Hinman project - new 13 story hotel at 10 Ionia

[mpchicago]

1 minute ago, HavingAhoot said:

Projected completion date?

I think this was supposed to go up pretty fast from what I recall of the timeline shown on the city docs.   So I'm wondering if it will be steel skeleton.  Does anyone know for sure?  I'm sure they are a little bit behind schedule right now due to the weather.

[GRDadof3]

On 2/11/2019 at 9:43 AM, wingbert said:

Why do I keep hearing Skee-Lo in my head when I look at that image?

OMG I love Skee-Lo. "I wish I was a little bit taller I wish I was a baller.." 

Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul... those were the days... 

[GRDadof3]

10 hours ago, mpchicago said:

I think this was supposed to go up pretty fast from what I recall of the timeline shown on the city docs.   So I'm wondering if it will be steel skeleton.  Does anyone know for sure?  I'm sure they are a little bit behind schedule right now due to the weather.

Something in the back of my mind says 19 months? 

[wingbert]

14 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

OMG I love Skee-Lo. "I wish I was a little bit taller I wish I was a baller.." 

Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul... those were the days... 

It doesn’t need to be 42 stories, but if it were a little bit taller, that building would be a baller.

[HavingAhoot]

54 minutes ago, wingbert said:

It doesn’t need to be 42 stories, but if it were a little bit taller, that building would be a baller.

Right now its like... Too $hort... Good not great.

[RegalTDP]

On 2/11/2019 at 6:43 AM, wingbert said:

Why do I keep hearing Skee-Lo in my head when I look at that image?

OMG Skee-Lo was a *prophet* for those of us growing up in suburban Grand Rapids and not of Dutch origin.  It wasn't until I started traveling to other parts of the country I finally learned to accept that my height was actually normal and GR's just full of freakishly tall people. 

  

But if people are underwhelmed by the project's height (or maybe not; maybe they just like making '90s hip-hop jokes ), I would point out that this picture understates how tall the building will look in person, particularly if standing on the corner of Fulton and Commerce.  The perspective of this picture makes GPRD and 38 Fulton look like comparable buildings.  But at 162', 10 Ionia will dwarf those buildings, be almost twice as tall as the CWD building, and only slightly shorter than Gallery on Fulton.  I like this height given the size of the parcel; it'll add some new corners to downtown, and I don't feel an extra story or two would make all that much difference.

 

[joeDowntown]

1 hour ago, RegalTDP said:

OMG Skee-Lo was a *prophet* for those of us growing up in suburban Grand Rapids and not of Dutch origin.  It wasn't until I started traveling to other parts of the country I finally learned to accept that my height was actually normal and GR's just full of freakishly tall people. 

  

But if people are underwhelmed by the project's height (or maybe not; maybe they just like making '90s hip-hop jokes ), I would point out that this picture understates how tall the building will look in person, particularly if standing on the corner of Fulton and Commerce.  The perspective of this picture makes GPRD and 38 Fulton look like comparable buildings.  But at 162', 10 Ionia will dwarf those buildings, be almost twice as tall as the CWD building, and only slightly shorter than Gallery on Fulton.  I like this height given the size of the parcel; it'll add some new corners to downtown, and I don't feel an extra story or two would make all that much difference.

 

Agreed. 38 W. Fulton is a 4 story building (building on the left). I think this rendering is not scaled quite right. 

Joe

[GRDadof3]

5 minutes ago, joeDowntown said:

Agreed. 38 W. Fulton is a 4 story building (building on the left). I think this rendering is not scaled quite right. 

Joe

Exactly. Actually the top should be almost out of the picture frame, or maybe out. I'll get a picture from that spot when it's topped out and we'll do a comparison.

[wingbert]

2 hours ago, RegalTDP said:

OMG Skee-Lo was a *prophet* for those of us growing up in suburban Grand Rapids and not of Dutch origin.  It wasn't until I started traveling to other parts of the country I finally learned to accept that my height was actually normal and GR's just full of freakishly tall people. 

  

But if people are underwhelmed by the project's height (or maybe not; maybe they just like making '90s hip-hop jokes ), I would point out that this picture understates how tall the building will look in person, particularly if standing on the corner of Fulton and Commerce.  The perspective of this picture makes GPRD and 38 Fulton look like comparable buildings.  But at 162', 10 Ionia will dwarf those buildings, be almost twice as tall as the CWD building, and only slightly shorter than Gallery on Fulton.  I like this height given the size of the parcel; it'll add some new corners to downtown, and I don't feel an extra story or two would make all that much difference.

 

Duly noted.  Further judgement will be reserved until project completion.  I’ve always had a soft spot for flatiron buildings anyway.

[mpchicago]

This is  1000% improvement, and if this building actually has a light bar at the top, all the better!  Don't count on them ever adding floors.   I'm embarrassed that I pontificated for years that the city should build a pocket park there 

 

 

[GRDadof3]

10 minutes ago, mpchicago said:

This is  1000% improvement, and if this building actually has a light bar at the top, all the better!  Don't count on them ever adding floors.   I'm embarrassed that I pontificated for years that the city should build a pocket park there 

 

 

I don't understand why the city doesn't just vacate Louis for that little stretch. Leave it open to the police station garage but close the rest for a nice greenspace. 

The intersection at Commerce/Fulton is dangerous anyway with Louis coming in at an angle. 

 

Heres the construction trailer.

[GRDadof3]

I forgot that the hotel has its car pullup/lobby entrance planned for Louis Street, so I gave the street a diet going one way Southeast bound, with an access drive to the ramp. Keep ingress/egress for the police garage. Would still give you a ton of space to make a nice plaza/greenspace areas. Can't imagine it would affect traffic that much. If you want to go Northwest bound on Louis you can just go around the little block to Ionia and then left. 

 

[GR_Urbanist]

3 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

I don't understand why the city doesn't just vacate Louis for that little stretch. Leave it open to the police station garage but close the rest for a nice greenspace.  

YES! As my tires were spinning near the site today, I oddly was thinking at the same time, that it would be a great idea to just permanently close the street to create a nice pedestrian/park space. By the time this project is finished, most drivers will be used to the current detour, and wont miss the street.

[crinzema]

[GRDadof3]

20 hours ago, crinzema said:

Wonder what the red tarps are for? Anyone know? There appears to be some kind of pump in the middle left of the picture with black tubes of some sort running down under the tarps. 

[Raildude's dad]

Ground heater to keep the ground from freezing is my guess

[wingbert]

16 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

Wonder what the red tarps are for? Anyone know? There appears to be some kind of pump in the middle left of the picture with black tubes of some sort running down under the tarps. 

I’m not sure but I’m craving a slice of pizza for lunch today all of a sudden.

[x99]

On 2/13/2019 at 7:45 PM, GR_Urbanist said:

YES! As my tires were spinning near the site today, I oddly was thinking at the same time, that it would be a great idea to just permanently close the street to create a nice pedestrian/park space. By the time this project is finished, most drivers will be used to the current detour, and wont miss the street.

Almost no one goes east there, except for the police.  It's useful for cutting up Ionia going west, but entirely unnecessary.  If there were or ever would be useful buildings there, I would keep it open, but that seems unlikely.  

Edited February 19, 2019 by x99

[GRDadof3]

1 hour ago, x99 said:

Almost no one goes east there, except for the police.  It's useful for cutting up Ionia going west, but entirely unnecessary.  If there were or ever would be useful buildings there, I would keep it open, but that seems unlikely.  

The creme de la creme would be to put small retail spaces on the ground floor of the Hinman parking ramp and then make this a park/plaza out front (with the little drive for the hotel I added up above). 

[GVSUChris]

It’s really, really, for reals, REALLY, happening! I told myself I’d believe it when it was more than a hole in the ground. Welp...here it is! I will walk over at lunch and snap some better pics, but I was just too excited not to share!

[MJLO]

Super geeked about what Ionia will feel like a year from now with Studio C, and this building being the terminating view at Fulton

[GVSUChris]

More pics....

[Guest]

Bring in the mud trucks!

[GRDadof3]

On 2/26/2019 at 2:29 PM, GVSUChris said:

More pics....

That's not the total building footprint is it? It looks so small. 

[GVSUChris]

7 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

That's not the total building footprint is it? It looks so small. 

Nah. You can't really tell from the pictures but when you're standing there you can tell that it's set quite far back from where the sidewalk was/is/will be, so I imagine it is more foundation related?