Suburban Projects

[thebeerqueer]

On 7/17/2022 at 11:10 AM, Floyd_Z said:

 

Here's what's being proposed for those four parcels west of Meijer at LMD/Wilson.  This area has been crazy with development for the past 15 years.

 

https://mibiz.com/sections/real-estate-development/217-apartments-commercial-space-planned-in-standale-area-of-walker

[GRDadof3]

On 7/18/2022 at 11:11 AM, joeDowntown said:

Interesting concept (new to me at least). Single family rental homes. 

I drove by the other day and actually thought it was just another entry to St. John’s. That area is going through a pretty massive change. 

Joe

Here's an interesting in-depth article about the single-family home rental market nationally:

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4498305-renting-the-american-dream?fbclid=IwAR0Pu-pqP72dBMMd-Hyh2Da2rJeQIqwN-tVmKtEYuhI_9FyRgM_5X3a6yjQ

Grand Rapids has had a 13% increase in rents this year, right at the national median. 

[cstonesparty]

On 7/19/2022 at 2:56 PM, thebeerqueer said:

 

https://mibiz.com/sections/real-estate-development/217-apartments-commercial-space-planned-in-standale-area-of-walker

I live in Shawmut Hills area, and people on this corner of town are hugely concerned about LMD traffic with all the new apartments planned and recently built in Standale.  I looked at the Grand Valley Metro Council data a couple years ago on traffic and was rather shocked at how high the traffic count already is on LMD.  I wonder if Walker is looking at Standale master plan again yet.  I see the fitness place got knocked down, and remodeling going on in another commercial parcel there.  It would be a shame if Standale became another Greenridge-level debacle.  (which it's rapidly trending towards with the poor planning)

[Guest]

58 minutes ago, cstonesparty said:

I live in Shawmut Hills area, and people on this corner of town are hugely concerned about LMD traffic with all the new apartments planned and recently built in Standale.  I looked at the Grand Valley Metro Council data a couple years ago on traffic and was rather shocked at how high the traffic count already is on LMD.  I wonder if Walker is looking at Standale master plan again yet.  I see the fitness place got knocked down, and remodeling going on in another commercial parcel there.  It would be a shame if Standale became another Greenridge-level debacle.  (which it's rapidly trending towards with the poor planning)

I feel like Wilson/LMD will be one of the busiest intersections in the future.  According to the traffic study for this particular project, no additional upgrades were needed to the roads except adding some right turn lanes This will most likely spur development further west into Tallmadege Township and further south down Wilson.  A lot of those parcels off from Wilson are owned by some big developers.  Also, Allendale and GVSU are continuing to grow rapidly.  Wilson is pretty much the only connection from the Grand River to 96, I know it was recently upgraded, but they should consider making it 5 lanes or something similar to EBL.

I avoid LMD, not only because of the traffic, but also the amount of people who go 20-30 mph above the speed limit, Leonard and Richmond are much better alternatives.  For the amount of traffic that goes through LMD/Wilson, that intersection seems very efficient and well-timed from what I've experienced.

[GRDadof3]

15 hours ago, Floyd_Z said:

I feel like Wilson/LMD will be one of the busiest intersections in the future.  According to the traffic study for this particular project, no additional upgrades were needed to the roads except adding some right turn lanes This will most likely spur development further west into Tallmadege Township and further south down Wilson.  A lot of those parcels off from Wilson are owned by some big developers.  Also, Allendale and GVSU are continuing to grow rapidly.  Wilson is pretty much the only connection from the Grand River to 96, I know it was recently upgraded, but they should consider making it 5 lanes or something similar to EBL.

I avoid LMD, not only because of the traffic, but also the amount of people who go 20-30 mph above the speed limit, Leonard and Richmond are much better alternatives.  For the amount of traffic that goes through LMD/Wilson, that intersection seems very efficient and well-timed from what I've experienced.

Definitely with Leonard upgraded from Kinney to Wilson, it's a better alternative. They should continue to upgrade Leonard out to 8th so you can completely bypass Standale altogether. 

I found it kind of bewildering that they said this development would not require any upgrades to local roads. 

[cstonesparty]

4 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

I found it kind of bewildering that they said this development would not require any upgrades to local roads. 

I honestly don’t know what process they use to assess this, but I’m surprised at this too.  Is it that the existing light at Ferndale is adequate to manage the new development?

Im curious to go back to the GVMC data and look at traffic load and growth again.  Between Westown, Lincoln redevelopment and this new project, that’s a TON of new residential in a mile or so.  

[JimiThing]

Is anyone on here familiar with the Walker Planning Commission, and what their goals for the Standale corridor are? Personally I'm disappointed (but not surprised) this and the other residential projects in the area are set to become more car-oriented subdivisions. With LMD being the primary East-West corridor through the west side of town and out to GVSU, Standale seems like it would be a perfect spot for transit-oriented development along the Laker Line. 

So I'm curious, is this sort project in line with what the city and (realistic) residents of Walker want? What are they looking for out there? Would a TOD get a ton of pushback? Are these low-density suburban developments a compromise for folks who really just don't want to see any development at all? Is there any room for the community to accept a more medium-density TOD if it could potentially help with traffic on LMD and the sprawl that's going to keep encroaching into the rural areas to the west?

 

 

[Guest]

19 hours ago, JimiThing said:

Is anyone on here familiar with the Walker Planning Commission, and what their goals for the Standale corridor are? Personally I'm disappointed (but not surprised) this and the other residential projects in the area are set to become more car-oriented subdivisions. With LMD being the primary East-West corridor through the west side of town and out to GVSU, Standale seems like it would be a perfect spot for transit-oriented development along the Laker Line. 

So I'm curious, is this sort project in line with what the city and (realistic) residents of Walker want? What are they looking for out there? Would a TOD get a ton of pushback? Are these low-density suburban developments a compromise for folks who really just don't want to see any development at all? Is there any room for the community to accept a more medium-density TOD if it could potentially help with traffic on LMD and the sprawl that's going to keep encroaching into the rural areas to the west?

 

 

They want something similar to the Plainfield Corridor plan.  IIRC, zero setbacks, angled parking, etc.  I think they do want it transit oriented.  They proposed upgrading the park and ride near the fire station and I believe that passed.  I think from a developers standpoint HDR is more profitable than LDR or MDR.  Development will keep pushing west regardless.  If I were someone who had a family and went to the Lake every week or so, I would much rather live in Allendale than Ada/Cascade/Lowell.  That's not a huge factor for most people, but it's important to some.

 

20 hours ago, cstonesparty said:

I honestly don’t know what process they use to assess this, but I’m surprised at this too.  Is it that the existing light at Ferndale is adequate to manage the new development?

Im curious to go back to the GVMC data and look at traffic load and growth again.  Between Westown, Lincoln redevelopment and this new project, that’s a TON of new residential in a mile or so.  

I think that's their thinking that the light at Ferndale will suffice.  If they did the traffic study recently, I would think the counts would be much lower than during the school year.  Plus, that wouldn't take into account any developments currently in the pipeline.

 

On 7/22/2022 at 8:59 AM, GRDadof3 said:

Definitely with Leonard upgraded from Kinney to Wilson, it's a better alternative. They should continue to upgrade Leonard out to 8th so you can completely bypass Standale altogether. 

I found it kind of bewildering that they said this development would not require any upgrades to local roads. 

They did a really great job on that stretch of Leonard!

[Khorasaurus1]

This is what Walker's Master Plan shows for the area west of Meijer. 

[CalderCity946]

Recommended for board approval last week in Caledonia. Nothing too exciting, residential project across from Kettle Lake school.

[GRDadof3]

On 7/27/2022 at 10:33 AM, CalderCity946 said:

Recommended for board approval last week in Caledonia. Nothing too exciting, residential project across from Kettle Lake school.

Thanks for the heads up. I had heard some rumors about this development. 

[Guest]

It looks like the project on the NE corner of Leonard and Wilson is back on the Walker Planning Commision agenda. 

[cstonesparty]

On 7/30/2022 at 10:40 AM, Floyd_Z said:

It looks like the project on the NE corner of Leonard and Wilson is back on the Walker Planning Commision agenda. 

interesting changes...  Kum & Go gas station in that location is very interesting...

[Chester Cheeto]

Chik-Fil-A coming to the empty lot in front of the Cascade Meijer.

[cstonesparty]

56 minutes ago, NoDustBusterNoMore said:

Chik-Fil-A coming to the empty lot in front of the Cascade Meijer.

that's surprisingly close to their Centerpointe location.  Seems like they are typically very far apart.  Great location for them though.

[TheLonesomeHobo]

32 minutes ago, cstonesparty said:

that's surprisingly close to their Centerpointe location.  Seems like they are typically very far apart.  Great location for them though.

I was leaving Centerpointe around 5:30 last night and the line for that Chick Fil A was absolutely insane. Speaking of that, the old toys r us is just a pile of rubble now.

[GRLaker]

On 7/27/2022 at 10:33 AM, CalderCity946 said:

Recommended for board approval last week in Caledonia. Nothing too exciting, residential project across from Kettle Lake school.

Will these be all custom build lots or are they tied to a builder?

[GRDadof3]

9 hours ago, NoDustBusterNoMore said:

Chik-Fil-A coming to the empty lot in front of the Cascade Meijer.

They're already under construction there. 

[joeDowntown]

They’ve fenced off a section of the spectrum property on Knapp and 3 mile. Looks like construction has already started. Are there renderings of the surgical building they have planned?

Joe

[grandrollerz]

This was from the April GR Township meeting:

...assuming you meant East Beltline and 3 mile

[GRDadof3]

17 minutes ago, grandrollerz said:

This was from the April GR Township meeting:

...assuming you meant East Beltline and 3 mile

Interestingly back in November, the GR TWP planning commission said this building was "too big for the East Beltline" as it was planned to be slightly larger than the existing building there (118,000 SF). But the recent MIBIZ article talks about a $17 million 15,000 SF facility. I wonder which it is now? How much fencing is up @joeDowntown? 

Here is the November agenda:

https://files4.1.revize.com/grandrapidstownship/11.23.2021.PC.minutes.pdf

[Guest]

Too big for the East Beltline?  lol.  Spectrum was also looking to rezone all of those properties to the east along 3 mile and also Dunnigan.

[GRDadof3]

I drove by and they have both these areas fenced now. I think it's a lot bigger project than 14,000 SF.

 

[joeDowntown]

11 hours ago, grandrollerz said:

This was from the April GR Township meeting:

...assuming you meant East Beltline and 3 mile

yep. My brain was doing too many things at once when I wrote this. 

Do planners/architects around here lack the ability to add an addition that somewhat matches or compliments the existing structures? The two building look terrible together. 

Joe

[Guest]

https://www.fox17online.com/news/local-news/grand-rapids/408-unit-apartment-community-being-developed-in-grandville?fbclid=IwAR0GiTp5gee8N13AIxWBOMRb8diaWFBne2GfWWCFB1klL5KqJ9f-IA2_h14

I was wondering what was going on here and never could find anything