Grandville Castle Apartments

[MJLO]

It will certainly add more density from a ppsm standpoint in Grandville.

[WMrapids]

I went by yesterday and saw a poster with the same plan on there. Looks like we may be getting a castle after all.

[Guest]

I saw some very tall mobile cranes there the other day too.  I like this project.  I wish we had more height outside of downtown like almost every other large metro area.

[crinzema]

Survey of the construction site. 

[GRDadof3]

Holy crap this thing's going vertical. 

[GRLaker]

Based on the location and the fact that I've yet to meet anyone that actually likes the concept of it, I get the feeling that it won't take long for this thing to go down hill - much like any other Land owned property. I hope I'm wrong. 

[Allison Slater]

I like it, in a quirky way.

Disclaimer: I am weird.

[x99]

Nah... Who doesn't love a castle?  I think it's a great project and a really neat building.  It will be fun to see how it turns out.  Beats most of the other flat, uninteresting, "me too" boxes on the drawing board lately.  

[jthrasher]

I seriously can't believe this project is happening.   w.....t.....f

[GR8scott]

The site rendering looks like it's about half the original height 

[MJLO]

48 minutes ago, GR8scott said:

The site rendering looks like it's about half the original height 

I thought that too when I first looked at the picture, I think it's deceiving though.  If you look closer it looks like the scale of the picture has just been squashed.  If I can get by there in the next couple days I'll see if I can get a close up shot of the rendering.

[GRDadof3]

58 minutes ago, GR8scott said:

The site rendering looks like it's about half the original height 

It looks like the "tower" lost 4 or 5 floors. 

[joeDowntown]

A miniature version of a crappy Vegas hotel in a lousy location. Has all the hallmarks of a successful project.

Didn't they even keep the name of the trailer park it replaced? I'll be happy if I'm wrong on this one...

Joe

[WMrapids]

5 hours ago, joeDowntown said:

Didn't they even keep the name of the trailer park it replaced? I'll be happy if I'm wrong on this one...

It used to be "LaGrande Mobile Home Park", so similar but different...

Also, it looks a little more squat because of the angle. Here's a scan of GRDad's image for comparison.

Even if it did lose a few floors, I like how the entrance looks more set back and drawing you in while they also got rid of those roof peaks facing you that you often see on cheap looking apartment/hotels. Without the peaks it looks more ... authentic? Hopefully the materials are used appropriately as well.

[joeDowntown]

The new rendering does look better without the building peaks (and the scale seems more appropriate - for a castle!). I'm still not a fan, but will reserve judgement until I see the final product (and materials).

It's Michigan - they need to take on a Game of Thrones theme. Maybe a 200 ft ice wall behind it (with water slides?)? Fake dragon on top that blows fire every twenty minutes. Live Alligators in the moat. And they DEFINITELY need to work a Medieval Times into the development!

Joe

[The ATX]

I like it.  Although I had to think about it for a few seconds before committing.

[GRDadof3]

1 hour ago, joeDowntown said:

The new rendering does look better without the building peaks (and the scale seems more appropriate - for a castle!). I'm still not a fan, but will reserve judgement until I see the final product (and materials).

It's Michigan - they need to take on a Game of Thrones theme. Maybe a 200 ft ice wall behind it (with water slides?)? Fake dragon on top that blows fire every twenty minutes. Live Alligators in the moat. And they DEFINITELY need to work a Medieval Times into the development!

Joe

That's a good idea Joe, the Medieval Times place. I think there's some outlots in the front avialable! 

It's certainly WHIMSICAL! 

[GR8scott]

After another look, I think the larger picture I was looking at thinking it was downsized, is of just the square section of building and for some reason doesn't include the tower at all, while the two smaller ones below do 

[GRLaker]

1 hour ago, GR8scott said:

After another look, I think the larger picture I was looking at thinking it was downsized, is of just the square section of building and for some reason doesn't include the tower at all, while the two smaller ones below do 

The tower is phase II. The first finished product will be the square section. 

[RegalTDP]

9 hours ago, WMrapids said:

Also, it looks a little more squat because of the angle. Here's a scan of GRDad's image for comparison.

 

The tower didn't go anywhere.  The larger top image is a perspective angle where the front looms large, but the tower is barely visible from the back.  The two bottom images have the tower at what appears to be the same height as before, and appears to be the same model we've seen since the beginning.  I don't think anything has changed. 

[x99]

Okay, so I am wildly biased in favor of anything with a turret or a tower on it.  And I don't care if they build this thing out of EIFS or painted drywall or mud and spit.  I just can't believe they're actually going to build this thing.  I'm just praying they get to this "phase 2"..  Architects designing for downtown:  You've been called out.  Design us stuff with towers and turrets and jazzy parapet walls. And pointy-freakin' roofs with dormers on them.  This is actually something to look at!  Love it or hate it, it's at least something.  I'm not saying everything needs to have battlements like this particular butt-kicking piece of awesome, but ... well ... the Grandville Castle is just telling you and your randomly colored metal and glass boxes to suck it. GO CASTLE GO!!!  

I love it when they put form over function.  Those towers and turrets and battlement serve zero conceivable purpose.  They just look cool.  And that's what architecture ought to be all about.  Well, architecture for us plebes, I suppose.  Probably not architecture for some the architectural cognoscenti.  And kudos to Fugleberg Koch, too.  Even if their designs aren't always great, nothing in their portfolio screams "we've done 10 of these, and they're all boring as sin because we don't give a flying flip".  These Florida carpetbaggers have officially whupped the local boys.  Not that handing it to these pikers around here is all that hard, or anything.

Maybe Hinman can hire Fugleberg Koch to design them a 40 story tower inspired by castle architecture.  Now that's how you get 400 feet of pure awesomeness!

Did I mention how much I like the castle?  This has to make up for the last half dozen projects I've completely panned...  

[Prankster]

Already been done. 

[joeDowntown]

I'll be the contrarian to x99. I'm so frickin' glad this is not downtown. 

Joe

[WMrapids]

1 hour ago, x99 said:

I just can't believe they're actually going to build this thing.  I'm just praying they get to this "phase 2".

If you're hoping for the tower, you're in luck because that's part of phase 1. Phase 2 consists of over a dozen surrounding 2-story "carriage houses" and retail near 28th St.

[x99]

14 hours ago, WMrapids said:

If you're hoping for the tower, you're in luck because that's part of phase 1. Phase 2 consists of over a dozen surrounding 2-story "carriage houses" and retail near 28th St.

Oh, be still my beating heart.  They're constructing a giant castle-ish thing with towers and turrets.  Dreams are apparently made in Grandville.    The GRBJ story about how this thing came to be is rather interesting.  One of developers visited Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany, loved it, and decided to build something inspired by it here.  

They toned down the largest of the money-sucking towers and turrets a bit, but my hat's still off to these guys.  It really is an unprecedented project, and quite bold.

16 hours ago, Prankster said:

Already been done. 

Good call.  PPG Place, although that is a glass castle. The Wikipedia article is interesting:  It was designed by Johnson/Burgee, possibly the best postmodernist architects ever, and served to some extent as an advertisement for PPG plate glass.  When the rest of downtown Pittsburgh was at 20% vacancy, the castle was at 10%, and it was still the public's favorite building in Pittsburgh 20 years later.  Castles sell, and (most) people love 'em.  Personally, I like the Grandville Castle more.