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Diamond Place at the Proos Site


GVSUChris

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14 minutes ago, jonrapley said:

The project could look better, but what it is doing for the area in terms of providing amenities and density is great. 

You could say that adding 500 apartment units within walking distance of downtown Grandville, and getting rid of a nasty janky trailer park, is doing wonders for that area too, but most people might not say so... 

Honestly I think this project has done damage to this area of Michigan that will be pretty hard to recuperate from. This project makes the street very "not human scale." Contrast it with the Bridge St Market project and it's like night and day. 

It makes me think of those drab apartment complexes you always see on those Russian dash-cam videos. Lifeless, flat, cookie-cutter. 

diamondplacejpg-a66a3afb9ebca20a.jpg

This would be an improvement: :P

5a38c068a8028.jpg

 

Original plan, as a reminder of what could have been:

20577430486_cf61a42002_b.jpg

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11 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

You could say that adding 500 apartment units within walking distance of downtown Grandville, and getting rid of a nasty janky trailer park, is doing wonders for that area too, but most people might not say so... 

Honestly I think this project has done damage to this area of Michigan that will be pretty hard to recuperate from. This project makes the street very "not human scale." Contrast it with the Bridge St Market project and it's like night and day. 

It makes me think of those drab apartment complexes you always see on those Russian dash-cam videos. Lifeless, flat, cookie-cutter. 

diamondplacejpg-a66a3afb9ebca20a.jpg

This would be an improvement: :P

5a38c068a8028.jpg

 

Original plan, as a reminder of what could have been:

20577430486_cf61a42002_b.jpg

Things I hate: 

Why not finish the brick to the top and not put that ugly corrugated metal on the last third. 

I really thought the set backs and balconies on the original design were great and approachable. 

I have a feeling you will be able to drive by the grocery store without knowing anything was there. Whereas the original design had the GFS and and the building different enough to pop.

I'm in no way going props to the new design (Progressive & Third Coast) picked.

 

Things I like:

Although it could have had better design, It looks better than the industrial business that was there previously.

It's going to have what sounds like a very cool grocery store.

Sushi, Ramen, Poke.

Density, and hopefully vibrancy.

I don't hate smoothies   

 image.thumb.png.dec97df4d6736e0fbd3ca3db6e373afa.png

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18 minutes ago, jonrapley said:

The brick not going all the way up really bothers me. However, I would argue that the street level vibracy this project will bring to the area, offsets any architectural flaws. 

One of the things you've got to give credit to the developers on this project, they filled the street level. That doesn't seem to be the norm with most projects that have been built recently. I do agree it will add a lot of street level activity. I still find Michigan Street in this area to be a little odd. Not pedestrian friendly. So it'll be interesting to see how cars and people co-mingle. :)

Joe

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39 minutes ago, joeDowntown said:

 I still find Michigan Street in this area to be a little odd. Not pedestrian friendly. So it'll be interesting to see how cars and people co-mingle. :)

Joe

Of all the emerging corridors in the city, I find Michigan St. from College to Fuller to be my least favorite and the most awkward.    You have these new monstrosities speckled next to mostly rundown SFH, with several neglected or abandoned commercial buildings.  It looks poorly planned in the least.  I am hoping market conditions dictate that the rest of the street is filled in with matching structures and increased density.   

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5 hours ago, wingbert said:

If only one wealthy family had bought up the whole area and forced their vision on everyone.  Then we could have discussed how wonderful it is and a moderator could come in to this thread and squash all this tedious criticism.

OMG wingbert you're like a 5 year old. Give it a rest already and quit bringing your gripes into every other topic. 

7 hours ago, jonrapley said:

The brick not going all the way up really bothers me. However, I would argue that the street level vibracy this project will bring to the area, offsets any architectural flaws. 

I would argue that it won't bring any street level vibrancy. Check back in a year and I'll do some time-lapse photos of the non-street level vibrancy in this block. :) 

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7 hours ago, wingbert said:

If only one wealthy family had bought up the whole area and forced their vision on everyone.  Then we could have discussed how wonderful it is and a moderator could come in to this thread and squash all this tedious criticism.

Drop it dude. I really don’t understand what axe you have to grind with me, but it’s exhausting. Pardon me if I try to keep things a bit positive, and keep things on topic. I am a moderator after all. 

If you want to troll, go to Mlive or Salon. I’m sure someone will welcome you with open arms. 

Now back to our discussion. 

Joe

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11 hours ago, MJLO said:

Of all the emerging corridors in the city, I find Michigan St. from College to Fuller to be my least favorite and the most awkward.    You have these new monstrosities speckled next to mostly rundown SFH, with several neglected or abandoned commercial buildings.  It looks poorly planned in the least.  I am hoping market conditions dictate that the rest of the street is filled in with matching structures and increased density.   

I agree. It’s a bit weird having a Drive-Thru KFC right next to a mixed use “urban” development. Most of Michigan is weird until you start going up the hill. We ate at 7 Monks the other day (best fried dill pickles ever BTW), and the area has a sort of an identity crisis. Part of it feels like it’s close to the core city, the other part feels like you are on 28th street west of 131. I hope they figure it out and the area gets its own neighborhood feel.  :)

Joe

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On 8/7/2018 at 8:50 PM, GRDadof3 said:

It makes me think of those drab apartment complexes you always see on those Russian dash-cam videos. Lifeless, flat, cookie-cutter. 

It’s sad that I can immediately relate it with that after you say that :rofl:

But hey...AE32C659-4355-4CE5-8F3B-1118E88EB75D.thumb.jpeg.cf0a34ba8f5351e84bb74e6c3959d3d0.jpeg

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On 8/8/2018 at 10:07 AM, joeDowntown said:

give credit to the developers on this project, they filled the street level.

This.  I went to the meetings.  They kept their promises.  I am very much looking forward to how this impacts the corridor.  

We are going to have two grocery stores anchoring each end of a frequent transit service. 

I harsh on the city's mostly absurd master and corridor planning non-sense all the time, but the vision is being delivered in this instance.

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53 minutes ago, whitemice said:

This.  I went to the meetings.  They kept their promises.  I am very much looking forward to how this impacts the corridor.  

We are going to have two grocery stores anchoring each end of a frequent transit service. 

I harsh on the city's mostly absurd master and corridor planning non-sense all the time, but the vision is being delivered in this instance.

Polyanic but hey, we'll see. :) Plus it's still a GFS. I only go to GFS when we're having a ton of people over and need large quantities of cheap food. Unless this revamping changes that.

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14 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

Polyanic but hey, we'll see. :) Plus it's still a GFS. I only go to GFS when we're having a ton of people over and need large quantities of cheap food. Unless this revamping changes that.

Did you read the articles on this GFS? They are using a new model  for this store similar to the one in Cascade, its supposed to cater to a maybe smaller household, younger more urban group of people who want to cook something that night or need to grab a few things and this will be less of a food for a graduation party destination. Large produce area, bakery, butcher, deli sandwiches, online pick up, ect. Since I live down the street this is perfect for me and many people in the neighborhood. 

Although, I was peeking through the windows of the Bridge Market and it looks incredible. I don't think it will hold a candle to that. But like I've said a million times at least it's not a dollar general. 

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30 minutes ago, HavingAhoot said:

Did you read the articles on this GFS? They are using a new model  for this store similar to the one in Cascade, its supposed to cater to a maybe smaller household, younger more urban group of people who want to cook something that night or need to grab a few things and this will be less of a food for a graduation party destination. Large produce area, bakery, butcher, deli sandwiches, online pick up, ect. Since I live down the street this is perfect for me and many people in the neighborhood. 

Although, I was peeking through the windows of the Bridge Market and it looks incredible. I don't think it will hold a candle to that. But like I've said a million times at least it's not a dollar general. 

Here Here on not being a Dollar General!!!!!!!!

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I think it’s great that two local companies stepped it up, took a risk, and are giving a lot of options that have been missing from downtown and surrounding areas  

I assume Bridge Street Market will have a pharmacy, which will be a huge improvement for downtown. 

Way to go local companies! :)

Joe

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58 minutes ago, joeDowntown said:

I think it’s great that two local companies stepped it up, took a risk, and are giving a lot of options that have been missing from downtown and surrounding areas  

I assume Bridge Street Market will have a pharmacy, which will be a huge improvement for downtown. 

Way to go local companies! :)

Joe

There will not be a pharmacy at Bridge Street Market.   -_-

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3 minutes ago, sfloria said:

There will not be a pharmacy at Bridge Street Market.   -_-

It would be great if in one of the developable parcels along bridge - say...where the Chase bank was - they developed a mixed-use with a CVS or Walgreens in the base. Here's to dreaming. 

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9 hours ago, HavingAhoot said:

Did you read the articles on this GFS? They are using a new model  for this store similar to the one in Cascade, its supposed to cater to a maybe smaller household, younger more urban group of people who want to cook something that night or need to grab a few things and this will be less of a food for a graduation party destination. Large produce area, bakery, butcher, deli sandwiches, online pick up, ect. Since I live down the street this is perfect for me and many people in the neighborhood. 

Although, I was peeking through the windows of the Bridge Market and it looks incredible. I don't think it will hold a candle to that. But like I've said a million times at least it's not a dollar general. 

That is true. Way better than a Dollar General.

And what does this city need to do to get a decent pharmacy downtown???  Now that there's a grocery store opening that will be the next thing people on Mlive will complain about. 

I will seriously try and curtail my bitchin. Next week...  :)

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6 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

That is true. Way better than a Dollar General.

And what does this city need to do to get a decent pharmacy downtown???  Now that there's a grocery store opening that will be the next thing people on Mlive will complain about. 

I will seriously try and curtail my beotchin. Next week...  :)

But if there is a pharmacy, where will people park!?!

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17 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

That is true. Way better than a Dollar General.

And what does this city need to do to get a decent pharmacy downtown???  Now that there's a grocery store opening that will be the next thing people on Mlive will complain about. 

I will seriously try and curtail my beotchin. Next week...  :)

I work for Meijer pharmacy. Like most of the chain retail pharmacies (and especially with Meijer, as pharmacy isn't a huge moneymaker for them at about 10% of their total business) they won't invest in downtown unless they can guarantee themselves a large amount of business. Currently, the drive thru and ability to park are a huge part of that business. With declining reimbursements from third parties and the stranglehold PBMs, wholesalers, and manufacturers have on drug pricing the only way to be profitable is to have volume, volume, volume. That's also why we won't see a small independent set up shop, either. They're drowning in competition with the big boys for reimbursement contracts. I think our best bet is a small pharmacy set up under Mercy or Cherry Health using federal grant money to run in an underserved neighborhood. Even then, it'll probably be somewhere like Black Hills or Roosevelt Park. 

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