratively). The streets they used were more lightly traveled, in a quiet part of the city, had a more dense urban fabric, were in the middle of consistent tourist/bar/residential foot traffic, within sight of the Space Needle and wasn't even as naturally wide as Bridge (barely 1.5 lanes because the sidewalks are far wider).

 

This would be a complete disaster for traffic, and being right next to the Highway, wouldn't even be a pleasant place to want to be anyway! I swear listening to the people cheering for this, giving all types of nonsense platitudes of increased property values and new construction, as if a shared street has some magical power to turn anywhere like you would see in Seattle! Belltown is actually less dense than most of the central city, but that is still 10x more than that part of the W. Side even after New Holland comes in. The Shared Street was a result of improvement, not the thing that made it happen.

 

I SERIOUSLY wish they would just try this on a better street first where it could be a benefit. Cherry street between Eastern and Diamond is the only area where this should be done right now because it isn't as busy, has the density and demographics, and will be used and appreciated.

 

 

 

I will try to find some more photos of Bell st., but here are some examples of what it looks like closed off.

 

Edited March 13, 2015 by GR_Urbanist

[Raildudes dad]

First of all, have these people have lost their minds?!

 

Second, They cite the concept in Seattle, and having been there last year, I've seen the shared streets in the "Belltown" area where my hotel was.

 

Dont get me wrong, they were incredible things. The Seattle parks and Rec department would close off the various sections and have everything from giant Jenga Games going to Salsa Dancing in the street! It was so much fun to just watch.

 

But the street where they did it there is NOT the same as Bridge. It isn't even on the same planet (figuratively). The streets they used were more lightly traveled, in a quiet part of the city, had a more dense urban fabric, were in the middle of consistent tourist/bar/residential foot traffic, within sight of the Space Needle and wasn't even as naturally wide as Bridge (barely 1.5 lanes because the sidewalks are far wider).

 

This would be a complete disaster for traffic, and being right next to the Highway, wouldn't even be a pleasant place to want to be anyway! I swear listening to the people cheering for this, giving all types of nonsense platitudes of increased property values and new construction, as if a shared street has some magical power to turn anywhere like you would see in Seattle! Belltown is actually less dense than most of the central city, but that is still 10x more than that part of the W. Side even after New Holland comes in. The Shared Street was a result of improvement, not the thing that made it happen.

 

I SERIOUSLY wish they would just try this on a better street first where it could be a benefit. Cherry street between Eastern and Diamond is the only area where this should be done right now because it isn't as busy, has the density and demographics, and will be used and appreciated.

 

 

 

Right on, well said

[GRDadof3]

I say build it down Michigan ave UNTIL bridge st. How else are we suppose to become the bicycle capital of snowy states? We gotta show we're serious about an inferior mode of transportation made almost entirely obsolete by the slightest snow fall.

 

Speaking of snow, where do you plow the snow on a shared street? Does it get pushed right up to the front door of the businesses?

 

Maybe they could try angled parking in this stretch? It certainly slows down traffic, but much better than parallel parking.

[john_denver]

Maybe the shared streets will be heated?

Or have a retractable dome...

[Raildudes dad]

Speaking of snow, where do you plow the snow on a shared street? Does it get pushed right up to the front door of the businesses?

 

Maybe they could try angled parking in this stretch? It certainly slows down traffic, but much better than parallel parking.

 

 

The solution is the businesses push their snow out to the street and the city needs to pick it up and haul it away.

 

Back in the day when Monroe Ave was the place to be with Wurzburgs, Steketees, Herpolshimers and the Dimestore block, the city didn't use much salt and the snow piled up along the curb. At night they would run a motorgrader and windrow the snow out in the street  Then an Athey loader (still built today) would pick up the snow and put it in dump trucks and they hauled it away. The city still has a 1971 motorgrader but the Athey loader is long gone.

 

I seriously doubt there's anyone still employed with the city that remembers this operation.

 

Last winter over on Lake Drive the business cleaned their sidewalks and put the snow in the street. The street got narrow so what did the city do? Plowed the snow right back on the sidewalk right to the windows. I was surprised they didn't break windows. If I was a store owner, I would have been p**sed and they would have heard about it. A better solution if they didn't want to haul it away would have been to push it with a loader into a couple parking spots at the end of the block. "Natural" seasonal bump-outs they are so fond of

Edited March 14, 2015 by Raildudes dad

[fotoman311]

The solution is the businesses push their snow out to the street and the city needs to pick it up and haul it away.

 

Back in the day when Monroe Ave was the place to be with Wurzburgs, Steketees, Herpolshimers and the Dimestore block, the city didn't use much salt and the snow piled up along the curb. At night they would run a motorgrader and windrow the snow out in the street  Then an Athey loader (still built today) would pick up the snow and put it in dump trucks and they hauled it away. The city still has a 1971 motorgrader but the Athey loader is long gone.

 

I seriously doubt there's anyone still employed with the city that remembers this operation.

 

 

Wouldn't this be the solution for plowing the shared space street?? If they could do it back then, there's no reason they couldn't do it now.

[Allison Slater]

Or maybe the whole thing will have a snowmelt system?

[GRDadof3]

Or maybe the whole thing will have a snowmelt system?

 

That whole area will be a new TIF zone, so perhaps the tax capture would be enough to have heated streets and sidewalks. Would seem sort of opulent for the West Side though, where a program like the Challenge Grants at Harrison Park are sorely needed.

[Raildudes dad]

Yes ,they could load the snow with a front end loader instead of an Athey loader.

 

The Central steam plant is too far away from Bridge St. Expensive steam line extension to get to Bridge St.

[GRDadof3]

I was wondering what was going on with the new Blue Heron restaurant on Bridge. Didn't seem to be a lot of work going on. However, today they have the sidewalk fenced off for what looks like some exterior work. I'm excited to try this one.

[ctpgr34]

Black Heron.

[GRDadof3]

Black Heron.

 

Black Heron!

[wingbert]

Black Heron!

 

 

Blue, black, whatever.  Underneath the plumage they're all just herons.