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Diamond Place at the Proos Site


GVSUChris

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4 hours ago, jas49503 said:

yep, back in May.  progress has been pretty slow although you would have to think that they are working behind the scenes and would hopefully be starting soon.  there were some issues with the utilities that they were trying to resolve. they have to be moved across the street and either buried or if the property owners can be convinced, keep them above ground.  I don't know if this would hold up starting construction or not.

Oh yeah, I totally missed that. 

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16 hours ago, thebeerqueer said:

MEDC funds approved. http://woodtv.com/2016/09/27/grand-rapids-grocery-store-development-gets-2-8m/

Does anyone find it odd that there are two grocery stores planned for the 'same' stretch of road less than two miles apart?

Not really. Meijer routinely sits close to another grocery chain. And while it's two miles, it's quite a gap between neighborhoods served. 

Here's another article from Mlive:

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2016/09/midtown_grand_rapids_grocery_s.html

Can I make one critique / plea to Third Coast (which I'm a fan of what they have done for Michigan St.)- please stop with the faux balconies. They look terrible. They look fake. Heck, save yourself money and take them off completely. Please. :)

Joe

 

-1a75bcc7beb64fe7.jpg

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1 hour ago, joeDowntown said:

Can I make one critique / plea to Third Coast (which I'm a fan of what they have done for Michigan St.)- please stop with the faux balconies. They look terrible. They look fake. Heck, save yourself money and take them off completely. Please. :)

Well, the whole thing isn't exactly a beauty.  You can put lipstick on a pig, still a pig.  So try to take the lipstick off the pig, well.. still a pig.  

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2 hours ago, joeDowntown said:

Not really. Meijer routinely sits close to another grocery chain. And while it's two miles, it's quite a gap between neighborhoods served. 

Here's another article from Mlive:

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2016/09/midtown_grand_rapids_grocery_s.html

Can I make one critique / plea to Third Coast (which I'm a fan of what they have done for Michigan St.)- please stop with the faux balconies. They look terrible. They look fake. Heck, save yourself money and take them off completely. Please. :)

Joe

 

-1a75bcc7beb64fe7.jpg

Better yet,  add real balconies. Let people be outside and add to the atmosphere 

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2 hours ago, joeDowntown said:

 please stop with the faux balconies. They look terrible. They look fake. Heck, save yourself money and take them off completely. Please. :)

They look like Juliet balconies, so not exactly a faux balcony. They might not look nice on the outside, but from the inside they will be very nice to have.

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1 hour ago, x99 said:

Well, the whole thing isn't exactly a beauty.  You can put lipstick on a pig, still a pig.  So try to take the lipstick off the pig, well.. still a pig.  

I agree.

 

This is nothing like the original rendering.20577430486_cf61a42002_b.jpg

-1a75bcc7beb64fe7.jpg

 

This is really poorly conceived. Almost like a complete bait-and-switch!

And what is the deal with this blank gray wall with the vertical things coming out of it?

 

 

 

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24 minutes ago, GR_Urbanist said:

I agree.

 

This is nothing like the original rendering.20577430486_cf61a42002_b.jpg

-1a75bcc7beb64fe7.jpg

 

This is really poorly conceived. Almost like a complete bait-and-switch!

And what is the deal with this blank gray wall with the vertical things coming out of it?

 

 

 

Honestly...The downgrading of designs from their original design has got to stop. This looks absolutely dreadful compared to the original design. I'm with Urbanist on this one...Complete bait and switch. How many more times is this city going to be subjected to once promising projects value engineered down to flat elongated rectangles?  

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Well, this crosses another one off of my list of procects to be excited for. Driving east from the river is going to seem really awkward now, going from nicely designed medical buildings to some totalitarian looking Potemkin village with tall new apartments to cover up the houses behind them. I mean, I'm happy that something is happening here, but it doesn't even look like place someone would live, like it's an uninviting wall keeping you on the street saying "Keep driving, don't look this way". 

Especially these things...IMG_2166.JPGIMG_2165.JPG

I was expecting something like this to happen but not this bad. Sorry for complaining guys, but it's just Michigan street has bothered me lately since it is a place where we were able to show off to others at one time about how well Grand Rapids is developing. Now it feels like you have to take a turn onto Lafayette so you won't get embarrassed with the rest of it. :unsure:

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9 minutes ago, WMrapids said:

Well, this crosses another one off of my list of procects to be excited for. Driving east from the river is going to seem really awkward now, going from nicely designed medical buildings to some totalitarian looking Potemkin village with tall new apartments to cover up the houses behind them. I mean, I'm happy that something is happening here, but it doesn't even look like place someone would live, like it's an uninviting wall keeping you on the street saying "Keep driving, don't look this way". 

Especially these things...IMG_2166.JPGIMG_2165.JPG

I was expecting something like this to happen but not this bad. Sorry for complaining guys, but it's just Michigan street has bothered me lately since it is a place where we were able to show off to others at one time about how well Grand Rapids is developing. Now it feels like you have to take a turn onto Lafayette so you won't get embarrassed with the rest of it. :unsure:

They look like something that won't keep their value long. I could easily see them being run down inner city apartments far before their time would have come if they had stuck with their original concepts. People care about quality and will pay the extra dollar for that quality. Why pay $1,500+ for something that's essentially a metal warehouse with windows? 

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It has a sort of weird totaliarian vibe to it... Like it was all centrally planned by some crazy apparatchik in a basement somewhere counting every last nickel.  

Owner:  "Make housing for ze people!"

Independent Architect:  "And what do you want it to look like?  Something really nice for people to live in and enjoy, right?"  

Owner:  "No!  Make efficient cube shape!  Ve must haff more housing to varehouse ze people!  Zay are dogs!  Build zem boxes!"

Independent Architect:  "Then why are you hiring me?  Sounds like you're just talking about cubes with holes cut in them.  You don't really need an architect for that..."

Owner: "Holes!  You mean vindows?  No vindows! Ze people do not need vindows!  Ve have electric light in middle of each room!"  

Independent Architect:  "Umm, you need windows, and you should make them look nice so people will want to live there..."

Owner:  "Zis is unacceptable!  You are crazy hippie..  Ve have special place for you.. Ve find new architect."

Owner [making phone call]:  "Hello.  Is zis Integrated Architecture?"

Phone: "No, it's Progressive AE"  

Owner:  "Vatever.  You make square box varehouse for people as good as zem?"

Phone:  "Oh, heck yeah!  We specialize in ugly boxes lately.  Our stuffs all over town!  We're actually in a little competition with Integrated right now to see who can design the cheapest possible people warehouse anyone has ever seen.  You remember Brutalism from the 70s?  Kinda funky concrete stuff?  No?  Oh, well.  Don't worry.   Point is, those guys had nothing on us... That looked bad, but it actually cost money.  We've developed this new system where we basically keep the nasty utilitarian look, but make the price super cheap.  See, we just more or less paste windows onto boxes we make out of whatever happens to be on sale.  Concrete block, metal panels, black, red, yellow... Doesn't matter.  We just sort of blend it all together.  Like architectural bologna, but I promise you not delicious.  Just really, really cheap .. Basically looks like a warehouse built out of leftovers, and holds people very efficiently." 

Owner:  "Zis sounds perfect!"  

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3 minutes ago, x99 said:

It has a sort of weird totaliarian vibe to it... Like it was all centrally planned by some crazy apparatchik in a basement somewhere counting every last nickel.  

Owner:  "Make housing for ze people!"

Independent Architect:  "And what do you want it to look like?  Something really nice for people to live in and enjoy, right?"  

Owner:  "No!  Make efficient cube shape!  Ve must haff more housing to varehouse ze people!  Zay are dogs!  Build zem boxes!"

Independent Architect:  "Then why are you hiring me?  Sounds like you're just talking about cubes with holes cut in them.  You don't really need an architect for that..."

Owner: "Holes!  You mean vindows?  No vindows! Ze people do not need vindows!  Ve have electric light in middle of each room!"  

Independent Architect:  "Umm, you need windows, and you should make them look nice so people will want to live there..."

Owner:  "Zis is unacceptable!  You are crazy hippie..  Ve have special place for you.. Ve find new architect."

Owner [making phone call]:  "Hello.  Is zis Integrated Architecture?"

Phone: "No, it's Progressive AE"  

Owner:  "Vatever.  You make square box varehouse for people as good as zem?"

Phone:  "Oh, heck yeah!  We specialize in ugly boxes lately.  Our stuffs all over town!  We're actually in a little competition with Integrated right now to see who can design the cheapest possible people warehouse anyone has ever seen.  You remember Brutalism from the 70s?  Kinda funky concrete stuff?  No?  Oh, well.  Don't worry.   Point is, those guys had nothing on us... We've developed this new system where we basically paste windows onto box we make out of whatever happens to be on sale.  Concrete block, metal, black, red, yellow... Doesn't matter.  We just blend it all together.  Really, really cheap .. Basically looks like a warehouse built out of leftovers." 

Owner:  "Zis sounds perfect!"  

How did you get this juicy behind the scenes stuff? I have zero doubt it's 100% on the money. 

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Anyone notice that it looks like the small one story building (which I actually like if it would get some TLC) is in the newest rendering. Wonder if they couldn't secure that property and it changed everything. 

It is pretty sad. I think most of Midtowne Village is great (minus the two new buildings, and I'm not a fan of the Hampton Inn). The old Miller Zeilstra site looks good (especially the old buildings). What's happening with these developments? I'd rather have fewer projects designed well project than this. Maybe they went through a lot more scrutiny when the economy was so-so? Am I wishing for a recession?! :)

Joe

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22 minutes ago, wingbert said:

Speaking of Brutalism, union construction workers in Sydney, Australia are refusing to participate in the government's effort to tear down this beauty.  Apparently, lots of signature Brutalist buildings around the world are currently at risk of destruction.

project-image-e1474552147703.jpeg?w=3200

Good. Let them all be destroyed. They're creepy.

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6 hours ago, WMrapids said:

Well, this crosses another one off of my list of procects to be excited for. Driving east from the river is going to seem really awkward now, going from nicely designed medical buildings to some totalitarian looking Potemkin village with tall new apartments to cover up the houses behind them. I mean, I'm happy that something is happening here, but it doesn't even look like place someone would live, like it's an uninviting wall keeping you on the street saying "Keep driving, don't look this way". 

Especially these things...IMG_2166.JPGIMG_2165.JPG

I was expecting something like this to happen but not this bad. Sorry for complaining guys, but it's just Michigan street has bothered me lately since it is a place where we were able to show off to others at one time about how well Grand Rapids is developing. Now it feels like you have to take a turn onto Lafayette so you won't get embarrassed with the rest of it. :unsure:

Luckily most people who travel or visit Michigan Street don't ever go East of College. Maybe we can start calling it "East of College", the EOC, like it's some sort of horrible forbidden land. 

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1 minute ago, GRDadof3 said:

Luckily most people who travel or visit Michigan Street don't ever go East of College. Maybe we can start calling it "East of College", the EOC, like it's some sort of horrible forbidden land. 

I just had hope that some of the good development would spread further down that street. But now that the fast food joints are looking better than the mixed use buildings, that hope is gone.

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5 hours ago, x99 said:

It has a sort of weird totaliarian vibe to it... Like it was all centrally planned by some crazy apparatchik in a basement somewhere counting every last nickel.  

Owner:  "Make housing for ze people!"

Independent Architect:  "And what do you want it to look like?  Something really nice for people to live in and enjoy, right?"  

Owner:  "No!  Make efficient cube shape!  Ve must haff more housing to varehouse ze people!  Zay are dogs!  Build zem boxes!"

Independent Architect:  "Then why are you hiring me?  Sounds like you're just talking about cubes with holes cut in them.  You don't really need an architect for that..."

Owner: "Holes!  You mean vindows?  No vindows! Ze people do not need vindows!  Ve have electric light in middle of each room!"  

Independent Architect:  "Umm, you need windows, and you should make them look nice so people will want to live there..."

Owner:  "Zis is unacceptable!  You are crazy hippie..  Ve have special place for you.. Ve find new architect."

Owner [making phone call]:  "Hello.  Is zis Integrated Architecture?"

Phone: "No, it's Progressive AE"  

Owner:  "Vatever.  You make square box varehouse for people as good as zem?"

Phone:  "Oh, heck yeah!  We specialize in ugly boxes lately.  Our stuffs all over town!  We're actually in a little competition with Integrated right now to see who can design the cheapest possible people warehouse anyone has ever seen.  You remember Brutalism from the 70s?  Kinda funky concrete stuff?  No?  Oh, well.  Don't worry.   Point is, those guys had nothing on us... That looked bad, but it actually cost money.  We've developed this new system where we basically keep the nasty utilitarian look, but make the price super cheap.  See, we just more or less paste windows onto boxes we make out of whatever happens to be on sale.  Concrete block, metal panels, black, red, yellow... Doesn't matter.  We just sort of blend it all together.  Like architectural bologna, but I promise you not delicious.  Just really, really cheap .. Basically looks like a warehouse built out of leftovers, and holds people very efficiently." 

Owner:  "Zis sounds perfect!"  

I envision the lobbies of the architecture firms you talk about just full of salespeople from the exterior junk material suppliers, each undercutting the others. :rofl: "Hey, I'm Joe and I sell cinder blocks that look like Wisconsin Quarry Stone." "I'm Bob and I sell vertical aluminum siding. Remember the 60's?? Yeahhhh we're bringing it back baby!!!" 

And then taking the architects out and getting them drunk to sign ze contracts. :alc:

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If it wasn't bad enough already but compared to what the proposed plans called for just rubs salt in the wound.

Here's the 3 principals:

3rd Coast Development:  http://thirdcoastdevelopment.com/contact/

Brad Rosely - [email protected]

David Levitt - [email protected]

Max Benedict - [email protected]

Feel free to express your feelings.

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13 minutes ago, arcturus said:

If it wasn't bad enough already but compared to what the proposed plans called for just rubs salt in the wound.

Here's the 3 principals:

3rd Coast Development:  http://thirdcoastdevelopment.com/contact/

Brad Rosely - [email protected]

David Levitt - [email protected]

Max Benedict - [email protected]

Feel free to express your feelings.

I can't figure out what the eff happened, because Women's Health looked pretty good, and the Park Row condos that Cornerstone Architects did are fabulous.  Cornerstone also did the building Omelette Shop is in, which is also a really nice design.  Cornerstone clearly "gets" it.   They should just let Cornerstone Architects finish off everything else ... I'm sure Cornerstone can't exactly be thrilled that architectural pollution is ruining the view of their very nice buildings.  

Why Third Coast and 616 are building stuff with all the curb appeal of a Ryder Truck, you got me...  

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